Marcel Cellier and Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares

This post doesn't actually have much to do with drumming, short of a few tracks, but I knew I'd probably struggle to keep this blog only about drumming.  This is post is simply about great music, and remembering a man who helped bring great music to thousands, if not millions, of people who may have not heard it otherwise.


Swiss music producer Marcel Cellier passed away on Friday, December 13, 2013.  Cellier is responsible recording Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices).  Though the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir was formed in 1952, it was Cellier's recordings, first released in 1975 on his own label, Disques Cellier, and later on Nonesuch Records that brought the group worldwide attention.

A second volume of the 1975 recordings was released on Nonesuch Records in 1988 which won Cellier and the group a Grammy in 1989 for Best Traditional Folk Recording.

The success led to a large scale tour which took the ladies all over the world, including to the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

A third album, called "Ritual" was released in 1994, and all three records are available as a box set.

As drummers we can, and should, find inspiration from records that don't have any percussion as well as one's that do, and this series has certainly provided me with just that.  Here's to Marcel Cellier, and the great music he brought to us.