Rayna Katsarova (7 May 1901 – 14 September 1984) was a Bulgarian ethnomusicologist.

Life

Rayna Katsarova was born in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

on 7 May 1901. In 1925 she graduated from the Music Academy in Sofia, and in 1931 she studied in Berlin with

Erich Moritz von Hornbostel Erich Moritz von Hornbostel (25 February 1877 – 28 November 1935) was an Austrian ethnomusicologist, comparative musicologist, and scholar of music. He is remembered for his pioneering work in the field of ethnomusicology, and for the Sachs� ...

and

Robert Lachmann Robert Lachmann (28 November 1892 – 8 May 1939) was a German ethnomusicologist, polyglot (German, English, French, Arabic), orientalist and librarian. He was an expert in the musical traditions of the Middle East, a member of the Berlin School ...

. She worked in the folk music section of the Ethnographic Museum in Sofia, first as assistant keeper from 1934 to 1937, and then as senior keeper and head from 1947 to 1952. In 1947 she was among the founders of the

International Council for Traditional Music The International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) is a scholarly non-governmental organization which focuses on the study, practice, documentation, preservation, and dissemination of traditional music and dance of all countries. Founded in L ...

. From 1952 to 1962 she was the director of the Institute of Musicology of the

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (abbreviated BAS; , ''Bŭlgarska akademiya na naukite'', abbreviated БАН) is the National Academy of Bulgaria, established in 1869. The Academy, with headquarters in Sofia, is autonomous and consists of a S ...

. From 1965 she was a member of the Societé Internationale d'Ethnologie et de Folklore. She is the founder of the dance archive of the Institute of Musicology. Her students included Stoyan Dzhudzhev, Nikolai Kaufman, and Todor Todorov. In 1965, she founded the National Festival of Bulgarian Folk Art with

Petko Staynov Petko Staynov (; December1, 1896June25, 1977) was a Bulgarian composer and pianist. He enriched the Bulgarian musical culture and contributed considerably to its development. A composer of great creative talent, of wide musical and general cultur ...

and Anna Kamenova. She died on 14 September 1984.

Selected publications

*''Dances of Bulgaria'' (1951) *''Błogarskije narodnyje tancy'' (1958) *''Le manque de coïncidences entre la figure chorégraphique et la phrase mélodique'' (1960) *''L'ethnomusicologie et Bulgarie de 1954 à nos jours'' (1960) *''La classification des mélodies en Bulgarie'' (1965)

References

1901 births 1984 deaths People from Sofia Ethnomusicologists Women ethnomusicologists Bulgarian folklorists Women folklorists 20th-century musicologists {{ethnomusicologist-stub