Lăutari: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Professional Romani musicians}}
{{about|the Romanian musicians|the 1971 film|Lăutarii}}
 
[[Image:Taraf of Ochi-Albi, 1860, Szatmary.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Lăutari in the 19th century]]
{{Romani people}}
The [[Romanian language|Romanian]] word '''lăutar''' ({{IPA-|ro|lə.uˈtar|pron}}; plural: ''lăutari'') denotes a class of musicians.
 
The term was adopted by members of a professional clan of [[Romani music]]ians in the late XVIII18th century. The term is derived from ''lăută'', the [[Romanian language|Romanian]] word for [[lute]]. ''Lăutari'' usually perform in bands, called [[taraf (musical band)|taraf]].
 
==Terminology==
[[Image:Stamp of Moldova 096.gif|thumb|upright=1.2|Lăutari''Lăutarii'', a 1995 Moldovan stamp]]
''Lăutar'', according to the DEX ("Dicționarul Explicativ al Limbii Române" — "The Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language"), is formed from ''lăută'' (meaning "[[lute]]") and the [[agent suffix]] ''-ar'', common for [[occupational name]]s. Originally, the word was used only for the peasant romanian musicians who played the ''lăută''. A distinction should be made between the generic Romanian-language word ''lăutar'' and the Romani clan. The others were named after their instruments, too, e.g.: ''scripcar'' ([[fiddle|scripcă]] player), ''[[cobzar]]'' ([[cobza]] player), and ''naingiu'' ([[Nai (pan flute)|nai]]/[[panflute]] player).<ref name="vatasia lautarilor">{{cite web|url=http://www.romanothan.ro/romana/muzica/documente/vatasia_lautarilor.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314080009/http://www.romanothan.ro/romana/muzica/documente/vatasia_lautarilor.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2007|title=Romanothan - Despre vatasia lautarilor|date=14 March 2007|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> From the 17th century, the word ''lăutar'' was used regardless of the instrument that was played.<ref name="Meseria de lăutar (I)">{{cite web|url=http://www.rodulpamantului.ro/92--meseria-de-lautar.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611233143/http://www.rodulpamantului.ro/92--meseria-de-lautar.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2013|title=Meseria de lăutar (I) > Rodul Pamantului, stiri agricultura, dezvoltare rurala|date=11 June 2013|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>
 
''Lăutar'', according to the DEX ("Dicționarul Explicativ al Limbii Române" — "The Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language"), is formed from ''lăută'' (meaning "[[lute]]") and the [[agent suffix]] ''-ar'', common for [[occupational name]]s. Originally, the word was used only for the peasant romanianRomanian musicians who played the ''lăută''. A distinction should be made between the generic Romanian-language word ''lăutar'' and the Romani clan. The others were named after their instruments, too, e.g.: ''scripcar'' ([[fiddle|scripcă]] player), ''[[cobzar]]'' ([[cobza]] player), and ''naingiu'' ([[Nai (pan flute)|nai]]/[[panflute]] player).<ref name="vatasia lautarilor">{{cite web|url=http://www.romanothan.ro/romana/muzica/documente/vatasia_lautarilor.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314080009/http://www.romanothan.ro/romana/muzica/documente/vatasia_lautarilor.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2007|title=Romanothan - Despre vatasia lautarilor|date=14 March 2007|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> From the 17th century, the word ''lăutar'' was used regardless of the instrument that was played.<ref name="Meseria de lăutar (I)">{{cite web|url=http://www.rodulpamantului.ro/92--meseria-de-lautar.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130611233143/http://www.rodulpamantului.ro/92--meseria-de-lautar.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 June 2013|title=Meseria de lăutar (I) > Rodul Pamantului, stiri agricultura, dezvoltare rurala|date=11 June 2013|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>
==History==
The ''lăutari'' clan probably stems from other historical [[Romani people|Romani]] clans present in [[Romania]], such as the [[ursari]], [[lovari]] and [[kalderash]]. Names of Romani clans in Romania are usually Romanian occupational names: Căldărar (bucket-maker, căldare=bucket; -aș replaces -ar regionally), Lingurar (spoon-makers, lingură=spoon), Florar (flower sellers, floare=flower) etc.
 
==History==
The first mention of ''lăutari'' is from 1558 when [[Mircea Ciobanul]] ''(appointed ruler by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] in January 1545)'', the [[Voivode]] of [[Wallachia]], gives ''Ruste lăutarul'' (''Ruste the lăutar'') as a gift to the [[Vornic]] Dingă from [[Moldavia]].<ref name="History">[http://www.romanothan.ro/romana/muzica/documente/istoria_lautarilor.htm O istorie a lautarilor (A history of the lautari)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205141946/http://www.romanothan.ro/romana/muzica/documente/istoria_lautarilor.htm |date=2007-02-05 }}</ref> In 1775 the first ''lăutărească'' [[guild]] (''breaslă''), was established in Wallachia.
 
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The ''lăutari'' existed mainly in the [[Moldova]], [[Muntenia]], [[Oltenia]] and [[Dobruja]] regions of present-day Romania.<ref name="Meseria de lăutar (I)"/> In [[Transylvania]], traditional professional musicians didn't exist until the 19th century.<ref name="Meseria de lăutar (III) — Ardealul și Banatul">{{cite web|url=http://www.rodulpamantului.ro/150--meseria-de-lautar-ardealul-si-banatul.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220084440/http://www.rodulpamantului.ro/150--meseria-de-lautar-ardealul-si-banatul.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 February 2012|title=Meseria de lăutar (III) - Ardealul şi Banatul > Rodul Pamantului|date=20 February 2012|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref name="SR - Despre lautarie">{{cite web|url=http://www.divers.ro/opinii_ro?wid=37620&func=viewSubmission&sid=4654|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090525065256/http://www.divers.ro/opinii_ro?wid=37620&func=viewSubmission&sid=4654|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 May 2009|title=Opinii - Divers|date=25 May 2009|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>
 
As performers, ''lăutari'' are usually loosely organized into a group known as a [[Taraf (musical band)|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 ''[[Prímás|primaș]]'', a primary soloist.
 
Traditionally, the ''lăutari'' played by ear, but today more and more ''lăutari'' have musical studies and can read notes.<ref name="Lautari cu atestat">{{cite web|url=http://www.click.ro/Special/ei-sunt-primii-lautari-cu-atestat-european|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205180542/http://www.click.ro/Special/ei-sunt-primii-lautari-cu-atestat-european|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 December 2007|title=Click! / Special / Ei sunt primii lautari cu atestat european|date=5 December 2007|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="Intoarcerea la radacini">{{cite web|url=http://jurnalul.ro/editie-de-colectie/damian-draghici-21-mai-2007/pasari-calatoare-intoarcerea-la-radacini-292721.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328211425/http://jurnalul.ro/editie-de-colectie/damian-draghici-21-mai-2007/pasari-calatoare-intoarcerea-la-radacini-292721.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 March 2014|title=Păsări călătoare - Intoarcerea la rădăcini|date=28 March 2014|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>
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==Lăutărească music==
The music of the ''lăutari'' is called ''muzica lăutărească''. There is not a single music style of the ''lăutari'', the music style varies from region to region, the best known being that from southern Romania.<ref name = "SR - Despre lautarie 2">{{cite web|url=http://www.divers.ro/opinii_ro?wid=37620&func=viewSubmission&sid=4654|title=Cu seriozitate despre muzica lautareasca (Seriously about the lautareasca music)|website=Divers.ro|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> The ''lăutărească'' music is complex and elaborated, with dense harmonies and refined ornamentations, and its execution requires a good technique.<ref name = "SR - Confesiune">{{cite web|url=http://www.observatorcultural.ro/index.html/Confesiune*articleID_10894-articles_details.html?&articleID=10894&printPage=1&setWindowName=shEAPopUpWnd|title=Confesiune - Observator Cultural|website=Observatorcultural.ro|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="Lautarii romanilor">{{cite web|url=http://www.divers.ro/actualitate_ro?wid=37455&func=viewSubmission&sid=1534|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214172549/http://www.divers.ro/actualitate_ro?wid=37455&func=viewSubmission&sid=1534|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 February 2012|title=Actualitate - Divers|date=14 February 2012|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>
 
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, such as [[Turkish people|Turkish]], [[Russia]]n or [[Western Europe]]an.<ref name="History"/><ref name="Barbu Lautaru">{{cite web|url=http://www.romaworld.ro/personalitati/barbu-lautaru.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080701102012/http://www.romaworld.ro/personalitati/barbu-lautaru.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 July 2008|title=Barbu Lautaru - Personalitati|date=1 July 2008|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref><ref name = "Lautarii si compozitiunile lor">{{cite web|url=http://ro.wikisource.org/wiki/L%C4%83utarii_%C5%9Fi_compozi%C5%A3iunile_lor|title=Lăutarii și compozițiunile lor - Wikisource|website=ro.wikisource.org|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>
 
Improvisation is an important part of the ''lăutărească'' music. Each time a ''lăutar'' plays a melody he re-interprets it.<ref name="Mihalache">[http://www.mihalache.dk/ Official site of George Mihalache, that comes from an old lautari family)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131221554/http://www.mihalache.dk/ |date=2009-01-31 }}</ref> 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''.<ref name="Lautareasca-Jazz">{{cite web|url=http://jurnalul.ro/search/traditie-veche-la-timpuri-noi-old-tradition-at-new-times.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919093536/http://jurnalul.ro/search/traditie-veche-la-timpuri-noi-old-tradition-at-new-times.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 September 2015|title=Traditie Veche La Timpuri Noi Old Tradition At New Times|date=19 September 2015|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref>
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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 trick]]s, 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 (dance)|hora]], [[sârba]], brâul (a high tempo hora), doiul, tunes with Turkish derived rhythms ([[geamparaua]], [[breaza (music)|breaza]], rustemul, maneaua lăutărească, cadâneasca), [[doina]], de ascultare (roughly "song for listening", it can be considered a more complex form of doina), cântecul bătranesc, [[Căluşari|călușul]], ardeleana, corăgheasca, ardeleana, batutabătuta.
 
In southern Romania, the ''lăutărească'' music has a rural stratum and an urban one.<ref name = "SR - Despre lautarie"/>
 
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.
 
==Instruments often played by ''lăutari''==
*[[pan flute]] (called "muscal" then "nai" in Romanian) – It probably arrived with the [[Turkish people|Turks]]{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=April 2015}} (both "muscal" and "nai" are words of [[Turkish language|Turkish]] origin). One of the primary instruments of old ''lăutari'', it is seldom used today.
*[[violin]] – Always popular among ''lăutari''.
*[[contra violin]] - Wider and deeper than a violin.
*[[double bass]] – 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.
*[[cobza]]/lăuta – An instrument similar withto the [[lute]], but probably not directly related. It is either a direct descendant of the [[oud]], brought by Romani musicians, or it is derived from the Ukrainian [[kobza]]. 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 "țambal" in Romanian) – It replaced the cobza/lăuta, having more capabilities.
*[[accordion]] – Very popular in the modern ''lăutarească'' music.
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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==
{{More citations needed|section|date=April 2021}}
The lăutari and their music had a great influence on the Romanian composer [[George Enescu]].{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=April 2015}} His love for music started when, as a child, he heard a taraf of lăutari while on a trip to Bălțătești with his mother.<ref name=simp-enescu>Simpozionul International George Enescu 2003 – Selectiuni – {{ISBN|973-8475-47-3}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ul4HQnAYnhQC&q=The+Romanian+rhapsody:+an+overlooked+corner+of+Europe|title=The Romanian Rhapsody: An Overlooked Corner of Europe|first1=Dominique|last1=Fernandez|first2=Ferrante|last2=Ferranti|date=26 May 2018|publisher=Algora Publishing|isbn=9781892941244|access-date=26 May 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref> Enescu received his first musical lessons from a lăutar called Nicolae (Lae) Chioru ("Blind Nick"), whose real name was Nicolae Filip.<ref>Noel Malcolm, ''George Enescu: His Life and Music'', with a preface by Sir Yehudi Menuhin (Surbiton: Toccata Press, 1990): 30. {{ISBN|978-0-907689-33-1}}</ref> Through his life, he befriended many lăutari from whom he learned their music.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=April 2015}} Unlike [[Béla Bartók]], who avoided the Romani lăutari, searching only the peasant music, Enescu was not interested in this kind of nationalistic authenticity.<ref name=simp-enescu /> He got his inspiration from both the peasant and the lăutarească music (both rural and urban).{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=April 2015}} His first compositions, the ''Poème roumaine'' and the [[Romanian Rhapsodies (Enescu)|Romanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2]], were written by directly citing passages of urban folklore music,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cimec.ro/muzica/ucmr2007/History.html|title=UCMR – home|website=Cimec.ro|access-date=26 May 2018}}</ref> which also gave them a strong Turkish/Middle Eastern flavor.{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=April 2015}} So pregnant was this aspect in his music{{Citation needed|reason=Reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=April 2015}} that a German critic wrongly thought that Enescu was Romani himself upon hearing the Romanian Rhapsody.<ref name=simp-enescu />
 
==List of well-known musicians/bands that play lăutari music==
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===Musicians===
*{{ill|[[:ro:Ion Albeșteanu|ro}}Ion Albeșteanu]] – violinist and singer
*{{ill|[[:ro:Barbu Lăutaru|ro}}Barbu Lăutaru]] (Vasile Barbu) – legendary [[cobza]] player from the 18–19th century
*[[:ro:Marcel Budală|Marcel Budală]] – accordionist
*[[Cornelia Catangă]] – accordionist and singer
*{{ill|[[:ro:Florea Cioacă|ro}}Florea Cioacă]] – violinist
*{{ill|[[:ro:Angheluș Dinicu|ro}}Angheluș Dinicu]] – pan flute player, grandfather of [[Grigoraş Dinicu]] and the author of the Skylark ([[Ciocârlia (lăutăresc tune)|Ciocârlia]])
*[[Grigoraș Dinicu]] – Though he played other styles of music
*[[Damian Drăghici]] – pan flute player
*{{ill|[[:ro:Ion Drăgoi|ro}}Ion Drăgoi]] – violinist
*{{ill|Constantin Eftimiu (lăutar)|[[:ro|:Constantin Eftimiu (lăutar)|lt=Constantin Eftimiu}}]] – violinist and singer
*[[Toni Iordache]] – cimbalom player
*[[:ro:Fărâmiță Lambru|Fărâmiță Lambru]] – accordionist
*{{ill|[[:ro:Damian Luca|ro}}Damian Luca]] – pan flute player and Fănică Luca's nephew
*[[Fănică Luca]] – pan flute player and singer
*[[Gabi Luncă]] – singer
*[[Ionică Minune]] – accordionist
*[[Romica Puceanu]] – singer
*{{ill|[[:ro:Vasile Pandelescu|ro}}Vasile Pandelescu]] – accordionist
*[[Dona Dumitru Siminică]] – singer
*[[:ro:Petrea Crețu Șolcanu|Petrea Crețu Șolcanu]] – violinist, grandfather of jazzman [[Johnny Răducanu]]
*[[Ion Petre Stoican]] – violinist
*{{ill|[[:ro:Ionel Tudorache|ro}}Ionel Tudorache]] – accordionist and singer
*[[:ro:George Udilă|George Udilă]] – Son of Ilie Udilă
*{{ill|[[:ro:Ilie Udilă|ro}}Ilie Udilă]] – accordionist
 
==MiscellaneousFilm==
* There is a full-feature movie called [[Lăutarii]] (1972, Moldova-film) by [[Moldavian SSR|Moldavian Soviet]] director [[Emil Loteanu]]. The movie features the leader of the [[Moldova]]n State [[taraf]] "[[Flueraș (orchestra)|Flueraș]]" [[Sergiu Lunchevici]] ([[Sergei Lunkevich]]).
* Taraf de Haïdouks: their music and performances feature in the films ''[[Latcho Drom]]'' (France, 1993), ''[[The Man Who Cried]]'' (UK & France, 2000), and ''[[When the Road Bends… Tales of a Gypsy Caravan]]'' (UK, US, India, 2007).
 
==See also==