Lautari
Encyclopedia
The Romanian
word Lăutar denotes a class of traditional musicians. Most often, and by tradition, Lăutari are members of a professional clan of Romani musicians (Gypsies), also called Ţigani lăutari. The term is derived from Lăută the name of a string instrument. Lăutari usually perform in bands, called taraf
.
") and the agent suffix -ar, common for occupational names. A distinction should be made between the generic Romanian-language word lăutar and the Romani clan. Originally, the word was used only from those that played the lăută. The other were named from their instruments, too, such as: scripcar (violin
player), cobzar (cobza
player), and naigiu (nai/panflute player. From the 17th century, the word lăutar was used regardless of the instrument that was played.
Another distinction should be made between the lăutărească music played by lăutari and the Romanian peasant music
. A more proper term for someone who plays peasant music, i.e., a folk musician, is rapsod.
, such as the ursari
, lovari
and kalderash
. Names of Romani clans in Romania are usually Romanian occupational names: Căldărar (bucket-maker, căldare=bucket; -aş replaces -ar regionally), Lingurar (spoon-makers, lingură=spoon), Florar (flower sellers, floare=flower) etc.
The first mention of lăutari is from 1558 when Mircea Ciobanul
, the Voivode of Wallachia
, gives Ruste lăutarul (Ruste the lăutar) as a gift to the Vornic Dingă from Moldavia
. In 1775 the first lăutărească guild
(breaslă), was established in Wallachia.
The lăutari were both slave Roma and free Romanians, but the Roma were the majority. They were preferred because they were considered to have better musical abilities. Through time there have also been Jewish
and Turkish
lăutari.
Before the 19th century, Romani musicians were often employed to provide entertainment in the courts of the Princes and Boyars. In the 19th century, most of these musicians settled in the rural areas where they sought new employment at weddings, funerals, and other traditional Romanian celebrations. They were called ţigani vătraşi and have the Romanian language
as their mother language, or sometimes the Hungarian language
. Only a few of them, with ancestors from the kalderash or from the ursari groups, still spoke the Romani language
.
The lăutari existed mainly in the Moldavia
, Muntenia
, Oltenia
and Dobruja
regions of present day Romania. In Transylvania
, traditional professional musicians didn't exist until the 19th century. For this reason the peasant music of Transylvania remained more "pure". A similar situation was in Banat
. Today the Romani lăutari are also predominant in Transylvania.
As performers, lăutari are usually loosely organized into a group known as a taraf
, which often consists largely of the males of an extended family. (There are female lăutari, mostly vocalists, but they are far outnumbered by the men.) Each taraf is led by a primaş, a primary soloist.
Traditionally, the lăutari played by ear, but today more and more lăutari have musical studies and can read notes.
The lăutari consider themselves to be the elite of the Roma. For this reason the lăutari want their children to marry only other lăutari.
The lăutari drew inspiration from all the musics they had contact with: the pastoral music of Romania
, the Byzantine music
played in the church, as well as foreign music, most notably Turkish
, but also Russia
n and Western Europe
an. While the lăutari drew inspiration from the local music, they also influenced the Romanian peasant music.
Improvisation is an important part of the lăutărească music. Each time a lăutar plays a melody he re-interprets it. For this reason the lăutărească music has been compared to Jazz
music. A lăutar from the Damian Draghici
band, who also played Jazz, said that the lăutărească music is a kind of Jazz.
Because of its characteristic of improvising on a certain basic framework the lăutărească music has been compared with other Desi
musics such as the Rāg
. Yehudi Menuhin
considered the music of the lăutari as a necessary step towards India
.
The music of the lăutari establishes the structure of the elaborate Romanian peasant wedding
s, as well as providing entertainment (not only music, but magic tricks, stories, bear training, etc.) during the less eventful parts of the ritual. The lăutari also function as guides through the wedding rituals and moderate any conflicts that may arise during what can be a long, alcohol-fuelled party. Over a period of nearly 48 hours, this can be very physically strenuous.
The repertoire of the lăutari include hora
, sârba
, brâul (a high tempo hora), doiul, tunes with Turkish derived rhythms (geamparaua, breaza, rustemul, maneaua lăutărească, cadâneasca), doina
, de ascultare (roughly "song for listening", it can be considered a more complex form of doina), cântecul bătranesc, căluşul
, ardeleana, corăgheasca, ardeleana, batuta
In southern Romania, the lăutărească music has a rural stratum and an urban one. The urban lăutărească muscic is known as Urban folklore or Mahala music.
Following custom almost certainly dating back at least to the Middle Ages
, most lăutari rapidly spend the fees from these wedding ceremonies on extended banquet
s for their friends and families over the days immediately following the wedding.
The lăutari rarely used the blown instruments used in the peasant music, because of their limited capabilities, but there were some lăutari who used the flute
("fluier") or the bagpipe
("cimpoi
")
Today, the lăutari also used a lot of electric, electronic, and electroacoustic instruments: various keyboards (electronic accordions included), electric and electroacoustic guitars and basses, etc.
. His love for music started when, as a child, he heard a taraf of lăutari while on a trip to Bălţăteşti with his mother. This has been hard to accept by some Romanian musicologists who tried to induce the idea that it must have been some peasant musicians that Enescu heard on that trip. Enescu received his first musical lessons from a renowned lăutar named Nicolae (Lae) Chioru. Through his life, he befriended many lăutari from whom he learned their music. Unlike Béla Bartók
, who avoided the Romani lăutari, searching only the peasant music, Enescu was not interested in this kind of nationalistic authenticity. He got his inspiration from both the peasant and the lăutarească music (both rural and urban). His first and probably most famous compositions, the Poème roumaine and the Romanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2
, were written by directly citing passages of urban lăutarească music, which also gave them a strong Turkish/Middle Eastern flavor. So pregnant was this aspect in his music that a German critic thought that Enescu was Romani himself upon hearing the Romanian Rhapsody.
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
word Lăutar denotes a class of traditional musicians. Most often, and by tradition, Lăutari are members of a professional clan of Romani musicians (Gypsies), also called Ţigani lăutari. The term is derived from Lăută the name of a string instrument. Lăutari usually perform in bands, called taraf
Taraf (musical band)
Taraf is a kind of Romanian and Moldovan lăutărească music band....
.
Terminology
Lăutar, according to the DEx ("Dictionarul Explicativ al limbii romane" — "The Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language"), is formed from lăută (meaning "luteLute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
") and the agent suffix -ar, common for occupational names. A distinction should be made between the generic Romanian-language word lăutar and the Romani clan. Originally, the word was used only from those that played the lăută. The other were named from their instruments, too, such as: scripcar (violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
player), cobzar (cobza
Cobza
The cobza is a Romanian and Moldovan folk instrument of the lute family . It is distinct from the Ukrainian kobza, an instrument of a different organology and origin....
player), and naigiu (nai/panflute player. From the 17th century, the word lăutar was used regardless of the instrument that was played.
Another distinction should be made between the lăutărească music played by lăutari and the Romanian peasant music
Romanian peasant music
The Romanian peasant music is the music of the Romanian peasants. The Romanian peasant music has largely disappeared, but it can still be found in isolated villages in regions like Maramureş, Hunedoara, Tulcea or Bucovina....
. A more proper term for someone who plays peasant music, i.e., a folk musician, is rapsod.
History
The Lăutari clan probably stems from other historical Romani clans present in RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, such as the ursari
Ursari
The Ursari or Richinara are the traditionally-nomad occupational group of animal trainers among the Roma people.An endogamous category originally drawing the bulk of its income from busking performances in which they used brown bears...
, lovari
Lovari
Lovari is a subgroup of the Romani people , who speak their own dialect, influenced by Hungarian. They live throughout Europe, in Hungary, Romania, Poland, France, Germany, Italy, Greece.-References:**...
and kalderash
Kalderash
The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people, from the Roma meta-group. They were traditionally smiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani.-Etymology:The name Kalderash The Kalderash (also spelled...
. Names of Romani clans in Romania are usually Romanian occupational names: Căldărar (bucket-maker, căldare=bucket; -aş replaces -ar regionally), Lingurar (spoon-makers, lingură=spoon), Florar (flower sellers, floare=flower) etc.
The first mention of lăutari is from 1558 when Mircea Ciobanul
Mircea Ciobanul
Mircea the Shepherd was the Prince of Wallachia three times: January 1545 –16 November 1552; May 1553–28 February 1554 ; and January 1558–21 September 1559.-Biography:He was the fifth son of Radu cel Mare...
, the Voivode of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, gives Ruste lăutarul (Ruste the lăutar) as a gift to the Vornic Dingă from Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
. In 1775 the first lăutărească guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
(breaslă), was established in Wallachia.
The lăutari were both slave Roma and free Romanians, but the Roma were the majority. They were preferred because they were considered to have better musical abilities. Through time there have also been Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
and Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
lăutari.
Before the 19th century, Romani musicians were often employed to provide entertainment in the courts of the Princes and Boyars. In the 19th century, most of these musicians settled in the rural areas where they sought new employment at weddings, funerals, and other traditional Romanian celebrations. They were called ţigani vătraşi and have the Romanian language
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
as their mother language, or sometimes the Hungarian language
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
. Only a few of them, with ancestors from the kalderash or from the ursari groups, still spoke the Romani language
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
.
The lăutari existed mainly in the Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, Muntenia
Muntenia
Muntenia is a historical province of Romania, usually considered Wallachia-proper . It is situated between the Danube , the Carpathian Mountains and Moldavia , and the Olt River to the west...
, Oltenia
Oltenia
Oltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia. It is situated between the Danube, the Southern Carpathians and the Olt river ....
and Dobruja
Dobruja
Dobruja is a historical region shared by Bulgaria and Romania, located between the lower Danube river and the Black Sea, including the Danube Delta, Romanian coast and the northernmost part of the Bulgarian coast...
regions of present day Romania. In Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, traditional professional musicians didn't exist until the 19th century. For this reason the peasant music of Transylvania remained more "pure". A similar situation was in Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
. Today the Romani lăutari are also predominant in Transylvania.
As performers, lăutari are usually loosely organized into a group known as a taraf
Taraf
- External links :*. Website of Taraf ....
, which often consists largely of the males of an extended family. (There are female lăutari, mostly vocalists, but they are far outnumbered by the men.) Each taraf is led by a primaş, a primary soloist.
Traditionally, the lăutari played by ear, but today more and more lăutari have musical studies and can read notes.
The lăutari consider themselves to be the elite of the Roma. For this reason the lăutari want their children to marry only other lăutari.
Lăutărească music
The music of the lăutari is called lăutărească music. There isn't a single music style of the lăutari, the music style varies from region to region, the best known being that from southern Romania. The lăutărească music is complex and elaborated, with dense harmonies and refined ornamentations, and its execution requires a good technique The lăutărească music should not be confounded with the Romanian peasant music.The lăutari drew inspiration from all the musics they had contact with: the pastoral music of Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, the Byzantine music
Byzantine music
Byzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial, festival, or church music. Greek and foreign historians agree that the ecclesiastical tones and in general the whole system of Byzantine music is closely related to the ancient Greek system...
played in the church, as well as foreign music, most notably Turkish
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
, but also Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n and Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
an. While the lăutari drew inspiration from the local music, they also influenced the Romanian peasant music.
Improvisation is an important part of the lăutărească music. Each time a lăutar plays a melody he re-interprets it. For this reason the lăutărească music has been compared to Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
music. A lăutar from the Damian Draghici
Damian Draghici
Damian Drăghici is a Romanian-Romani musician, best known as nai player, and possibly the most noted exponent of this particular instrument in the world of jazz.- Early life :...
band, who also played Jazz, said that the lăutărească music is a kind of Jazz.
Because of its characteristic of improvising on a certain basic framework the lăutărească music has been compared with other Desi
Desi
Desi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...
musics such as the Rāg
Raga
A raga is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music.It is a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made...
. Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin
Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...
considered the music of the lăutari as a necessary step towards India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
The music of the lăutari establishes the structure of the elaborate Romanian peasant wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
s, as well as providing entertainment (not only music, but magic tricks, stories, bear training, etc.) during the less eventful parts of the ritual. The lăutari also function as guides through the wedding rituals and moderate any conflicts that may arise during what can be a long, alcohol-fuelled party. Over a period of nearly 48 hours, this can be very physically strenuous.
The repertoire of the lăutari include hora
Hora
Hora is a type of circle dance originating in the Balkans but also found in other countries. The name is cognate to the Greek χορός : 'dance' which is cognate with the ancient Greek art form of χορεία; see Chorea. The original meaning of the Greek word χορός may have been 'circle'...
, sârba
Sârba
A Sârba or Sîrba is a Romanian dance normally played in 2/2 or 2/4 time. It can be danced in a circle, line, or couple formations and was historically popular not only among Romanians, but also Ukrainians, Hungarians, East European Jews, and the Poles of the Tatra Mountains...
, brâul (a high tempo hora), doiul, tunes with Turkish derived rhythms (geamparaua, breaza, rustemul, maneaua lăutărească, cadâneasca), doina
Doina
The Doina is a Romanian musical tune style, with Middle Eastern roots, that can be found in Romanian peasant music, as well as in Lăutărească and Klezmer music.-Origins and characteristics:...
, de ascultare (roughly "song for listening", it can be considered a more complex form of doina), cântecul bătranesc, căluşul
Calusari
The Căluşari were the members of a Romanian fraternal secret society who practiced a ritual acrobatic dance known as the căluş. According to the Romanian historian Mircea Eliade, the Calusari were known for "their ability to create the impression of flying in the air" which he believed represented...
, ardeleana, corăgheasca, ardeleana, batuta
In southern Romania, the lăutărească music has a rural stratum and an urban one. The urban lăutărească muscic is known as Urban folklore or Mahala music.
Following custom almost certainly dating back at least to the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, most lăutari rapidly spend the fees from these wedding ceremonies on extended banquet
Banquet
A banquet is a large meal or feast, complete with main courses and desserts. It usually serves a purpose such as a charitable gathering, a ceremony, or a celebration, and is often preceded or followed by speeches in honour of someone....
s for their friends and families over the days immediately following the wedding.
Instruments often played by lăutari
- pan flutePan fluteThe pan flute or pan pipe is an ancient musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting usually of five or more pipes of gradually increasing length...
(called "muscal" then "nai" in Romanian) - It probably arrived with the TurksTurkish peopleTurkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
(both "muscal" and "nai" are words of TurkishTurkish languageTurkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
origin). One of the primary instruments of old lăutari, it is seldom used today. - violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Always popular among lăutari. - contra violin
- double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Though often present in the taraf, the bass didn't receive much attention from the lăutari, because it didn't allow for "mărunt" (virtuosic) playing. - cobzaCobzaThe cobza is a Romanian and Moldovan folk instrument of the lute family . It is distinct from the Ukrainian kobza, an instrument of a different organology and origin....
/lăuta - An instrument similar with the luteLuteLute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, but probably not directly related. It is either a direct descendant of the oudOudThe oud is a pear-shaped stringed instrument commonly used in North African and Middle Eastern music. The modern oud and the European lute both descend from a common ancestor via diverging paths...
, brought by Romani musicians, or it is derived from the Ukrainian kobzaKobzaThe kobza is a Ukrainian folk music instrument of the lute family , a relative of the Central European mandora...
. Like the kobza, it has a short neck and is used primary for rhythmic accompaniment, but, like the oud, it has no frets. Today it is virtually extinct. - cimbalom (called "ţambal" in Romanian) - It replaced the cobza/lăuta, having more capabilities.
- accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
- Very popular in the modern lăutarească music. - clarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
- Used especially in southern urban lăutarească music. - tárogatóTárogatóThe tárogató refers to two different Hungarian woodwind instruments: the ancient tárogató and the modern tárogató...
("taragot" in Romanian) - Used especially in BanatBanatThe Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
, though today the saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
has largely replaced the tárogató. - brass instrumentBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
s - An Austrian influence, used especially in MoldaviaMoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
.
The lăutari rarely used the blown instruments used in the peasant music, because of their limited capabilities, but there were some lăutari who used the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
("fluier") or the bagpipe
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
("cimpoi
Cimpoi
Cimpoi, the Romanian bagpipe, has a single drone and straight bore chanter and is less strident than its Balkan relatives.The number of finger holes varies from five to eight and there are two types of cimpoi with a double chanter. The bag is often covered with embroidered cloth...
")
Today, the lăutari also used a lot of electric, electronic, and electroacoustic instruments: various keyboards (electronic accordions included), electric and electroacoustic guitars and basses, etc.
Influence on George Enescu
The lăutari and their music had a great influence on the Romanian composer George EnescuGeorge Enescu
George Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.-Biography:Enescu was born in the village of Liveni , Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County. He showed musical talent from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first musical...
. His love for music started when, as a child, he heard a taraf of lăutari while on a trip to Bălţăteşti with his mother. This has been hard to accept by some Romanian musicologists who tried to induce the idea that it must have been some peasant musicians that Enescu heard on that trip. Enescu received his first musical lessons from a renowned lăutar named Nicolae (Lae) Chioru. Through his life, he befriended many lăutari from whom he learned their music. Unlike Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, who avoided the Romani lăutari, searching only the peasant music, Enescu was not interested in this kind of nationalistic authenticity. He got his inspiration from both the peasant and the lăutarească music (both rural and urban). His first and probably most famous compositions, the Poème roumaine and the Romanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2
Romanian Rhapsodies (Enescu)
The two Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11, for orchestra, are George Enescu's best-known compositions. They were both written in 1901, and first performed together in 1903. The two rhapsodies, and particularly the first, have long held a permanent place in the repertory of every major orchestra. They...
, were written by directly citing passages of urban lăutarească music, which also gave them a strong Turkish/Middle Eastern flavor. So pregnant was this aspect in his music that a German critic thought that Enescu was Romani himself upon hearing the Romanian Rhapsody.
Bands / Tarafs
Most tarafs do not have a specific name, but are built around a person (the primaş) or a family. Most bands that have a name are commercially created. Some of the most famous are:- Taraf de Haïdouks
- Fanfare CiocărliaFanfare CiocarliaFanfare Ciocărlia is a popular twelve-piece Romani brass band from the northeastern Romanian village of Zece Prăjini. The band began as a loose assemblage of part-time musicians playing at local weddings and baptisms. In October 1996, the German sound engineer and record producer Henry Ernst...
- Damian and brothers - A band created by pan-flutist Damian DrăghiciDamian DraghiciDamian Drăghici is a Romanian-Romani musician, best known as nai player, and possibly the most noted exponent of this particular instrument in the world of jazz.- Early life :...
- Mahala Rai BandaMahala Rai BandaMahala Rai Banda is a gypsy band based in Bucharest . It was formed by violinist and composer Aurel Ionitsa, who originally comes from a family of lautari from the village of Clejani. He is related to several members of Taraf de Haïdouks...
Musicians
- Barbu Lăutaru' (Vasile Barbu) - legendary lăutar from the 18-19th century
- Petrea Creţu Şolcanu' - Grandfather of jazzman Johnny RăducanuJohnny RaducanuJohnny Răducanu was a Romanian jazz pianist of Romani ethnic background, whose family has a long musical tradition dating back to the 17th century....
- Angheluş Dinicu - Grandfather of Grigoraş Dinucu and the author of the Skylark (CiocârliaCiocârliaCiocârlia may refer to:* Ciocârlia , a Romanian traditional tune* Fanfare Ciocărlia, a Romani brass band from Romania* Ciocârlia , a 2002 Romanian TV film- Places :...
) - Grigoraş DinicuGrigoras DinicuGrigoraş Ionică Dinicu was a Romanian composer and violinist or violin virtuoso. He is most famous for his often-played virtuoso violin showpiece "Hora staccato" and for making popular the tune Ciocârlia, composed by his grandfather Angheluș Dinicu for "nai"...
- Though he played lots of other musics - Ion Albeşteanu
- Damian DraghiciDamian DraghiciDamian Drăghici is a Romanian-Romani musician, best known as nai player, and possibly the most noted exponent of this particular instrument in the world of jazz.- Early life :...
Pan-flute - Toni IordacheToni IordacheToni Iordache was a Romani-Romanian lăutar and one of the most famous cimbalom players in the world. He was nicknamed the God of the Cimbalom and Paganini of the cimbalom.-Early life:...
- Ionică MinuneIonică MinuneIonică Minune is a Romani-Romanian accordionist. He is one of the most respected accordionists in the world and is widely considered the greatest accordionist by fellow lăutari.-Life and career:...
- Ion Drăgoi
- Marcel Budală
- Fărâmiţă LambruFărâmiţă LambruFărâmiţă Lambru was a well known gypsy lăutar from Romania.-Biography:Fărâmiţă Lambru was born in a family of lăutari. As a child, he learned how to sing from his father, Tudor Fărâmiţă. He collaborated with Maria Tănase from 1953 until Maria Tănase died...
- Florea Cioacă
- Romica Puceanu
- Gabi LuncăGabi LuncaGabi Luncă is a Romani singer of urban lăutarească music from Romania, born in Vărbilău, Prahova County.Her father was also a lăutar, a violinist very respected among lăutari because he was a "notist"...
- Fănică LucaFanica LucaFănică Luca was a Romani-Romanian musician and a pan pipe virtuoso, who was the first to make this instrument popular outside his own country....
- Vasile Pandelescu
- Ion Petre StoicanIon Petre StoicanIon Petre Stoican was a Romani-Romanian violinist, a lăutar .-Life:Originally from Olteniţa, Stoican was related to celebrated violinist Ion Nomol...
- Ilie Udilă
- George Udilă - Son of Ilie Udilă
- Dona Dumitru Siminică
- Cornelia Catanga
- Constantin Eftimiu
- Lică Militaru
- Ionel Tudorache
Miscellaneous
- There is a full-feature movie called "Lăutari" (1972, Moldova-film) by Moldavian SovietMoldavian SSRThe Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic , commonly abbreviated to Moldavian SSR or MSSR, was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union...
director Emil LoteanuEmil LoteanuEmil Loteanu was a Soviet and Moldovian film director from Greater Romania. He moved to Moscow in his early life.- Biography :...
. The movie features the leader of the MoldovaMoldovaMoldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
n State tarafTaraf- External links :*. Website of Taraf ....
"Flueraş" Sergiu Lunchevici (Sergei Lunkevich).
See also
- Music of RomaniaMusic of RomaniaRomania is a European country with a multicultural music environment which includes active ethnic music scenes. Romania also has thriving scenes in the fields of pop music, hip hop, heavy metal and rock and roll...
- Romani music
- KlezmorimKlezmorimKlezmorim can refer to:*Musicians who play klezmer, a style of music originating with the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe*The Klezmorim, a klezmer band...
(Jewish lăutari-like musicians)
External links
- An ongoing English blog about a quest for traditional Romani and Romanian music
- A British review of The Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
Collection; World Library of Folk and Primitive Music. Vol XVII, dedicated to Romanian Romani music - Alexandra Diaconu, Pe urmele lautarilor: Etnomuzicologul Speranta Radulescu, un cercetator printre tarafuri ("Searching for the lăutari: Ethnomusicologist Speranta Radulescu, a seeker of tarafs") in Evenimentul ZileiEvenimentul ZileiEvenimentul Zilei is one of the leading newspapers in Romania. Based in Bucharest, the Romanian-language daily has a paid daily circulation of 110,000...
3 July 2005, a Romanian-language article about Speranţa Rădulescu - Garth Cartwright, Nicolae Neacsu: Romanian Gypsy violinist who conquered the west — An obituary of famous lăutar Nicolae NeacşuNicolae NeacsuNicolae Neacşu was a lăutar, an important member of the Taraf de Haïdouks, a well-known Romani band from Clejani, Romania. He was considered to be one of the best Romani violinists in the world. His main disciple was Gheorghe "Caliu" Anghel, who also played in the Taraf de Haïdouks.- External...
, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 16 September 2002 - Lăutarii Cum Mai Cântă! — music of Lautari (on commercial site Lost Trails)
- A blog about old and new lăutari — opinions and reviews
- Lautari Music Archive — old and new lautari, with videos, lyrics and audio recordings.
- Video clips of old an new Romanian Lautari musicians.