Music
If you have not heard the album yet and want to do so, you can download it from here(self-extracting archive, 33MB) If you are familiar with the songs and want to see whether your view is similar to mine, you can read the following notes for each one of them:1. Under dark skies is the opening instrumental in which a theme develops from a slow and melancholic sound to a rock one – something that is to happen often in the album. Perhaps the fact that the synth with which the song starts is used for the first and last time as bass also deserves a mention.
2. Помниш ли, помниш ли тихия двор(Do you remember, remember the quiet yard) is actually the first song I wrote for the album. As I already said, it is also the only one which I have dreamt with the lyrics – in the other cases I only dreamt a certain theme and checked which poem would fit. It is also one of the main themes in the album, and the chord progression will be used further on in different ways. And as Debelyanov’s work is summarised in the poem, so the concept of the album is summarised in the song, and the tragic ending is foreshadowed by the battle drums at the end.
3. Ти смътно се мяркаш из морната памет(You vaguely appear in the fading memory) is the shortest song, despite having the longest title. It is a miniature using one of the main themes that are to follow.
4. Спи градът(Sleeps the city) is a song after a dream theme and the only one using a sound effect as means of building up atmosphere. And like Помниш ли, помниш ли тихия двор, as well as other songs that are to follow, the theme develops and culminates with the crescendo instrumental.
5. Победен(Defeated) follows a similar structure, but unlike in the previous songs, where the theme was prearranged and hence transformed, here it builds up. ледва подобна структура, но за разлика от предишните песни, където темат. Also deserving mention are the effects near the end of the song.
6. В тъмница(In darkness; in dungeon) is one of the songs I am most pleased with. Structurally, it consists of three parts – the first is the poem itself with an appropriate melancholic arrangement. In the second the theme is not only transformed to a rockier arrangement, but in another, “more Bulgarian” time signature – 7/8. One of the two moments where I have used chromatics is also there. After it fulfils its purpose and builds up musical tension, it is released in the third part in 4/4 and a mixed arrangement – one of the hallmark moments of the album.
7. Отмината(Passed by) is the second miniature in the album, which also uses the progression of Помниш ли, помниш ли тихия двор. Nothing too uncommon here, except perhaps the vocal harmonies which appear for the first time.
8. Аз искам да те помня все така(I always want to remember you like that) is one of the longest songs, following the structure of many of the previous ones. The frequent change between the 7/8 and 4/4 time signatures near the end is significant. It ends abruptly, which serves as a bridge.
9. Сиротна песен(Orphan song) is one of the saddest poems of Debelyanov and that is the reason for the chord progression of this song not to have a single major chord. The instrumental closing the song is the hardest on the album, which I see as the rock equivalent of indifference towards death in the poem.
10. Разяжда гърдите ми кървава рана(A bloody wound is gnawing at my bosom) is the penultimate song, and the one that closes the faint plot line between the frame of the album. It repeats the theme of Ти смътно се мяркаш из морната памет(or the other way around, if which was written first is to be taken into account), and the third time when it will be repeated is to close the whole album.
11. Скрити вопли(Hidden moans), as Помниш ли, помниш ли тихия двор , is one of the verses that summarises the whole work of Debelyanov, and as in the second song, the whole album is in it. In the first part of the song the poem is sung, and I have used vocal harmonies at certain places. The chord progression reminds of Помниш ли, помниш ли тихия двор, albeit it is not exactly the same. The climax comes with the second and third part, where the theme of the second song and a motif from Спи градът, redone in 6/8 and achormatised, are used, respectively. The album, as well as the plotline recreating the life of the poet, closes with the theme from Разяжда гърдите ми кървава ранa.
People who brought this album:
Music, arrangement and vocals – Velislav Ivanov
Cover art and design – Felix Drott
Web design – Doychin Atanasov