Ľubomir Pipkov (1904–74) was one of the leading members of the so-called ‘second generation’ of Bulgarian composers. In later life he became fascinated with the ancient heritage of Bulgarian folk-music, writing a series of what he called ‘metro-rhythmical studies’ – piano miniatures that combine melodic immediacy and rhythmic complexity, with a character that might be loosely characterised as sounding like ‘Prokofiev meets Bartók in the Balkans’. Indeed, Pipkov saw in the irregular rhythms of Bulgarian folk-dance a parallel with the rhythmic experimentation in contemporary composers like Debussy, Ravel and Stravinsky.