2. Traditional
Musical instruments
PIPES
STRINGS
Fluier (Flute) - long or short 6 hole pipe
Cobza - short necked lute of Moldavia
Caval - long pipe with 5 finger holes
and Wallachia
Nai - the Romanian panpipe
Violin
Other pipes - Bucium (Alphorn),
Ocarina, Flaute, Fifa
REEDS
Cimpoi - the Romanian bagpipe
OTHER Clarinet - developed in the 1700's
Accordion Saxophone - invented around 1840 by
Brass and "fanfare" Adolphe Sax
Taragot - invented by J Schunda, 1865
3. FLUIER (Flute)
The common fluier is the equivalent to our tin whistle, but made out of
wood with the lower aperture of reduced diameter.
The fluier come in various sizes with the largest known as
the fluier mare or caval and the smallest known as thefluieras or trisca.
Common fluier Bistriţa Arges
musician, Dolj
4. CAVAL
In Romanian the caval most often refers to the long flute with five finger
holes in groups of two and three with a simple block mouthpiece.
It is found in Oltenia, Muntenia and south Moldavia. An old style of
playing where the player growls whilst playing continues in remote areas
and amongst the Hungarian Csango minorities in Moldavia.
5. NAI (PANPIPE)
His most famous pupil being musicians Gheorghe Zamfir. The nai can now
be found widely in gypsytarafs through Moldavia and Wallachia and most
folk orchestras.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
6. Flaute and piculine
Around the river Olt there are transverse flutes, like the concert flute or
fife, with six or seven holes for the larger flaute and six holes for the
smaller piculine.
7. BUCIUM (Alpenhorn)
Is a big tube, opened at both ends and composed of long staves of fir,
ash, lime or nut tree wood, very well dry. These stoves are tightened with
wooden or metal circles.
In the Apuseni Mountain the alpenhorn is called �tulnic�.
In some regions it is played on the funerals.
In the past the alpenhorn was used for signaling the Turkish invasions.
8. TARAGOT
The taragot was used in the Royal Hungarian Army, but is rarely found in
Hungary now. A Banat musician, Luţa Ioviţă, who had played it in the army
during World War I, returned to Banat (Romania) and introduced it there
in the 1920s for dance music. This created a sensation, and eventually
gave rise to a specific regional style.
Dumitru Farcaş, native to Maramureş, has made the taragot popular
throughout Transylvania, and is probably the best known taragot player.
9. COBZA
The cobza has a soft tone, most often tuned to D-A-D-G. It is generally
used to accompany violins or pipes. Playing melodies is rare due to the
short neck construction. Once widespread through Moldavia, Oltenia and
Muntenia cobza have become rare in village music, but can be seen in
many "folk orchestras". The cobza can also be found in
the Csango minority villages of Moldavia.
We have the musician known as lăutar meaning lute player where lute is
derived from the middle eastern oud but generally refers to a fretted and
often long necked lute.
10. Tudor Gheorghe - musician
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBsk8OM3bUQ&feature=related
11. VIOARA (Violin)
The modern violin arrived in Romania in the 18th century and is know by a
variety of names; cetera - Transylvania, scripcar - Moldavia, lăuta - Banat
& Hunedoara. In Oltenia and Muntenia many different tuning systems
were originally used for certain dance tunes, but these have mostly now
been abandoned.
In a few areas of west Transylvania a second standard violin is used
rhythmic harmonic accompaniment. This is though of as the "old style"
compared with the developments in central Transylvania.
The second violin in the Transylvanian counties of Mureş, Bistriţa, and Cluj
has only three strings.
Known as contră or braci this was found by Bela Bartok (1914) and
included in his written works in 1934. It is most probable that this
development came about through the gypsy musicians of the central
Transylvania taraf
13. ȚAMBAL (the tsambaly)
Records show the existence of the ţambal in 16th century in
Romania, but it did not become popular until much later when it
was taken up by the lăutari (gypsy musicians).
The gypsy instrument, which can be played hung from the shoulders by
straps, spread into the villages by the 20th century.
The accompaniment formulae are relatively few and are generally
rhythmical in Wallachia and Muntenia, and harmonic (arpeggios etc.) in
Transylvania and Banat.
14. Accordion
The accordion is dominating as the harmony accompaniment in most
regions' village music, replacing the the cobza, cimbalom and contra,
being preferred due to its strong sound.
The majority of melody playing use of the accordion for dance music is in
Muntenia. The best known accordionists recorded by Electrecord such as
Fărâmiţa Lambru, Marcel Budală, and Ilie Udilă have a very smooth, but
crisp style.
17. TRADITIONAL SONGS
DOINA
The doina is a free form lyrical song made up of a sequence of melodic
elements ornamented and lengthened by the performer in a manner
typical of the area. The doina is only found with the Romanians,
throughout the whole of Romania, in vocal and instrumental versions, but
is becoming rarer in Transylvania and Moldavia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
1vPD9MBNsvM&feature=related
18. STRIGĂTURI (Rhythmic shouts in verses)
Rhythmic shouts in verses are an integral part of Romanian folk dances.
They take various forms depending on the locality of their origin but the
act of shouting or crying out interjections in the form of rhyming couplets
whilst dancing is a phenomenon unique to Romania.
These shouts are spontaneous and the actual words used are frequently
adapted to suit the ‘mood of the day’ generally making comment on life in
the village or more recently in the stage performance group, or on
characters in the village or the love lives of the participants or spectators.
Strigături play a number of different roles in Romanian folk dances. They
provide animation for the dance by adding to the atmosphere and
entertainment value of the performance.
They provide a rhythmic link between the accent of the verses and the
rhythm of the dance steps, as the cadence of the strigături is the same as
the cadence of the steps.