Short history of

Romanian music
 About music in Romania
• Romania 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.
• During the first decade of the 21st century some Europop groups/artists, such
as Tom Boxer, Morandi, Akcent, Edward Maya, Alexandra
Stan, Inna and Yarabi, achieved success abroad.
• Traditional Romanian folk music remains popular, and some folk musicians
have come to national (and even international) fame.
 History of Romanian music
• Folk music is the oldest form of Romanian musical creation, characterised by
great vitality; it is the defining source of the cultured musical creation, both
religious and lay. Conservation of Romanian folk music has been aided by a large
and enduring audience, also by numerous performers who helped propagate and
further develop the folk sound.
 History
• The religious musical creation, born under the influence of Byzantine
music adjusted to the intonations of the local folk music, saw a period of glory
between the 15th and 17th centuries, when reputed schools of liturgical
music developed within Romanian monasteries.
• Russian and Western influences brought about the introduction of polyphony in
religious music in the 18th century, a genre developed by a series of Romanian
composers in the 19th and 20th centuries.
 Popular music
• Popular music is th oldest form of Romanian music creation,
characterized b a great energy and is the source of cultural,
secular and religious music.
 Popular music
• Traditional Romanian music reflects a confluence of sounds similar to Central
European (especially Hungarian) as well as Balkan traditional music. In
Romanian folk music, emphasis is on melody rather than percussion, with
frequent use of the violin for melody and often only the cimbalom for
percussion.
• The melody itself and especially the melodic embellishments are reminiscent
of music from further south in the Balkans and of a distant Turkish influence.
 Doina
• The most widespread form of Romanian folk musicis the doina, which
translates as "shepherd's lament or longing". There are other styles of folk
music. These include the bocet ("lament"), cântec
batrânesc (traditional epic ballads; literally "song of the elders") and the când
ciobanu şi-a pierdut oile ("when the shepherd has lost the sheep").
• Doina is poetic and often melancholic, sometimes compared to the blues for
that reason. Doinas are often played with a slow, free rhythm melody against a
fast accompaniment pattern in fixed tempo, giving an overall feeling of
rhythmic tension. Melodies are sometimes repeated in differing songs and
typically follow a descending pattern.
 Călușarii
• The Călușari – it is an old dance of preChristian origin, related to
the old cult of the sun. The Călușarii perform magical rituals,
which revolve around the nut fruit tree, called caluș.
 The girls from Capalna
• The dance of the girls from Capalna - it was discovered 75 years ago by Stana
Biris, in the village of Capalna in Transylvania. It was originally performed by 70
girls, but today the group has only 26 girls. The girls are local unmarried girls. The
dance appeared during the summer holidays when girls and boys were gathering to
dance the hora. When they were tired the girls were gathering in a dance, one
singing and the next one dancing. The dance lasts for seven minutes and is
significant for the folowing of the Tarnava river.
 Maria Tănase
• Maria Tănase is cinsidered te greatest interpreter of Folk and
Romance music. She became famous in , when her first songs
werw heard on the radio. She received man awards and was
apprecied in the entire world for her voice and extraordinary
songs.
• Secular music was influenced by Western Europe through Transylvania,
but also by Livio Cinti’s band which was passing through Bucharest in 1772 and
other tournaments of foreign bands.
• In the second half of the 19th century the Consevatory in Bucharest was
established and the National School of Choral music was developed. The first
Romania in names in opera music became known.
 Classical music
• Notable Romanian composers of the 19th and 20th centuries include Ciprian
Porumbescu, Anton Pann, Eduard Caudella, Mihail Jora, Dinu Lipatti and
especially George Enescu. Also famous are the composer and conductor Sergiu
Celibidache and Vladimir Cosma.
• And from the second half of the 20th century by the
Romanian spectralism school: Ştefan Niculescu, Horațiu Rădulescu, Iancu
Dumitrescu, Octavian Nemescu, Ana-Maria Avram and others.
 HARICLEEA DARCLEE
• HARICLEEA DARCLEE - (1860-1939) studied music in Paris, where she was
discovered by the composer Charles Gounod. She was given the role of Margaret
in “Faustus”. She performed of the greatest stages of the world: Paris, St.
Petersburg, Milan, New York, and Berlin. Her voice conquered the King of
Portugal, Don Carlos, who often sent her love letters.
 Ciprian Porumbescu
• Ciprian Porumbescu (1853-1883) - Coming from a poor family, he was
unable to receive formal musical training. With the help of his friends who saw
the value of his talent, he was able to go to Vienna where he continued his
musical studies. He composed Choral music and the first Romanian
Operetta,”Crai nou” (New Moon) in 1882.
 George Enescu
• George Enescu (19th of August 1881, in Liveni, Botoşani – 4th of May 1955,
Paris) is considered the most important Romanian musician. He was a composer,
a violinist, a teacher, a pianist and a conductor, a complex and brilliant artistic
personality.
• His only opera, Oedipe, is considered a masterpiece of the 20th century.
• In the period between the two wars, the Romanian school of
music was present on the great stages of the world through Dinu
Lipatti and Sergiu Celibidache.
 Dinu Lipatti
• Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950) He was a famous pianist, composer, and educator.
He became known in 1934, when he was awarded the second prize at the
International Contest of Piano in Vienna. Having Leukemia, he was financially
supported by Yehudi Menuhin and Igor Strawinski. He is considered “an artist
of Divine Spirituality”.
 Gheorghe Zamfir
• Gheorghe Zamfir - He is one of the greatest Romanian artists, known for
playing the panpipe, called the “King of the Panpipe”. Expressing his artist
mood through an almost forgotten instrument, the panpipe, he has managed to
conquer the applause of the entire planet. He introduced the panpipe in all
musical styles and genres, revolutionizing the sound at a universal scale.
• The Madrigals - The most famous choral group in
Romania, known and appreciated in the entire world, was created
in 1963 by the teacher Marin Constantin and a group of students
who loved music.
 Rock
• Romanian rock music has a great history with an array of influences. During
the 1980s, bands such as Iris, Transsylvania
Phoenix, Compact, Holograf or Cargo achieved popularity, with songs about
love and friendship. Contemporary popular Romanian rock bands include Vița
de Vie, Robin And The Backstabbers, Coma, Alternosfera, Vama, Luna
Amară, The Kryptonite Sparks, and Grimus.
Muzică uşoară românească
• The term could be translated literally as "Romanian Easy Music" , defining
a branch of Pop music developed in Romania after World War II, which
appears generally in the form of easy danceable songs, made on
arrangements, which are performed by orchestras (and lately pop bands),
following a mix of the Soviet and Western pop music influences. 
• The most representative singers of that era are those from the 1980s, 1970s
and rarely, the 1960s: Aurelian Andreescu, Elena Cârstea, Corina Chiriac,
Mirabela Dauer, Stela Enache, Luigi Ionescu, Horia Moculescu, Margareta
Pâslaru, Angela Similea, Dan Spătaru and Aura Urziceanu.
 Romanţe
• Romanţă is a vocal or instrumental musical piece, sung in a poetic and
sentimental mood. It appears as an accessible and expressive melody, on the
background of piano and guitar orchestral arrangements.
• The history of Romanian romanţe can be traced back until the Interwar period,
when it became famous through the agency of the most popular Romanian
singer of that time, Marin Teodorescu, who is better known as Zavaidoc.
Romanian Dance-Pop
• Thanks to a couple of artists such as Inna, Edward Maya, Alexandra
Stan, Antonia, David Deejay, Play & Win, Radio Killer and others, a new
sound has emerged that has managed to achieve commercial success
outside Romania and dominate the national TV and radio music charts.