When Sylvie Zakarian and I formed the marimba - voice duo Syldason, we were keenly aware of how unusual it was. Finding repertoire presented a special challenge. We had to resort to making our own arrangements from songs with a piano accompaniment. Luckily some of our friends and colleagues who are composers and arrangers, stepped in to help create works for our configuration. One of these new works is “Reche Mama”, based on a traditional Bulgarian song, and reimagined for us by Sylvie’s long time friend and colleague, George Tantchev. “Reche Mama” was chosen from Filip Kutev’s collection and arrangements of Bulgarian folk songs, popularized by the Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares. Cheerful and humorous in character, it represents the style typical for the Shope region in Western Bulgaria. While keeping the vocal part intact, George Tantchev added new material in the marimba with more elaborate subsequent variations. As Sylvie and I both hail from the Balkan peninsula, working on this song felt like a long overdue visit home. Sylvie’s exquisite playing bounces from playful to lyrical, at times playing a role of a tapan drum, always propelling me forward in telling a story of a disobedient daughter much to her mother’s chagrin. Working with Sylvie added an unexpected turn in my musical journey and it gave me a new set of listening skills. Her musicality, her talent, and her tireless devotion to her instrument is truly inspiring!
We recorded “Reche Mama” at Q Division Studios in January 2024. It was engineered, mixed and mastered by Joel Edinberg. It's available for streaming on Amazon, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and all the other platforms.
Armenian-Bulgarian Sylvie Zakarian is an accomplished marimba soloist. The Boston Musical Intelligencer recently described her playing as “elegantly poised, luscious timbres, moments of levity and joy as well as sadness and longing.” Ms. Zakarian weaves marimba sonorities into the classical repertoire, as well as original and artfully transcribed works for her. Performing on what is an unconventional instrument for a woman, Sylvie ardently works to involve the solo marimba into the classical repertoire through the transcription of works from other instruments’ established repertoire. In addition, she has commissioned new music for marimba and is always eager to perform original compositions. Highlights include the premiere of Dzon, homage to composer and former Arlingtonian Alan Hovanness, on the occasion of the 100th year of his birth, written exclusively for Zakarian by Pasquale Tassone; Concerto for Marimba by Scott Ethier, as well as the Boston premier of Melancholy Beauty, an Oratorio by Georgi Andreev.
Reche Mama
Reče da me ženi, hej, ih mori nane
Včera reče, dneska neče,hej, Ih mori nane!
Pa me dava na giulgerče, hej, ih mori nane
Ja giulgerče nečem, ih mori nane!
Če giulger e kako petel, hej, ih mori nane,
Od greda na greda, ih mori nane!
Pa me dava na bakalče, hej, ih mori nane,
Ja bakalče nečem, ih mori nane!
Če bakal e kako mika, hej, ih mori nane,
Od sanduk na sanduk, ih mori nane!
Sedi mama pa se čudi, hej, ih mori nane,
Komu da me dade, ih mori nane!
Pa me dava na gajdarče hey, ih mori nane,
Ja gajdarče sakam, ih mori nane!
On če sviri, ja če igram, hej, ih mori nane,
Pa če si se pogodime, hej, ih mori nane!
Reche Mama
Mama decided to find me a husband
Hey, oh my granny!
Yesterday she wanted to, today she changed her mind.
So she wants to give me to a carpenter, but I don’t like a carpenter.
Carpenter is like a rooster, jumping from post to post.
So she wants to give me to a shopkeeper, but I don’t like a shopkeeper.
Shopkeeper is like a mouse. From a crate into a crate he goes…
Mama sat down, wondering, who can she give me to?
So she gives me to a musician, which I like very much!
He will play and I will dance and we will be so happy together.