Seven Symphonic Bulgarian Dances, op. 23

Op. 23 dates from 1931, the year before Vladigerov ended his twenty-year residence in Berlin and returned to Sofia to teach. The seven movements are his own invention rather than folk transcriptions, and their tempo markings are Italian, not Bulgarian — a signal that the dances are being used as symphonic material and not presented as ethnographic objects. The scoring is for large orchestra, and the writing ranges from hard-driven asymmetric rhythm to the luxuriant slow music of the fourth dance. It has been recorded complete more than once alongside the Bulgarian Suite and the Vardar rhapsody.