The Bulgarian state choir isn't a representative of a rich tradition. Most of that music came about in the Communist era when the authorities wanted music that

The Bulgarian state choir isn't a representative of a rich tradition. Most of that music came about in the Communist era when the authorities wanted music that fit the Western norms demanded by socialist realism, but was lightly spiced with aspects of Bulgarian folk music so that it could seem "close to the people". There is a huge difference between that state-created choral genre and real Bulgarian traditional music as heard on archival recordings by ethnographers. Ethnomusicologist Timothy Rice's publications explain some of these differences.