Kutev, Filip

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Kutev, Filip

Kutev, Filip, Bulgarian bandmaster, choral conductor, and composer; b. Aytos, June 26, 1903; d. Sofia, Nov. 27, 1982. He studied at the Sofia Academy of Music (graduated, 1929). He was a bandmaster in Burgas, and then in Sofia. In 1951 he organized an ensemble of largely untutored folksingers, musicians, and dancers, which he brought to a high point of virtuosity and toured in Europe (1958) and the U.S. (1963), eliciting great praise. Virtually all of his compositions are derived from Bulgarian melorhythms. These include Bulgarian Rhapsody for Orch. (1937), September the 9th, cantata in honor of the entry of the Soviet army into Bulgaria in 1944, Stalin Cantata (1949), and Sym. (1950).

Bibliography

S. Stoyanov, F. K. (Sofia, 1962).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire