MUSIC
Romanians have the reputation of being a musical people. Song and dance play an important role in their daily lives, particularly among the peasants. A rich heritage of folk music, both vocal and instrumental, has been passed down from generation to generation and has formed the background for serious Romanian music that began to develop in the mid-nineteenth century.
Folk music can be broadly classified as dance music, ballads and laments, and pastoral music. Dance music is most frequently performed and is a major component of any festivity. Dance tunes are generally lively to accompany the fast and intricate steps of the dancers. Sometimes they are sung by the dancers, but more often they are played by one or more of the traditional instruments.
The basic instrument in folk music is the violin. It is often accompanied by the cobza, a large stringed instrument resembling the lute, or by a tambal, a zither-like instrument played with small hammers. A variety of flutes are also used both as solo instruments and in orchestras. The accordion is popular as a solo accompaniment for singing or dancing.
Folk musicians are known as lautari (lute players) and are often Gypsies. Small orchestras are found at weddings and other celebrations in every village and in the cities. Larger, specially formed folk ensembles perform on radio and television and give concerts.
Ballads and laments vary in style and subject matter from region to region. Over the years, ballads have lost most of their importance as a contemporary musical form, although they retain value as poetry. Laments, however, continue to play an important role in the musical life of the people. They reflect in song the hardships and problems of daily life and the trials and tribulations of love. Some laments have a distinctly Oriental quality.
Pastoral music was developed by the shepherds of the Carpathians as a diversion for their long, lonely days in the mountains and as a means of communication. The melodies are very simple, usually played on any of several types of alphorns or on flutes. With the changing way of life in the mountains, pastoral music has been disappearing as a musical form.
In the early nineteenth century folklorist Anton Pann began to collect Romanian folk music, to publish it, and to popularize it among educated Romanians, who were more familiar with the classical music of Germany, Italy, and France than with their own musical heritage. This resulted in the emergence of a group of Romanian composers who utilized folk melodies in the composition of operas, symphonies, and chamber music.
The period between the two world wars saw several composers adding to the repertoire of Romanian music. One who achieved international fame was Georghe Enescu. Dinu Lipatti became well known as a pianist, although he was also a composer.
The music of the interwar composers showed the influence of German romanticism and postromanticism and of modern French music. All of it, however, had a strongly Romanian character attained through the use of intonations and rhythms borrowed from folk music.