Bulgarian National Radio Children's Choir

Okay, so I looked up children's choir and the first few examples were all kids choirs doing pop music and not really what I was looking for. This popped up and it reminded me of a discussion we had one day in World Music about Bulgarian songs so my curiosity got the better of me. Once I started listening to it though I knew I wanted to talk about it. So enjoy! Note: Skip to about a minute and a half in.

This is the Bulgarian National Radio Children's Choir singing an arrangement of The Mountain has Overturned by Yuliyan Slabakov

I'm wondering at what age one would no longer consider the label "children's choir" inappropriate. Many of the girls look like they could be in their early to mid teens with maybe a few in their pre-teens. This makes this piece ideal for thinking about girls changing voices. (You get bonus points if you can find the two boys.)  It sounds as though much of it lies in a comfortable middle range though there are some instances where the altos are way low and at the very end it moves up into a high part.

Obviously this piece poses some challenges when it comes to discussing it because of the cultural differences. Practices we would find odd here in the United States might be considered the norm in Bulgaria. For example, for a girls choir with developing voices I feel that their sound is a little more mature than what might be healthy for girls of that age. That being said this could be the cultural aesthetic and for the most part I don't think it sounds too pushed or unhealthy. The soloist has a tone that is very piercing and forward, an aesthetic I know we've talked about in world music. I feel as though she executes it well. Though maybe pushed a little she sounds as though she has control and support beneath her note.
I also have no idea if the words and vowels are correct as far as pronunciation and purity goes; I don't speak Bulgarian. However, to my ears they sound pure and if you watch the shots of the chorus, their mouths are well matched. There blend is incredible as well, which would cause me to assume their vowels are pure as well. Obviously the soloist sticks out over the chorus, but behind her the parts are well balanced.

In world music we've discussed that another aesthetic of Bulgarian music is the interval of the second and dissonances being prevalent. There are two spots specifically in the piece where I hear dissonances (mostly between the piano and chorus) that I'm not sure if they're intentional or accidental. After the initial a cappella section the piano comes in (around 2:10) and the chorus and the piano are not together tonally and you can kind of here the chorus adjust their pitch to match the piano. This happens a couple of times throughout. There is also and instance later after the percussion has entered that there is a crescendo. It becomes obvious that some of the choir is pushing on their voices and adding heavy vibrato and this causes the pitches to waver and go in and out of tune.

Despite these few instances I think this is a very clean and well executed performance. I think the arrangement is fantastic; very driving and engaging. I like the two complementary sections, slow at the beginning versus fast and driving at the end.