Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares


Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares is a compilation album of modern arrangements of Bulgarian folk songs featuring, among others, the Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir, with soloists Yanka Rupkina, Kalinka Valcheva and Stefka Sabotinova; and the Filip Kutev Ensemble.
The album was the result of fifteen years of work by Swiss ethnomusicologist and producer Marcel Cellier and was released in 1975 on his small Disques Cellier label. Some of the recordings he made himself; others were taken from the archives of Radio Sofia. The album won a Grand Prix du Disque award.
In the 1980s, Ivo Watts-Russell was introduced to the choir from a third or fourth generation audio cassette lent to him by Peter Murphy, singer from the band Bauhaus. He became thoroughly entranced by the music, and tracked down and licensed the recordings from Cellier. So in 1986, it was re-released on 4AD in the UK, in 1987 the Nonesuch label in the US and on the Philips label in other territories.
Subsequent albums were released with similar titles: Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Volume 2 , which won a Grammy Award in 1989; Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Volume 3 ; and Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Volume 4 .
NPR ranked Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Volume 1 the 78th greatest album ever made by women.

Reception, Influence and Legacy

The music has been acclaimed by various artists such as Paul Simon, Kate Bush, George Harrison, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Peter Murphy, Elizabeth Fraser, Bobby Mcferrin, Midori, Enrique Morente, the Grateful Dead, Robert Plant and has prompted worldwide interest.
The American artist Linda Ronstadt stated that the music was "some of the most beautiful I’ve ever heard".
The British-American musician Graham Nash declared after listening to the album: "Every musician who considers himself accomplished should listen to and rethink everything he knows."
Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead: "They're like angels... exceptionally pure, really polished. Our song Uncle John's Band was inspired by the village music of Bulgaria."
Dead Can Dance's singer Lisa Gerrard was so inspired by this album, she declared: "If anybody is changed by this, it’s me..."
The soundtrack for Ghost in the Shell was inspired by the music of the Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices.

Track listing

  1. "Pilentse Pee" – 2:31
  2. "Svatba" – 1:27
  3. "Kalimankou Denkou" solo: Yanka Rupkina – 5:06
  4. "Strati Na Angelaki Dumashe" – 2:37
  5. "Polegnala E Pshenitsa" – 2:02
  6. "Mesechinko Lyo Greïlivka" – 2:31
  7. "Breï Ivane" – 1:31
  8. "Ergen Deda" – 2:50
  9. "Sableyalo Mi Agontse" solo: Kalinka Valcheva – 4:31
  10. "Prituritse Planinata" with orchestra – 2:45
  11. "Mir Stanke le" solo: Stefka Sabotinova – 3:10
  12. "Schopska Pesen" – 1:27
  13. "Polegnala E Todora" – 3:38