A young man offers gold for a maiden. He is willing to give it, but his mother refuses: “Don’t give away gold for a maiden, my son! A maiden is a great deceiver; she will lead you astray!” “She won’t deceive me, Mother,” the son replies. “She draws water from my wells, picks little posies in my gardens; her bracelet is in my pockets, and my ring adorns her little hand.”
Recorded in the small village of Vasilovtsi, in Sofia Province, this witty text brilliantly captures one of the most intricate dilemmas of traditional Bulgarian family life: the relationship between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law.
Originating in the Shopluk, the region of west-central Bulgaria, the song is a particularly characteristic expression of the people who created it. The Shopi are known for their fiery temperament, tenacity and stubbornness, as well as their proverbial thrift, envy and pronounced conservatism. The latter trait has had a positive side, helping preserve their traditional culture in remarkable condition. The Shopi are also renowned for their keen sense of humour and self-irony. One of the most frequently lampooned figures, not only in their own folklore but in Bulgarian folk tradition as a whole, is undoubtedly the mother-in-law: a formidable lady who remains true to type in the popular song “A Young Man Offers Gold for a Maiden”.
The song exemplifies the unique, archaic tradition of two-part folk singing ("dvuglas") from Bulgaria’s Shoppe folklore region (Shopluk), distinguished by its raw, piercing and penetrating vocal sonorities.
Among the most remarkable exponents of the celebrated Shopski diaphony are Kremena Stancheva and Vasilka Andonova, soloists with the Bulgarian National Radio Folk Song Ensemble. Born in the same year, 1941, the two women performed as a duo for more than three decades. Their singing is distinguished by an extraordinary fusion of voices and consummate artistry.
Charismatic, radiant and captivating, with beautifully resonant voices, Kremena and Vasilka remain an undisputed benchmark for the performance of Shoppe two-voice singing. Their interpretations carry the spirit of the past while sounding vibrant and entirely contemporary. Their duets, including Veter vee, Pushka pukna, Ergen deda, and Momche dava zlato za devoyka (A Young Lad Offers Gold for a Maiden), have been cherished by generations of Bulgarians.
In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio, renowned folk singer, researcher, producer and journalist Daniel Spasov, a former student of Kremena Stancheva and a close friend of hers, recalls the duo’s live performances:
“The whole space would fill with sound, with trills… They really were like bells, like two bells ringing out together. I don’t know how they achieved such perfection!”
Known as the “nightingales of the Shoppe song”, Kremena Stancheva and Vasilka Andonova perform this gem of Bulgarian folk music, “A Young Lad Offers Gold for a Maiden”, accompanied by the BNR Folk Music Orchestra in a masterful arrangement by the eminent folklorist, composer and conductor Anastas Naumov. A musician of exceptional distinction, Naumov made an outstanding contribution to enriching the Bulgarian National Radio’s sound archives with a vast collection of folk music recordings.
You can find more installments in Radio Bulgaria's running series "Highlights of Bulgarian Musical Culture" HERE.
English version: R. Petkova