The Representative Brass Band of the National Guards Unit of Bulgaria () is the official representative brass band of the National Guards Unit of the

Bulgarian Armed Forces The Bulgarian Army (), also called Bulgarian Armed Forces, is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military command is in ...

. Stationed in the capital of Sofia, the band works together with the National Guards Unit during events where the

President of Bulgaria The president of the Republic of Bulgaria (, romanised: ''Prezident na Republika Bŭlgariya'') is the head of state of Bulgaria and the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian Army. The official residence of the president is at Boyana Residence, S ...

receives

heads of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

at the Largo 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 ...

History

It was commissioned by the Bulgarian Government in 1878, with originally 20 Czech musicians led by Josef Chochola in the band. In 1892 this orchestra was transferred to Sofia from

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

and was enlisted as part of the Bulgarian Life Guards Squadron. The first ethnic Bulgarian to be appointed as the chief conductor of the band was Maestro Georgi Atanasov. In 1944, after the communist coup, the band was dissolved and the remaining musicians were sent to the town of

Breznik Breznik ( ) is a town in western Bulgaria, 50 km away from Sofia. It is located in Pernik Province and is close to the towns of Bankya and Pernik. Villages in the municipality include Begunovtsi, Dushintsi, and Velkovtsi. Geography Th ...

. In 1951, the band was restored as the Central Brass Band of the

Bulgarian People's Army The Bulgarian People's Army (, BNA) was the army of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. It comprised the Bulgarian Land Forces, Air Force and Air Defence, Navy and supporting arms. Bulgaria was one of the signatories of the Warsaw Pact. Along with ...

. Since its restoration, the band's musicians wore regular infantry uniforms instead of the uniform of the guards unit. The guards band was reestablished in 2001, with its former status and original name.

Music

Most of the pieces of music are performed by the band at the

Bulgarian Armed Forces Day Bulgarian Armed Forces Day (), also known as the Day of Bravery () or the Day of Bravery and Holiday of the Bulgarian Army () is a national holiday celebrated annually on May 6, commemorating the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The event is marked by mili ...

parade in

or during official protocol ceremonies. * Botev's March * Great are our Soldiers (The official anthem and hymn of the Bulgarian Armed Forces) * Son’s Duty * One Legacy * Near the Bosphorous * Dobrudzha region * We are to be victorious * Festive Sofia

List of conductors

* Josef Chochola (1878–1895) * Emanuil Manolov (1895–1914) * Georgi Atanasov (1914–1920; 1923–1926) * Nikola Tsonev (?)

References

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

National symbols of Bulgaria Military units and formations of Bulgaria Musical groups established in 1878

History

Music

List of conductors

See also

References

External links