"Kalimanku Denku" – the masterpiece of Yanka Rupkina and Krasimir Kyurkchiyski

The legendary Bulgarian singer from the region of Strandzha moutntain was born in the village of Bogdanovo, Burgas region, on August 15, 1938, but instead of naming her after the Virgin Maryas this is the day of the Assumption of the Theotokos, her parents named her after her paternal grandmother – Yana. Later, Yanka Rupkina would emphasize in almost every interview that her grandmother was "a very great singer and a deeply spiritual person" and that she could not forget her "honey-like voice".

At only six years old, she began singing her first songs learned from grandmother Yana. Everyone in her extended family was musical: her father, her aunts, her mother's relatives. But since they were immigrants from Thrace, they wore Thracian costumes and sang songs from the Thrace region in the heart of the Strandza region.

When Yanka married Georgi Rupkin from the village of Gabǎr, she heard there her first Strandzha songs, among them “Kalimanku Denku, mari hubava.” Today her impressive Strandzha repertoire includes more than 250 recordings in the archives of Bulgarian National Radio. Yet “Kalimanku Denku”- whether in her solo interpretation or in the magnificent choral arrangement by Krasimir Kyurkchiyski - remains her calling card. After Yanka Rupkina, few singers have dared to approach this folkloric masterpiece, and all acknowledge her performance as unsurpassed.

“I learned about this song from a man who was a cousin of my husband,” Rupkina recalls. “His name was Stoyu Stoev. He visited us many years ago, at the beginning of my career. He was from the village of Gabǎr and gave me this song, for which I thank him, even though he has passed away - may he rest in peace… The lyrics are very interesting because in our region, when two young people get married, they become like relatives with their best man and maid of honor. And it is not proper for their children to marry… And this is exactly what the song is about. The young man says to the girl ‘kalimanku’, which means ‘godmother,’ telling her he likes her very much and wants to marry her. But the girl answers: ‘No, best-man’s son, because we are already relatives.’ Yet he replies that he doesn’t care, because he loves her and has withered from love, he has become a ‘dry walnut tree’,” the singer explains.

Kalimanka in the Strandzha dialect means “godmother,” and the custom according to which a couple who serves as wedding godfather and godmother becomes family to the newlyweds – making it forbidden for their children to fall in love or marry – is still observed by Bulgarian families in the Strandzha and Rhodope regions who honor old traditions.

One of the most beloved soloists of The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices, who has sung with world stars such as Kate Bush and Linda Ronstadt and was part of the triumphant trio Bulgarka, Yanka Rupkina has had many star moments. But among her brightest memories is meeting George Harrison.

With her “Kalimanka” in the inimitable arrangement by Krasimir Kyurkchiyski, the great Yanka Rupkina became part of the legendary first album in the series The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices.

Photos: BTA, archive, Facebook/ Yanka Rupkina (Official), private archive