Ansambandûl Gotse Delchev, Sofiya, 40 godini

Bilyana platno beleshe (Bilyana was bleaching a cloth)
Devoyche, belo, tsûrveno (You white and florid girl)
Ne shetay pred mene (Stay away from my sight)
Stoyne bre, Stoyne (Stoyne, hey Stoyne)
Dor tri mi pushki puknaya (Three guns went off)
Maro, Mariyke (Mara, little Mara)
Chivo e tea devoyche (Whose is this lass)
Zemyo, mila (My dear land)

Mile Popyordanov Digni si, mome, ochite (Lift up your eyes, lass)
Tulyo le, mome hubava (Tulyo, you beautiful maiden)
More, koga odef (Hey, when I went)
Radka na porti stoeshe (Radka stood at the gate)
Stameno, pile shareno (Stameno, colorful bird)
Tri pûti pominah (Three times it passed)

The Representative Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances at the "Vladimir Poptomov" Fatherland Front Cultural Center in Sofia is well-known and favorite among the folk music lovers throughout the country. Its melodious songs have been sung all over the country, they have entered every home, being popularized by the Bulgarian National Radio, Balkanton Records, and the numerous concerts of the Ensemble. With their deep content and characteristic melody these songs acquaint our contemporaries with the heroic revolutionary past and the old traditions of the Pirin region.

The "Gotse Delchev" Ensemble is coeval of the Socialist Revolution in Bulgaria. These days it will celebrate its 40th anniversary. The Ensemble started as a female vocal group performing folk songs from the town folklore mainly, in 1945 and was transformed into an Ensemble for Folk Songs and Dances with tambura orchestra accompaniment. The specific timbre of the tamburas lend the orchestra that characteristic sound which distinguishes it from the other folk music formations, strongly impresses the audiences by first attracting their attention and then winning their hearts forever.

The Ensemble's first artistic director was Dimitûr Dinev; between 1963 and 1978 it was headed by Ivan Pavlov who blazed a trail in its development and whose work with it was interrupted by his untimely death. Soon after, Lyuben Tachev, the former accordionist of the Ensemble, took over. In the last few years the Ensemble's chief artistic director has been Emil Kolev, a highly popular musician famous for his folk song arrangements, who, together with the choir master Dimitûr Penev, has won ever greater popularity of the Ensemble among its numerous friends and admirers. The professional standard of the Ensemble rose higher, its repertoire was enriched. During its long road of creative development it has popularized hundreds of songs, many of which have been entered in the Golden Fund of the Bulgarian National Radio as gems of the vocal folklore.

The "Gotse Delchev" Ensemble has given over 1300 concerts in Bulgaria and abroad. It has spread the fame of the Bulgarian amateur art activities in the GDR, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the USSR, Greece, and Austria, thus winning new friends of Bulgaria everywhere.

The Ensemble has been holder of the "Cyril and Methodius" Order, 2nd class, since 1955 and the "Cyril and Methodius" Order, 1st class, since 1970. It is laureate of the Second National Festival of Amateur Art Activities, was awarded gold medals at the Third and Fourth Festivals, and at the Sixth it won the honorary title of "Representative."

Many are the members of the Ensemble who grew up as talented performers: Atanas Velev, Lilyana Dokova, Kostadin Gugov, Iliya Argirov, Ivan Savov, Iglika Genadieva, and others. The Ensemble's soloists of long standing, holders of the "Cyril and Methodius" Order Lyubka Rondova and Ivan Katsarov still delight their numerous audiences with their art.

The present record includes popular and less-known songs which will reach the hearts of thousands of folk music lovers in the performance of the choir, the soloists, and the tambura orchestra.