The songs
The recordings from the album are still to be uploaded here. The songs that have a video can be heard right away.
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1 Imala baba edno momiche
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2 Dryanovki murafetliyki
Guest singer: Bozhidar Danev.
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3 Yanko si cheshma pokriva
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4 Otdolu idat kazhi-rechi ergeni
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5 Bozhur Yana
Words and music: Ana Borisova.
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6 Edna moma belenka
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7 Rado, mari
Arrangement: Lachezar Yordanov.
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8 Nasho Mariyche, komshiyche
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9 Glupava moma
The story
The story of this album begins in 2000, when a music notebook was handed on, a notebook that was to build a bridge between several generations.
Gana Tananova was born in Dryanovo in 1875, spent her life there and died there in 1959. As a child she heard the songs and the stories from her parents, Todora and Peyu Penevi, and from what the family remembers both of them were very musical. “Grandmother weaves and sings, and grandfather sews in the shop and sings,” their grandchildren said. Gana married Nikola Tananov and they had five children. Their eldest daughter, Penka, was a teacher in Dryanovo. She had three children: Denka, Todor and Ganka.
In 1978 Todor Poptodorov’s daughter Ventseslava, a pianist at the Lyubomir Pipkov National Music School in Sofia, wrote into a music notebook the songs of her father’s sister Denka, who had them from her own mother.
In 2000 Ventseslava Todorova’s mother, Svetla Todorova, a well known piano teacher at the Razvitie 1869 community centre in Dryanovo, gave the notebook to Ana Borisova with the words: “I am certain the songs are in safe hands and that one day they will be sung!”
The songs stand out for their humour and their playful stories, in the manner of twentieth century town folklore. Some of them are probably older, inherited from Gana Tananova herself, though that cannot be said with certainty. One thing is clear: the songs have come back to life and are carried on, sung by children and by grown-ups.
Who made it
Words and music: traditional, except “Bozhur Yana”, words and music by Ana Borisova.
Arrangements: Gancho Gavazov, except “Rado, mari”, arranged by Lachezar Yordanov.
Guest singer on “Dryanovki murafetliyki”: Bozhidar Danev.
Sound recording and engineering: Stoyan Peykov.
Photography, design and prepress: Radoslava Kunchevska.
With particular thanks to Mrs Stoyanka Tenova, head of the National School of Folk Arts in Shiroka Laka, and to the instrumental group that brought to life the arrangements of their own leader, the composer and conductor Gancho Gavazov. Thanks also to the Historical Museum in Dryanovo and to Mrs Yuliya Dabkova.
The album was released with the support of the municipality of Dryanovo, the Agora platform, the singer’s parents Neli Vasileva and Boris Ganev, and her husband Yanko Stefanov.
