Dobri Hristov

Dobri Hristov, a Bulgarian composer, was among the esteemed figures of the initial cohort of Bulgarian composers.

He was born in Varna on December 14, 1875. Dobri Hristov Ivanov’s father was an immigrant from Kazanlak who worked as a small-scale craftsman specializing in furrier. Amidst the Crimean War, he departed from his place of birth and established himself in Varna, a city that was still thinly inhabited by Bulgarians at that period. The composer’s maternal grandparents were immigrants from Yambolsko.

The atmosphere in which the future composer is raised influences the fulfillment of his ambitions. At the age of eleven, he acquired 12 groszy through New Year’s survaka and used it to purchase a little flute. Over the course of three years, he attempted to play the repertoire of the military brass band on this instrument. To acquire knowledge of the musical notes, he formed friendships with military musicians, from whom he successfully obtained scores. He then proceeded to transcribe and interpret the symbols used to notate the familiar songs.

Observing Dobri’s profound passion for music, his neighbor Oton Ivanov Hadjidinchoch, compelled by his wife Elisaveta Otonova, presented the budding musician with a violin.
He furthered his education by teaching himself to play the violin, and at the age of 12, in the fourth grade, he began experimenting with composing. Initially, he started with simple melodies, then progressed to composing two mazurkas. By the time he reached the higher grades of high school, he was composing choral songs with “full harmony” and even solo-instrumental pieces.

In the 1890s, he formed two choral ensembles named “Lilyana Moma Khubava” and “Pusti Momi Zravnenki”. He entered a competition for a scholarship to pursue music studies overseas, but unfortunately, he was not accepted. The Varna public regarded this as an affront, prompting them to gather funds that facilitated his enrollment at the Prague Conservatory. Antonín Dvořák was one of his tutors at that place. During the three years spent at the Prague Conservatory, the composer acquired a wealth of knowledge regarding the standards and principles of national musical art. Dobri Hristov’s artistic ingenuity is deeply ingrained in the very essence of Bulgarian musical culture. He is the writer of one of the most outstanding illustrations of the contemporary Bulgarian church music literature.

He passed away in Sofia on January 23, 1941, at the age of 65.

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