ABSTRACT
Bulgaria has absorbed various cultural influences over its history, each contributing to its music. Though small, economically poor, and historically isolated, Bulgaria has produced a musical tradition that has won international respect for its traditional music and brilliant singers. In classical music, Bulgarian singers, including Nikolai Ghiaurov, Boris Christov, Raina Kabaivanska, and Ghena Dimitrova, have achieved fame in the world's finest opera houses. Regional variation confounds nearly every generalization about Bulgarian village musical style. Popular and urban music, as in most countries, remains one of the most heard but least studied aspects of Bulgarian musical life. Bulgarian scholars have scanned church documents and frescoes for traces of a musical history before 1978. The major focus of Bulgarian music research for more than a century beginning in the mid-1800s was the collection and publication of folk songs. Bulgarian music has received the attention of non-Bulgarian scholars and enthusiasts.
