1. Glas [Глас]

the making of a sound

“This is glaso. When one poe, the evocation of the sound – this is glaso – the creation of tone. I have sung a lot and I had a very good glas and a very good gărlo. It was powerful and rich. Now I cannot do that. I have aged.” (Y.T., Kadrovitsa village)

Phrases

“(When I sing with you I get out of breath – L.P.) It is because you don’t know how to keep it, how to keep the silent and the high. It is not that you can’t – you just don’t know how. (Q: What is this silent and high?) Well, when I sing I would press the glaso down and then raise it up. (Q: How do you press glaso down?) I make the glaso deeper and when I speak out, I make it higher.” (Y.T., Kadrovitsa village)

 

2. Glas [Глас]

human voice, characteristics

“When I listen to the singers I easily hear those who sing wrong. I hear when one sings well, when one sings a bit scratchily or when their glas is smooth. If one doesn’t sing often her glas is not smooth. A smooth glas is without scratching.” (Y.T., Kadrovitsa village)

“When we were young our glasove rang like bells. We were young and beautiful maidens. It seems to me now that today’s maidens cannot sing so strongly. I am now old, but you can see what strong glas I have. I have reaped at harvest, I have hoed, I have bred horses – my children know nothing of this. And I still have a strong glas. (Q: What makes you say that one’s glas is good?) It should be strong. Like we peeme here. This was a strong glas once, and people would say that we peeme beautifully.” (E.L., Pelatikovo village)

“They had strong, rotund glasove. When they started to sing, it was as strong as an ox would bellow! Three women – as if their glasove were coming out of the ground.” (R.B.N, Dyakovo village)

Phrases

“(Q: Why do you hold your chin with your hand while you are singing?) Because I don’t want my glas to scatter.” (Ya.A., Tishanovo village)

 

3. Glas [Глас]

melody

“The melody is glaso which you would sing out. That is what melody means – for instance, there are some songs, about which you can say – see what a good melody this one is singing. That is about melody.” (P.R., Alino village)

Glas is the way the song sounds. One song sounds na dălgo, another one sounds nakăso – it depends on the song. We cannot sing all songs na dălgo, and we cannot sing all songs nakăso.” (P.V., Alino village)

“The thing is, the working-bee songs have their own glas, the wedding songs have a different one, the walking songs a third, and those for the fields a fourth. Glasovete are different. When you peeš – that is glaso. The way that you peeš. When you peeš on the field it is different from when you peeš on the road. These were glasovete. That was how we were taught.” (P.V., Alino village)

 

Phrases

  1. “Each calendar feast had its own glas. I mean the big feasts. We didn’t sing and dance at the small ones. Each saint’s day had its own glas. Easter had its own glas, St.Peter’s day had a different glas. On St.George’s day we only sang. At Easter glaso finished with an Easter horo. There is also a harvest glas. It is a bit different. When you reap and carry the sheaves it is glaso that keeps you working. And there was another glas for horo.” (V.Ch., Slatino village)
  2. Glaso in the fields is different to glaso at horoto. And glaso for working-bees is different from the others.” (Z.B., Cherven Breg village)
  3. “Both at harvest and at horo we sang the same pesen – only the glaso was different. We sang ‘Hey, you beautiful Radulinka’ at the Easter horo, holding each other at the waist and in the fields during harvest. When we sang it at the horo it was somewhat sharper, and in the fields it was with the harvest glas.” (V.Ch., Slatino village)