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Romania |
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Gypsy Musicians
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The soul of Romanian traditional music can be typified by the daring improvisations of the gypsy violinist, the bold rhythmic inventions of the dulcimer player, and the dizzying chromatic inflections of the accordion.Unfortunately, today, it is |
rare to hearauthentic old-style Romanian gypsy
material.Any group that must rely on its livelihood as a performing
musical ensemble will inevitably begin to absorb modern material,
which in urban areas such as Bucharest or Timisoara will include
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Serbian,Bulgarian, Turkish, jazz, pop and rock influences.While this is a natural progression in many indigenous musical traditions, the seeker of Romanian traditional music will have to rely more and more on reissued recordings of past masters. | |
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below: George Udila, clarinet,
and ensemble, Bucharest, 1999. George is the son of Ile Udila,
the legendary accordionist.
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Roma Musicians of Southeastern Europe from the program book accompanying the Revels "Romani" Show © Tom Pixton, 1997 The earliest record of gypsies working as musicians is a Persian reference to a group of luri, a caste of musicians and dancers, who had come from India around 420 BC, and performed at the request of the Persian King. It is not clear
whether this was an enforced enlistment, or whether these were gypsies already on the move from their native land. What seems apparent was that gypsies were to wander from the Middle East, through Turkey and into Europe, and were to have significant cultural impact across a range of European societies. We know that with the expansion of the Ottoman empire, gypsies were on the move with the Turkish army who used them as professional musicians. The Roma, as many tribes called themselves, had dispersed throughout Europe by the 15th century, and were living on the fringes of society as tinkers, craftsmen, or horsetraders. Certain families apparently had unusual and prodigious aptitude for music, and in this capacity became celebrated as entertainers. Gypsies in the vast reaches of the Austro-Hungarian empire who specialised in music made themselves indispensable as performers to villages of various ethnicities, which included Saxons, Vlachs, Magyars, Szekelers, Serbs, Croats, Oltenians and Moldavians. In the 19th century, gypsy musicians began to enjoy the patronage of the middle classes and especially the aristocracy, who regarded their music as exemplifying an idealized Romantic freedom. Violinists playing with great natural virtuosity usually dominated these small string bands, which include viola, 'cello, bass, and cimbalom, the hammered dulcimer of this region. |
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below: Fiddlers Ion Calin (left)
and Stan Calin Stan (right) and their cousins, Gaujeni, Giurgiu,
south Romanian, 1999
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In the southern Balkan regions of Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Epiros, Thrace, and Greece, gypsy musicians were regarded as preservers of the host culture's traditional music, and that without their unique oral traditions, improvisatory skill and creative musicianship, much regional folk music would have become lost. In Macedonia, to this day, gypsy players of the zurna, a strident double-reed wind instrument related to the bombarde and shawm, continue to play at village weddings, where their participation is considered mandatory. Gypsy musicians working as purveyors of traditional music in rural villages as well as larger towns had to know the various regional repertoire, to be always prepared to acquire new music, and to creatively adapt older music for new occasions. In contrast to the itinerant begging lifestyle typical of many gypsy tribes, these professional musicians were highly socialized into the fabric of the host culture, and were accomplished at folk, classical, and popular music of many neighboring areas. |
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below: porfessional "pick-up"
folklore ensemble, Bucharest, 1999; these musicians are highly
skilled at all kinds of music, and they take jobs in folk as well
as theater and orchestra venues. Which ones are gypsies?? (Answer:
the leader in white, the blond kid playing second fiddle, and
the cimbal player) Who cares?? Answer: (Romanians; they discuss
endleslys who "is" and who "isn't")
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Although Roma were still being traded as slaves into the 19th century in the Romanian provinces of Moldavia, Transylvania, and Oltenia, gypsy musicians here, as in the Austro-Hunarian empire with which these provinces overlapped, became integrated into rural life as entertainers. As such, while they may still have been considered foreigners, their status as musicians afforded them privileges denied to even the hard-working Romanian peasants they played for, so beloved was their music.
Even more so than in the other Balkan countries, the Roma musicians, who became known as l‹utarii (from the Romanian word meaning "the fiddlers"), collected and imbued into the national psyche a body of traditional music of great richness and diversity. Enriching their performances with Western-style harmonies and instruments, these musicians augmented the most ancient of Oltenian melodies and laments with the fiery drive of the Moldavian hora, and the popular songs heard in the larger cities.Many of these instrumentalists were skilled enough to be employed in theater orchestras and in concerts of classical music. Even beyond absorbing and performing the regional folklore of Romania's various provinces, the l‹utari played for their own enjoyment and their own celebrations. In doing so, certain types of music became uniquely "gypsy" in their style, particularly the improvised vocal ballads known as "doina" and various types of faster instrumental pieces, often called "l‹utareasc‹", often employing unusual harmonic progressions. This music, in turn, gradually became known throughout Romania, and so we find a vast repertoire of regional folklore, "table" or drinking songs (C”ntec de Pahar, C”ntec de Petrecere), ancient ballads, and modern popular melodies, often borrowed from neighboring Serbia or Bulgaria. below; rural gypsy musicians near Clejani, south Romania, 1999
In modern day Romania, one can hear gypsy musicians playing in social dance bands in outdoor summer pavilions, in high-class folklore presentations in concert, as strolling instrumental duos on outdoor terraces or in hotel restaurants. These bands have a huge repertoire, often being engaged to play every evening for months or even seasons at a time, and pride themselves on the range of their selections. Gypsy musicianship is creative, eclectic, intense, and yet elusive, embodying the best of the natural entertainer. |
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Introduction
| Map | South
Romania | Transylvania
| Oltenia | Moldavia
| Dobrogea | Banat
| Maramures | Gallery
| Gypsy Musicians
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Romanian Gypsy Music |
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Romania: Social and Political Organization In both area and population, Romania is the seventh largest country in Europe. Politically it has been considered an eastern country, but geographically Romania is located in the south-central portion of the continent. In the recent past, many people beyond its borders were unaware of the social and political atmosphere that existed in this country. In December of 1989 however, Romania was suddenly brought to international attention with a bloody and heroic uprising that was broadcast live on many television stations around the world. Its people had lived for the past fifty years under a regime imposed on them by Red Army tanks, and now they were determined to make whatever sacrifice necessary to overthrow communism and its leader, the illiterate dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu. Romanians comprise a Christian nation of Roman descent who inhabit the area between the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube, and the Black Sea. At the foundation of Romania's culture there exists an age-old, homogeneous and dynamic peasant society. Almost half of Romania's population is rural and engages in agriculture, animal husbandry and wine production. The majority of villagers are not commercial farmers, but peasants who produce what is needed for their family and for community existence. Romanian peasants, like peasants everywhere, are profoundly conservative. The backbone of their existence is their attachment to land, family, home, village, and a traditional way of life. The communist collectivization of agriculture and their subsequent transformation into agricultural laborers on their own former lands nearly destroyed them. The norms and principles of their former existence, including musical traditions, became dissonant with the times and began to lose their reassuring function. Nevertheless, they have clung to their customs, lest their lives become empty and meaningless. To a great degree, they have withstood social and economic annihilation through cultural resistance. The new government's attempts to give back lands to the people have left society weakened and disoriented, but hopefully with time, the common people will regain confidence and move forward. |
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Romanian Peasant Music Above all, Romanian peasant music is characterized by its relative
diversity. The country is distinguished by six large culture areas
which correspond to |
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Introduction
| Map | South
Romania | Transylvania
| Oltenia | Moldavia
| Dobrogea | Banat
| Maramures | Gallery
| Gypsy Musicians
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The Danube Plain (Muntenia) Muntenia is the country's southern province, the heart of which
contains Romania's capital, Bucharest. In the central and southern
part of Muntenia lies the Danube Plain, renowned for its fertile
and arable soil. The inhabitants of the plain, especially those
living near the numerous lakes formed by the Danube, occupy themselves
with fishing and sheep breeding. Farming, fishing and shepherding
are common themes that run throughout Romanian folk lyric poetry.
The population is homogeneous and almost exclusively Romanian
and Eastern Orthodox. At the center of their spiritual life, the
Church still plays an important role and preserves its authority
undiminished. In principle, the Muntenian village, just like the
peasant's homestead, is self-sufficient. Most major needs are
met without help from the outside world, although lately there
has been increasing reliance on imports. Like everywhere in Romania,
life is structured around work, family, church and customs. Nowadays
many customs have been diluted by a general modernization of daily
life, but some of them still preserve their vitality and aspect
of social integration. These latter customs are connected with
the "life cycle" (festivities held for baptisms, weddings, military
service, funerals and family reunions), or with the "calendar
cycle" (Christmas and New Year caroling, the Easter Sunday dance,
the spring grazing of sheep, etc). Some of these are complex ceremonies,
rigidly formalized and observed. As they unfold, the participants
make symbolic gestures at pre-established times and places that
drive away the invisible forces of evil or invoke fertility and
prosperity for the villagers and their households. On all such Gypsy Musicians Performance of festive folk music is largely entrusted to professional musicians, who are usually Gypsies from the local village or nearby environs. Because of their ethnic origin and their peculiar profession, Gypsy musicians (l‹utari) are considered to be somewhat "foreign" and are treated with reserve, at times even with contempt, especially when they refuse to adapt to the way of life accepted by the majority Romanian population. On the other hand, when engaged in music they are invested with special rights and authority (they are masters of ceremonies and their word is obeyed with no complaint or protest), and they suddenly become everybody's beloved friends, and are rewarded lavishly. The L‹utari (Gypsy musicians) and their ensembles, called tarafuri, appeared rather recently in Romania's rural landscape, that is, about 100-150 years ago. These days, the tarafuri from the Danube Plain are made up of three to eight instruments, of which the violin, the dulcimer, the accordion, and the double bass have become essential. Oftentimes the instrumentalists are also vocalists. In a way, the tarafuri have anesthetized the public's musical faculties in that many people prefer to be served with music rather than creating it themselves. On the other hand, the l‹utari and their tarafuri have given peasant music new sonorities, enriching it with previously unknown timbres, and clothing it in accompaniments based on Western tonal harmony. They have also brought to perfection the epic song and the ballad, genres considered to be real gems of Romanian peasant music. |
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Introduction
| Map | South
Romania | Transylvania
| Oltenia | Moldavia
| Dobrogea | Banat
| Maramures | Gallery
| Gypsy Musicians
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Romanian or Gypsy? There has been and still is much debate in Romania as to whether Romanian peasant music reflects its true identity when interpreted by Gypsies. The public, fond of exoticism, has settled this question conveniently and in the spirit of the most indisputable political correctness: all music interpreted by Gypsies must be, and consequently is, Gypsy. A few western ethnomusicologists have also hastened to confirm that view, but others have been more reserved in voicing final judgments. In their opinion, things cannot be so simple. Gypsies everywhere adopt the music of the host people or ethnic group among whom they live. Quite often they assimilate it organically, treat it like their own, and transform it to suit their taste, adding to it a certain oriental coloring that is languorous and emphatic. Gypsies, however, often perform for the gagi (the Gypsy word for non-Gypsy or "Gentile"). Although the gagi in some cases have become unable to render their own music, they still know quite well what it should sound like. They oppose the Gypsies' attempts to innovate with a severity in direct proportion to the homogeneity and force of the culture to which they belong. From this perspective, the festive music interpreted by Gypsies for Romanian rural communities is essentially Romanian. But who could make it better than the Gypsies? Certainly no one. |
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Music Genres lnterpreted by the Danubian L‹utarii In principle the l‹utari must be able to interpret anything for anyone because the celebrations they are hired for are attended not only by local villagers but also by friends and relatives from other areas who may have different music preferences. Besides, the local villagers are themselves a stratified society, composed of children, adults, the elderly, peasants and country intellectuals, farmers and shepherds, etc. Each age, sex, marital and professional category favors a certain repertoire and, musical style. In addition, there is a large body of pieces that are liked or accepted by all. This category contains lyric songs and dance melodies from that particular village and its region. To this category one can add the ritual wedding pieces as well as the old songs" (epic songs and ballads) that are performed at the wedding feast. There are two general types of lyric songs (old and new), and both are equally present in the Romanian music of today. The older songs called dome have a free musical form. Their verses expand or shrink as musical phrases are added or omitted, and the melodies allow for spontaneous improvisation. Newer songs have fixed verses and much simpler melodies. The old songs are largely epic songs and ballads. Within each piece, sung verses of variable size alternate with an abbreviated instrumental version of the melody. Old songs are sung by the primas (leaders of the tarafuri) or by another musician from the ensemble. During performance, the vocalist may turn excerpts from the epic text into melodic recitation and poetry. Such old songs are usually requested by adults and elderly people toward the end of a wedding feast. On the Danube Plain closed-circle and open-circle dances prevail. Most of them are mixed dances for both men and women. Hora, Sirba, Breaza, Briul, and others are musical and choreographic variants of these basic types. Their tunes are made up of two, three, or at most four distinct musical segments, arranged in a fixed structure. Regardless of the genre to which they belong, the pieces are not interpreted alone but are incorporated into suites, the interpretation of which lasts between ten and thirty minutes. |
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Introduction | Map | South Romania | Transylvania | Oltenia | Moldavia | Dobrogea | Banat | Maramures | Gallery | Gypsy Musicians |
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The
touchstone of Romanian traditional music is the cry of the gypsy
on his violin, the dazzling virtuosity of the tambal (the chromatic,
multi-stringed hammered dulcimer), and the lament of the gypsy
singer, improvising vivid reverie which never fails to touch the
heart of any Romanian. All of the best folk orchestras of any
standing had at least several gypsy musicians, and in the villages,
it was almost exclusively gypsies who provided ritual and celebratory
music for village life. 
important historical provinces. In the south and along the northern
bank of the lower Danube there are Muntenia and Oltenia, which
together comprise the historical region of Walachia. In the east
there is Moldavia, and inside the arc of the Carpathians and to
the north and west lies Transylvania. In the southwestern corner
of the country, the Banat shares a border with Serbia. Finally,
Dobruja borders the Black Sea. Each of these regions is characterized
by relatively different songs and interpretations, although the
basis of their music is unified in character, with regional styles
based on a few shared structural elements. One such element is
the eight-unit meter pattern for songs and instrumental melodies.
A second shared element is evident in the type of songs performed
(the lyric song, the "long song" or doina, the lullaby, children's
songs, and the epic song) and also the genres of their ritual
music (carols and ceremonial music for Christmas and New Year,
agricultural and pastoral songs, songs for fire purification,
weddings and funerals). A third shared characteristic is evident
in the musical instruments used, including simple and double pipes,
the ocarina, law harp, alpenhorn, fish scale, tree leaf, and others.
occasions music is a fundamental ingredient. At a typical wedding,
for instance, the bride and groom publicly take leave of their
childhood homes and their parents to set up their own household
and be ranked with the married adults of the community. This separation
is officially sanctioned by the interpretation of the bride and
groom's ceremonial songs and the song of the nuptial fir tree.