Fly, Fly My Sadness is a 1996 album made as a collaboration between The Bulgarian Voices Angelite, Huun-Huur-Tu, Sergey Starostin, and arranged by Mikhail Alperin. The album features a distinctive combination of Bulgarian folk choir and Tuvan throat singing.[2]
| Fly, Fly My Sadness | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | 1996 |
| Recorded | November 1995[1] |
| Studio | Ton Studio 2, Bulgarian National Television, Sofia |
| Genre | Bulgarian folk music, Tuvan throat singing |
| Length | 36:06 |
| Label | Jaro Medien |
Background
editMikhail Alperin initially got inspired to record a fusion of two folk traditions in 1993, while on train touring with the Moscow Art Trio. Alperin had cassettes from a Russian folk choir and a traditional Tuvan throat singing group, and had an idea to play both tapes simultaneously. Alperin was impressed by this combination, and later recruited a Russian folk choir and Tuvan throat singing group (not Huun-Huur-Tu) to sing together, which was released as the album Prayer.[1]
After this, Alperin heard the albums of Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares and was inspired again to record a fusion, this time between Tuvan and Bulgarian music. He recruited the all-male Huun-Huur-Tu and the all-female Bulgarian Voices Angelite, which formed in the early 1990s as a splinter group of Le Mystère.[3] He stated: "Deep down we have the same ideas, moods, and a lot of similar background. I had imagined a fantastic idea to have a musical family where the Bulgarians represent the mother, the Tuvinians the father, with Russian son and Jewish brother." The Fly, Fly My Sadness group toured in Europe and America and recorded a second album.[1]
While Alperin claimed in the album liner notes that Tuvan and Bulgarian culture share a Central Asian nomadic ancestry, this is inaccurate.[4]
Music
editHuun-Huur-Tu consists of male singers, while The Bulgarian Voices Angelite consists of female singers. Musicologist Danielle Fosler-Lussier notes that the use of Tuvan overtone singing mimics natural phenomena, such as the singing of birds or the sound of steam. She notes "Legend” as a piece which keeps the Bulgarian and Tuvan groups relatively separate. In contrast, "Lonely Bird" has the two groups mixed together and less in traditional forms, using non-lexical vocables like "ah" and "doo" rather than words.[5] In "Wave", the Bulgarian Voices improvise a two note vocal pattern on top of an arrangement.[6]
Anthropologist Carol Silverman described the album as part of a trend of marketing Eastern music as "exotic" or "mystical" to western audiences, and that the original text of some songs was lost in the process of mixing the two vocal groups.[4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [7] |
Track listing
editAll tracks arranged by Mikhail Alperin
- "Fly, Fly My Sadness" – 7:47
- "Legend" – 7:41
- "Wave" – 7:24
- "Lonely Bird" – 10:58,
- "Mountain Story" – 10:16
Personnel
edit- The Bulgarian Voices Angelite – choir
- Nikolai Merdjanow – conductor for The Bulgarian Voices Angelite
- Huun-Huur-Tu – vocals, instruments
- Mikhail Alperin – musical director, conductor, mixer, grand piano, melodica, voice, cowbell, liner notes
- Fly, Fly My Sadness – vocals, clarinet, folk reeds
- Ulrich Balss – producer
- Borislav Borissov – recorder
- Erik Lautwald – mixer
References
edit- 1 2 3 Boehm, Mike (3 December 1997). "Feeling His Way". Los Angeles Times.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Huun Huur-Tu and The Bulgarian Voices Angelite: Fly, Fly, My Sadness". JazzTimes. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2026.
- ↑ Shen, Ted (28 September 2000). "Bulgarian Women's Choir-Angelite". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
- 1 2 Silverman, Carol (October 2004). "Move Over Madonna: Gender, Representation, and The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices". In Forrester, Sibelan; Zaborowska, Magdalena J.; Gapova, Elena (eds.). Over the Wall/after the Fall: Post-communist Cultures Through an East-West Gaze. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253216960.
- ↑ Fosler-Lussier, Danielle (10 June 2020). Music on the Move. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472901289.
- ↑ Kandell, Leslie. "MUSIC; Exotics Sounds From Far Beyond the Horizon". Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
- ↑ Jurek, Thom. "Fly, Fly My Sadness". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 March 2026.
- ↑ "Fly Fly My Sadness". Jaro Shop. Archived from the original on 12 March 2026. Retrieved 13 March 2026.
- ↑ LLC, MPBM. "The Bulgarian Voices "Angelite" feat. Huun-Huur-Tu, Sergey Starostin & Mikhail Alperin". ooaudio.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2025. Retrieved 13 March 2026.