Parashkev Hadjiev is son of Todor Hadjiev. His versatile creative, pedagogic and social work won him recognition as one of the leading figures that shaped the Bulgarian professional music and music culture in the second half of the 20th century.

He graduated from the State Academy of Music (1936) majoring in Piano under Andrey Stoyanov and Composition under Pancho Vladigerov. In 1937 he specialised with Joseph Marx in Vienna. From 1938 to 1940 he studied Composition with H. Tissen at the Hochschule fur Musik in Berlin. Upon return he taught Harmony at the State Academy of Music. In 1947 he was appointed Full Professor of Harmony and Composition, a post he held for over forty years. He wrote textbooks of harmony and music theory essentials.

He chaired the Union of Bulgarian Composers (1990-92).

He is the most prolific Bulgarian stage music composer, for he wrote 21 operas, 6 operettas and 3 musicals, 1 ballet, etc., performed over 150 times and characteristic for the Bulgarian opera and operetta repertoire after the 1950s. Some of the works were staged in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, etc.

He also wrote symphony and chamber music, over 500 choral songs, more than 1000 children’s and school songs, 20 pop songs, over 500 arrangements of traditional songs, film music. Substantial part of his work was published. It is still used for pedagogic purposes.

He won the most important Bulgarian State awards and distinctions.

Stage music:
Operas:

Once Upon a Time (1957, Sofia);
Lud Gidia (Madcap) (1959);
Albena (1962, Varna);
July Night (1964, Varna);
The Millionaire (1965, Sofia);
Masters (1966, Sofia);
The Golden Apple – children’s opera (1972, Sofia);
The Year 893 (1973, Ruse);
Maria Desislava (1978, Ruse);
Joanis Rex (1981, Pleven);
Paradoxes (Divorce, Thief and Presents) – three one-act operas (1982, Pleven);
Me, Claudius (1984, Sofia);
Nameless Star (1985, Sofia);
Le Malade Imaginaire (1987, Plovdiv);
Grandma’s Bread – children’s opera (1989, Blagoevgrad);
The Government Inspector (1990, not staged);
The Love of Joan Kukuzel (1992, Sofia).

Operettas:

Deliana (1952, Sofia);
Aika (1955, Sofia);
Madame Sans-Gene (1958, Sofia).

Musical plays:

Slujbogontzi (Post-Hunters) (1972, Sofia);
Cyrano de Bergerac (1974, Sofia);
Shumla Polka (1979, Shumen).

Children’s Operettas:

The Broken Cup (1953, Sofia);
Rositza and the Wolf (1958, Sofia);
The Magician (1988, Sofia).

Ballet:

The Silver Slippers (1962, Varna).

Works for symphony orchestra:

Three Sketches (1940);
Youth Dance Suite (1952);
Suite from The Silver Slippers (1963);
Dance from Once Upon a Time (1957).

Concertinos:

Concertino for violin and orchestra (1941);
Concertino for flute and orchestra (1945).

Works for string orchestra:

Eight miniatures (1964);
Song and Joke for violin and string orchestra.

Chamber Music:

String quartets: Quartet N1 (1948); Quartet N2 (1952).

Three Pieces for wind quintet (1942).

For violin and piano:

Concertino 2 (1960).

Sonatas for:

Sonata N1 (1940);
Sonata N2 (1946);
Sonata N3 (1977);
Sonata N4 (1979);

Sonatina (1957);
Suite (1940);
Song and Joke (1952);
Album of 20 Little Pieces (1959).

Capriccio and Scherzo for oboe and piano;
Burlesque for trumpet and piano;
Rondo for French horn and piano.

For piano:

Granma’s Tale (1946);
15 Little Preludes (1950);
Sunny Youth (1951);
Children’s Album (1951);
Theme with Variations for four hands (1954);
Theme with Variations (1955);
Album for the Young (1957);
Four Pieces for four hands (1958).

Vocal music:

First Songs (Silent Songs, a cycle of six songs, lyrics by I. Bren (I. Iliev) (1935);
Three Songs for low voice, lyrics by Ivan Davidkov and Elisaveta Bagriana (1969);
My Love, cycle of three songs, lyrics by Dobri Jotev (1970);
A Rose, The Three Hazelnuts and Childrens Play, three cycles of three songs each, lyrics by S. Tiankova (1973);

Five Songs after old Oriental poets (version for voice and string quartet) (1973);
It’s You, a cycle of four songs, lyrics by E. Konstantinova (1980);
You Think Youve Forgotten Me, lyrics by E. Konstantinova (1982);
Four Songs, lyrics by Elisaveta Bagriana (1984);
Autumnal Letters, lyrics by Evtim Evtimov (1986);
Four Songs, lyrics by L. Daskalova (1987);
Three Childrens Songs, lyrics by Asen Bosev (1988).

Film music:

The Wedding, directed by B. Borozanov (1942);
Trail of Fire, directed by B. Borozanov, At. Georgiev (1946);
Kalin the Eagle, directed by B. Borozanov (1950);
Traces Remain, directed by P. Vasilev (1956);
La Petite, directed by N. Korabov (1958).

Selected books (published in Bulgarian):
Brief Practical Course in Harmony (Sofia, 1947);
Harmony for the Secondary School (Sofia, 1959, 77);
Music Theory Essentials (Sofia, 1974, 80).

Selected literature on him (in Bulgarian):
Panayotova, Liliana and Milka Miladinova. Parashkev Hadjiev. Bio-bibliographical Study 1 (Sofia, 1977);
Pavlov, Evgeni (Klosterman). Parashkev Hadjiev (Sofia, 1992).