Aria

The Aria for string orchestra dates from 1978, from the years in which Kyurkchiyski was working with the Philip Koutev ensemble and reshaping Bulgarian folk song for concert use. It stands apart from that work: a single slow movement for strings alone, with the melodic weight given to the first violins over a quiet accompanying texture. Kyurkchiyski, born in Troyan in 1936, had studied with Vladigerov in Sofia and then with Shostakovich in Moscow, and won the Grand Prix of the Paris Music Weeks composition competition in 1966.