site.btaPantcho Wladigeroff: A Legendary Composer Who Made Bulgarian Folk Music, Western European Art Music Meet

March 13 of this year marks the 125th birth anniversary of legendary Bulgarian composer and musician Pantcho Wladigeroff, who was a pioneer of a number of genres in Bulgarian music, such as the instrumental concerto, the violin sonata, miniatures for violin and piano, and the piano trio. He was one of the first to successfully combine Bulgarian folk music with Western European art music.

Born in Zurich, he grew up in Shumen (northeastern Bulgaria). His father Haralan was a Bulgarian and his mother Eliza was a Russian Jew and a close relative of the famous writer Boris Pasternak, his grandsons Alexander and Konstantin (of the musician duo Wladigeroff Brothers) wrote on their website. Both held doctoral degrees from West European universities. 

After the death of his father, Pantcho and his family moved to Sofia where he started taking lessons in composition with Dobri Hristov, the most distinguished Bulgarian composer of that time.

Studying, working in Germany

In 1912, Pantcho and his twin brother, the violinist Lyuben Wladigeroff, received a state scholarship to study at the Berlin Staatliche Akademische Hochschule für Musik. Later he continued his studies at the Academie der Kunste in the same city.

During his studies, he twice won the Mendelssohn Prize of the Academy for his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1, as well as his Three Impressions for Orchestra Op. 9.

Wladigeroff was appointed as music director of Deutsches Theater. He lived and worked in Germany until 1932, as his works attracted the attention of the European musical community. The Vardar Rhapsody, Bulgarian Suite, Violin Concerto No. 1, Piano Concerto No. 2, Scandinavian Suite, etc. are performed on big concert stages around the world.

Due to the gradually increasing Nazi influence in Germany in the 1930s, Maestro Wladigeroff, who was of Jewish origin, decided to return to Bulgaria.

Back in Bulgaria

In the following years, he enriched and diversified his artistic output with works such as the opera Tsar Kaloyan, the ballet A Legend of the Lake, String Quartet No. 1, Symphony No. 1, etc. In Sofia, Wladigeroff easily found a job as a professor of piano, chamber music and composition at the Bulgarian State Conservatoire (currently National Academy of Music) and taught there for 40 years.

In 1968 Pantcho Wladigeroff received the prestigious Herder Prize for his contribution to European cultural heritage.

During his lifetime he produced over 20,000 pages of music manuscripts. He continued to work until his death in 1978. 

In honour of the composer, in 1995 the Bulgarian State Conservatoire was renamed to Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music. It bears the composer's name to this day. In 2013, a strait in Antarctica was also named after him.

Continuing the Wladigeroff Family Legacy

Pantcho’s son Alexander specialized in conducting and won many prizes in composition competitions during his lifetime, including a gold medal on the Fifth World Youth Festival in Warsaw. Pantcho’s grandsons Alexander and Konstantin (twins like him and Lyuben) are also composers and musicians. They are graduates of the National Academy of Music and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and have lived and worked in the Austrian city for more than 10 years.