Code 359: Musical postcards from Bulgaria

At the end of 2025, internationally acclaimed Bulgarian musician Martin Denev unveiled Code 359: Music Postcards Vol. 1, an ambitious project combining music and film. A second volume followed in mid-May 2026. The project was created with financial support from the European Union under Bulgaria's Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Conceived as a musical and cinematic journey through landscapes that have become symbols of Bulgaria, Code 359 comprises eight short music films shot in some of the country's most inspiring locations. Bringing together exceptional musicians including Theodosii Spassov, Kalin Veliov, Veronika Todorova, Dimitar Liolev, Rosen Zahariev, Zvezdelina Haltakova and Sophia Koleva, the series pairs original compositions with poetic texts inspired by Bulgarian folklore.

Together with Denev and his 11-year-old son Kristian, the musicians create evocative soundscapes for short documentary stories about places such as the Seven Rila Lakes, the Belogradchik Rocks, the mouth of the Veleka River and Pobiti Kamani.

Speaking to Radio Bulgaria, Martin Denev – a composer, pianist, producer and DJ, as well as an avid traveller who has lived in Europe, the Caribbean, the United States and Indonesia – recalls how the idea for Music Postcards first emerged:

"While I was living in Asia, I made musical films inspired by places that had moved me. But it was never anything systematic or part of a larger concept. About two years ago, the municipality of Krumovgrad commissioned me to create a musical film about the Kovil sanctuary – a little-known but fascinating, mysterious and untamed place south of Momchilgrad, near the border. I was deeply impressed by it and ended up creating a film with three compositions that served as a soundtrack to a longer text about Kovil – what the sanctuary is, the theories surrounding it, why it was created, how it came into being and who the people behind it were. That was when the idea for a whole series began to take shape."

"The project is quite ambitious and requires a lot of preparation and funding, so when European calls for proposals were announced, I decided to apply," Denev continues. "Although many people around me were sceptical that it would succeed, the project was approved. The list of possible locations was much longer, but I had to narrow it down to eight because the concept was built around two episodes for each season – spring, summer, autumn and winter. I wanted a variety of landscapes – mountains, lakes, rivers, forests and beaches. I also wanted to include one city, and that turned out to be Plovdiv."

Speaking about the third episode, dedicated to the Seven Rila Lakes, Denev is full of admiration:

"They are simply otherworldly – the beauty there is indescribable. It's probably my son's favourite episode. He was involved in the whole process, even appearing in Episode One, which featured the Studen Kladenets reservoir, the suspension bridge near the village of Lisitsite, and the Stone Mushrooms near Kardzhali. As he watched everything unfold, he made me promise to take him to all eight locations. I'm really happy he got to see some of the most beautiful places in Bulgaria because he was born and raised abroad and had never travelled around the country before. In a way, I introduced him to Bulgaria through music."

BNR Orchestra musician Zvezdelina Haltakova was entrusted with the musical story devoted to the Belogradchik Rocks, and she showed remarkable courage. Her task was to perform while flying in a hot-air balloon. Denev recalls:

"The pilot turned out to be an Australian who had arrived in Bulgaria only the day before for the Balloon Festival, which attracts pilots from around the world. It was his first day in the country, and there we were, about to climb into a balloon and fly off with a complete stranger."

"The view was indescribable! And there was this absolute silence. I remember entering a cloud early in the morning, around seven o'clock. Suddenly everything around us turned into a white mass, like milk. We couldn't see anything and no one could see us. We had no idea whether we were moving or standing still, going up or down, drifting sideways – we knew nothing. We stayed inside that cloud for some time and I had never experienced such silence in my life. Not a single sound.

"Then, after a few minutes, the balloon rose above the clouds and there was the sun above us. Only a few of the red Belogradchik Rocks were jutting out through the clouds. It was an incredible, almost surreal sight."

Stylistically, Code 359 bears a clear imprint of jazz. Denev, who comes from a jazz background and studied at Boston's renowned Berklee College of Music, says he draws on a similar musical language and harmonies.

"But I wouldn't necessarily call it jazz," he says. "It's electronic music with different elements. At times it feels like film music, there are moments of jazz, and there's a lot of improvisation. It's quite eclectic – a blend of different styles."

Having travelled extensively and visited every continent except Antarctica, Denev finds it hard to compare Bulgaria's landscapes with those he has seen around the world.

"The fact that I've taken on a project like this and want to show it to the world says it all," he says. "I have absolutely no doubt that Bulgaria is home to extraordinary places, and they deserve to be shared."

Editor: Elena Karkalanova