Alexander Yosifov and his timeless 'Boyana Master'

published on 8/8/25 1:52 PM

Photo: operasofia.bg

The distinguished composer, conductor and pedagogue Alexander Yosifov leaves behind a body of work remarkable both for its breadth and its diversity of genre. Among his creations are hundreds of finely crafted popular songs, set to the words of eminent Bulgarian poets and brought to life by some of the brightest stars of the national stage.

Audiences still cherish Yordanka Hristova’s heartfelt rendition of Obich (Love), Bogdana Karadocheva’s evocative Zov (Call), Emil Dimitrov’s nostalgic Ancestral Home, Vasil Naydenov’s shimmering Sineva (Azure), Silvia Katsarova’s optimistic I Know It Will Be a Beautiful Day and Tonika SV's performance of Lilac Nights.

“They are all my children,” Yosifov confided in his very last interview. “I look upon them with all my love. I cherish them.”

An accomplished and active cultural manager, Yosifov also played a key role in creating and developing the renowned international festival The Golden Orpheus.

He holds a special place in the artistic life of one of Bulgaria’s most enduring icons, Lili Ivanova, who has described him as 'one of the greatest aristocrats in Bulgarian music'. A song of his, set to verses by the exceptional poet Bogomil Gudev, ranks not only among the defining hits of Lili Ivanova’s repertoire, but among the milestones of Bulgarian music as a whole.

For Radio Bulgaria's feature series, 'Highlights of Bulgarian Musical Culture', Boryana Yosifova, daughter of Alexander Yosifov, shares:

‘The song The Boyana Master, with lyrics by Bogomil Gudev and performed beautifully by Lili Ivanova, was composed by my father, Alexander Yosifov, way back in 1968. Yet to this day it remains one of the most famous works he ever created in the genre of popular music – or ‘estrada’, as it was known at the time. The late 1960s and early 1970s marked the peak of Lili Ivanova’s career, when she built her repertoire entirely from songs by leading Bulgarian authors of the time. My father, then a young, 27-year old composer, wrote his first song for Lili Ivanova: Requiem, set to words by Yordan Milev – another well-known piece which has endured as a classic in her repertoire. Their artistic partnership proved highly successful in those years, and he began writing songs especially for her. In 1970, at the prestigious annual festival in Athens, Lili Ivanova won the Grand Prize and a Gold Record for performing his song Star, with lyrics by Krastyo Stanishev. At the Rio de Janeiro Festival, she won the Bronze Medal for performing Requiem.

Lili Ivanova

“My father held Bulgarian poets in high regard and was friends with many of them. They would gift him their collections of verse. He composed music solely to pre-existing poetry and that is precisely how The Boyana Master came into being. He would recall how reading Bogomil Gudev’s lyrical, almost prayer-like verses inspired him to write the music, creating a moving symbiosis of melody and poetry. The sound was so intimate that it seemed to bring the frescoes of the Boyana Church to life.

Rare footage of the recording of The Boyana Master with the Balkanton Orchestra conducted by Dimitar Ganev in Studio 1 of Bulgarian National Radio in 1970 is preserved in the Bulgarian National Television archive,” says Boryana Yosifova for Radio Bulgaria.

The Boyana Master remained in Lili Ivanova’s repertoire for many years. Numerous performances from her concerts over the decades can be found on YouTube, and it is a true joy for me that, more than fifty-five years after its creation, the song is still listened to, loved and able to move generations."

On 12 August, we celebrate the 85th anniversary of Alexander Yosifov's birth. He was a hugely important figure in the development of Bulgarian music in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. In his memory, we revisit this undisputed gem of Bulgarian musical culture: The Boyana Master, with lyrics by Bogomil Gudev and an arrangement by Ivan Peev, rendered with inimitable artistry by Lili Ivanova.