Rhythmic and Metric Aspects of Contemporary Bulgarian Wedding Music

8/12/2019 Rhythmic and Metric Aspects of Contemporary Bulgarian Wedding Music

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beats allow for different internal metric and rhythmic organization. This forms a larger metric

structure ultimately perceived as a unit due to accents and grouping. In Schenkerian terms,

hypermeter is defined as meter above the notated measure. In Bulgarian music, megameter is the

cumulative meter within a megameasure. For example, a megameter of two measures of 15/16 is

30/16. The produced megameasure involves a rhythmic pattern within 30 sixteenth notes or 14

beats (Example 4).

In megameasure generating processes, primary meters (generators) multiply by even

numbers. An asymmetrical 7/8 may expand to 14/8, 28/8, and even 56/8. Each of the resulting

megameasures and megameters features different internal organization in terms of hypermeter

and groupings of twos and threes compared to the generator, 7/8. However, in all megameters,

regardless of their length and internal structure, the basic level of pulse (subdivision level)

remains consistent. During performances, instrumentalists shift freely between 5/8, 6/8, 7/8 and

8/8 within larger megameasures. Over the years, performers master the technique of entering

and exiting the generating meter, a skill which is highly praised as one of the highest level of

musicianship.

Shifting meters within a hypermetric framework is a phenomenon which typifies the

concert genre of Bulgarian Wedding style from the late 1990s. Steady hypermeters allow

performers to shrink and expand their melodic and metric structures by increasing or decreasing

the number of notes included in a measure. Depending on the speed of the hyperbeats, changing

meters may vary from 2/4 to 9/8 or 11/8 (Example 5).

Bulgarian musicians frequently argue over the correct meter of one particular dance tune,

Petrunino Horo(Petrunas dance). Musicians divide in two camps: those who believe that the

tune should be transcribed in 13/8 and those who insist that the tune can be perceived only in


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14/8. My recent research has shown that the most accurate meter of Petrunino Horois a hybrid

meter produced from the opposing forces of the simultaneously occurring 13/8 and 14/8

(Example 6), i.e. a metric compromise resembling a 13.5/8 meter.

Similar phenomena become evident in a Romani tune in a compound 6/8 meter

performed by Papasov in 1989. A closer look at the metric structure reveals a rather unusual

process. The piece begins with precomposed melodies in a steady 6/8 meter. After the opening

section, the piece continues with improvisation which gradually shifts the meter from 6/8 to 7/8

(second meter is introduced and established). In the middle of the improvisation, 7/8 and 6/8

occur simultaneously (polymeter with opposing forces) and multiply into megameters (12/8 and

14/8). As a result of the opposition, a shortened 7/8 and extended 6/8 is achieved as a hybrid

meter (Example 7).

My observations of Petrunino Horoand Papazovs tune form an unusual hypothesis. This

hypothesis suggests that certain polymeters lead to the creation of new, unstudied hybrid meters.

In order for us to perceive and analyze the fine nuances of such meters, we have to further refine

and calibrate our listening and analytical tools.


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EXAMPLES

Normal pattern

(slow tempos)

Beat level(moderate tempos)

Hypermeter level(fast tempos)

Syncopation 1

Syncopation 2

Syncopation 3

Example 1. Syncopations in 7/8

Example 2. Combined Metric Group

Example 3. Heterometric Row

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Normal subdivision

Beat level

Megameter 1

Megameter 2

Example 4. Megameasures of 30/16

Hyperbeats X X X X X X X X X X X X

Meters 6/8 6/8 6/8 5/8 5/8 5/8 7/8 7/8 7/8 8/8 8/8 7/8

Hyperbeats X X X X X X X X X X X X

Meters 6/8 6/8 12/8 12/8 14/8 14/8 14/8(megameter) (megameter)

Example 5: Shifting Meters within a Hypermetric Framework

Example 6. Petrunino HoroHybrid Meter Generator


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Example 7. Forces in 6/8 and 7/8 Producing Hybrid Meter

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Rhythmic and Metric Aspects of Contemporary Bulgarian Wedding Music