Pilence Pee
Title: Pilence Pee
Performer(s): The Bulgarian State Radio Vocal Choir
Culture: Bulgaria
Instruments: Female voice. The video below provides a good explanation of the unique vocal phonation.
Instruments: Female voice. The video below provides a good explanation of the unique vocal phonation.
Pilence Pee English Translation:
Where is the long rifle?
Where is the French sabre?
There is a plain wide field.
There’s a green forest behind the field.
In the forest a tall tree.
Tall and with a big trunk.
On the tree, there is a birdie, a little nightingale;
The birdie is singing, talking:
Those who have beautiful beloved ones
Let make love to them and never have enough,
Because turbulent years are coming,
So he won’t regret later.
This piece is through-composed to emphasize the importance of the text or the "story" with melismatic improvisations by sections and individuals during the ensemble drone. The through-composed structure and more risqué lyrical content is new to the The Bulgarian State Radio Vocal Choir, who up until the fall of Communism, was controlled and censored by the Bulgarian government who created the ensemble to promote and serve the State.
I really enjoyed watching and listening to both videos that you included in your post. The unique sound of the choir was the first thing I noticed in listening to the piece and I enjoyed listening to the interview where the singer explained the singing style. It was also a great example of how cultural context has a great influence on the musical style and the ways music is made. I thought it was interesting that singing is such a huge part of many facets of Bulgarian life, from nature to making the crops grow. I also really enjoyed your explanation of how the current context has influenced the structure of the piece and the focus on the lyrics. I am curious to hear songs of Bulgarian choirs when lyrics were more censored. I wonder if lyrics were less bold or if there were musical elements or structural strategies to hide meanings or lyrics that the government would have disapproved of. Thanks for your post!
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