Tradition Now: Les Mystère Des Voix Bulgares, Georgi Andreev and Quarto Quartet

with special guest Landless 

Our festival of new traditional and folk music opens with one of the world's great ensembles...

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares are a female vocal ensemble, founded in 1952 as the Ensemble for Folk Songs of the Bulgarian Radio. Originally formed to record traditional folk songs arranged for multiple voices their otherworldly sound would go on to captivate listeners beyond Bulgaria’s borders, influencing artists from Kate Bush to Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance, earning a cult following worldwide. 

In the 1970s they were invited by Swiss music producer Marcel Cellier to be a part of an album of Bulgarian folk music, Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares. But it was the 1986 re-release by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the 4AD label, that launched the ensemble onto the world stage. The music has been praised by artists across genres from Frank Zappa to Kate Bush, Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins to Linda Ronstadt. The album’s follow-up Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, Vol II won a Grammy in 1989 with another two acclaimed volumes following in 1990 and 1998. 

Since the success of those recordings, the choir have gone on to perform internationally sharing their unique and powerful sound with the world. 

The program of “Voices and Strings” features both brand new songs composed for the choir and a string quartet by Georgi Andreev as well as well-known songs from the choir's repertoire rearranged for string quartet by Andreev. The new compositions remain true to Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares' rich polyphonic style, that has made the 70-year old choir a global phenomenon. 

Landless are: Lily Power, Méabh Meir, Ruth Clinton and Sinéad Lynch. The Irish quartet sings centuries old ballads as well as more recently penned folk songs. Sometimes unaccompanied and at times with subtle instrumentation, their vocally rich music is dark and patient; spellbinding and gorgeous.  

Their second album, Lúireach was released on legendary global label Glitterbeat in 2024 and as with their acclaimed debut Bleaching Bones (2018), it is produced by John ‘Spud’ Murphy, known for his work with artists such as Lankum and ØXN and was awarded Folk Album Of 2024 by The Guardian. 

Presented by NCH in partnership with The Arts Council