The first Bulgarian symphony...

[Alan Howe]

...appears to have been written in 1912 by Nikola Atanassov (1886-1969). Sounds quite attractive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIMQgHYpFT4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUzkx4OoccU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWibadnAnu0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPlTb9Hkx9k

[Delicious Manager]

Hmm. Listened with interest to this and was pleasantly surprised. Thanks for the introduction.

I hope you will forgive me complementing this with the acknowledged first Estonian symphony by Artur Lemba, almost an exact contemporary of Antanassov, which pre-dates the Bulgarian symphony by four years.
https://youtu.be/y9AinZb3trw

[Alan Howe]

The Lemba is a known quantity, though. The performance has been available for a while:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Estonia-Tobias-Lemba-Tormis/dp/B0040DRXA8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1433175254&sr=8-3&keywords=lemba

[Richard Moss]

There is another version of this work on YT by Grigor Palikarov and the Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra which gives the following tempi for the 4 movements:

I.   Allegro energico
II.   Andante
III.   Scherzo – allegro
IV.   Finale - moderato

Cheers

Richard

[Alan Howe]

Thanks for the info.

[Alan Howe]

Well, I've thoroughly enjoyed listening to this unpretentious piece. More comments to come.

[semloh]

I've had this performance of the symphony tucked away in the computer for some time, and can't remember it. I recall that we strayed into the unsung composers from the Balkan region some years ago, and perhaps this was in our downloads "Pre-Reformation". In any case, time for another listen!