"Mig kato vechnost" - an iconic Bulgarian anthem of love

"Even before I met you in my life - I loved you". For nearly four decades, this verse has been exciting Bulgarians, especially those in love! The song by poet Georgi Konstantinov and composer Vladimir Naumov is an exceptional hit, first and foremost because of the magnificent lyrics. Great master of love lyrics, Georgi Konstantinov, shares that he recited his poem "Mig kato vechnost" ("A Moment Like Eternity") at a writers' conference abroad and the audience applauded wildly, even though no one knew Bulgarian. They applauded because of the melodiousness of the verses and their emotional impact. "This is one of my favourite poems," says Georgi Konstantinov in an interview with bTV, "and I really like the song too." Composer Vladimir Naumov adds: "A Moment Like Eternity is actually eternity in a moment."

The poem was first published in Georgi Konstantinov's collection "Negramotno surtse" ("Illiterate Heart") in 1978. The poet remembers that it became popular, especially among young people. Years later, he was surprised to hear his amazing, exciting, lyrical and deeply philosophical text as a song on the National Radio performed by Todor Varbanov. Known by the pseudonym "Varban", this singer remains in the history of Bulgarian music with the soulful performance of "A Moment Like Eternity".

Vladimir Naumov, born in 1954 in Varna, is the son of renowned Bulgarian folklorist, composer and conductor Anastas Naumov. He began writing pop music at a very young age and his first original work won first prize at the Youth Competition for a Song in 1975. He then turned to combining Bulgarian folklore with contemporary genres and made several very popular arrangements of folk songs, including "Petruno, pile shareno" and "Ripni Kalinke". In the 1980s he met pop singer Elvira Georgieva, for whom he created over 100 songs. He also wrote for stars such as Lili Ivanova, Vasil Naydenov, Nelly Rangelova.

Even before Todor Varbanov discovered Georgi Konstantinov's poem, the melody of "Mig kato vechnost" was born in Vladimir Naumov's home, conceived as a soundtrack to a film that was never made. The music remained in the drawer, but after a while Varbanov showed the composer the poem by Georgi Konstantinov, which both considered magnificent. Then Naumov recalled of the melody conceived for the film. "The music simply stuck to this text, as if it had been specially written... In fact, it was!" the composer says.

Todor Varbanov recorded the song for about 35 minutes in a studio of the Bulgarian National Radio in mid-February 1987. Days later, it was already on the air and soon reached record 12 broadcasts per day. The singer says that for decades, the audience always sings this song along with him at concerts. According to Georgi Konstantinov, the song is "a dedication to the woman in general - a hymn dedicated to the woman in my life." "Mig kato vechnost" gives the name to one of his last collections of poems, which collected a hundred most beautiful lyrical works.