Oj Lazare - Bulgarian Song

Vocals by Marina Koleva, arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a collage of two Bulgarian folk songs, which, unlike the common misconception, are not wedding songs, but related instead to the Lazaruvane festival, a South Slavic Orthodox Christian tradition which takes place on Lazarus Saturday. These are some of the many songs sung by the Lazarki, young girls who go around the villages for the procession singing those songs.

The arrangement is based on those by ethnomusicologists and reprises the instrumental bridge in those recordings, as well as the typical Bulgarian 7-beat rhythm. My arrangement is meant to be more archaic than many modern ones and therefore omits the usage of chords, instead using the Bulgarian "bordon" drone support, closely related and identical to the Greek ison, and uses an archaic instrument ensemble made up of the saz, gadulka, kaval and drums. Marina Koleva, a professional Bulgarian folk singer, provides the vocals in a typical folk vocal delivery which some ethnomusicologists believe is part of the broader "White Voice" family of bright, sharp vocal postures used by women across the Slavic-speaking world.

Lyrics in Bulgarian:
Ой Лазаре, Лазаре
Тука ни са казале
Ой Лазаре, Лазаре
Тука ни са казале

Първо тука дойдохме,
Мома, момче найдохме
Я момата годете
Я момчето женете

Радувай се, радувай
Радувай се, домакине
Колко листе по гора
Толко здраве

English translation:
Oh, Lazarus, Lazarus
they told us it's here

Oh, Lazarus, Lazarus
they told us it's here

First we arrived here,
Girl and boy we found
Wed the girl
Wed the boy

Rejoice, rejoice
Rejoice, our hosts
As many leafs are in the forests,
That much health unto your house