Roman Slayer - Epic Slavic Music of Bulgaria

Artwork by Vasil Goranov, please check out his wonderful paintings at his site, where he draws from Bulgarian history to create powerful scenes of historical romanticism; he is one of my favourite artists and you should definitely support him by seeing more of his work: https://www.vasilgoranov.com/en/index... The Epic Slavic series is a project where the sounds of the current, living traditions of the Slavic peoples are used as a framing device to explore themes relating to the mythology, folklore and history of the Slavs. These are not historical recreations nor "epic music" in the cinematic soundtrack sense, but a project of ethnomusicological research and performance that showcases the epic narrative repertoire of the Slavs through their living musical traditions. Music & vocals by Farya Faraji, based on traditional South Slavic and Balkanic musical motfs. The instruments used the traditional catalogue of Bulgarian folk music before the 18th century: a saz-like instrument, the gaida bagpipe, and the kaval flute. Tsar Kaloyan, so called because of the combination of his name Ioanitsa and “kalos,” in Greek, the latter due to his handsome looks, was Tsar of the Second Bulgarian Empire from 1196 to 1207. The Second Bulgarian Empire was the successor state of the First Bulgarian Empire that had been annihilated by Basil II, dubbed the Bulgar Slayer. Kaloyan reinvigorated Bulgaria with its long gone glory, and brought his successor state to new heights, dealing great defeats upon the Eastern Romans, which would earn him the nickname Roman Slayer, a direct response to Basil II two centuries earlier.