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Romania has a multicultural music environment which includes active ethnic music scenes. Traditional Romanianfolk music remains popular, and some folk musicians have come to national (and even international) fame.
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. One of them,Gheorghe Zamfir, is famous throughout the world today and helped popularize a traditional Romanian folk instrument, thepanpipes.
The religious musical creation, born under the influence ofByzantine music adjusted to the intonations of the local folk music, saw a period of glory between the 15th and 17th centuries, when reputed schools ofliturgical music developed withinRomanian monasteries. 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.
Traditional Romanian music reflects a confluence of sounds similar to Central European (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. The melody itself and especially the melodic embellishments are reminiscent of music in the Balkans.
InBanat, theviolin is the most common folk instrument, now played alongside importedwoodwind instruments; other instruments include thetaragot (today often thesaxophone plays the taragot role in bands).Efta Botoca is among the most renowned violinists from Banat.
Bucovina is a remote province and its traditions include some of the most ancient Romanian instruments, including thețilincă and thecobza. Pipes (fluieraș (small pipe) orfluier mare (large pipe)) are also played, usually with accompaniment by a cobza (more recently, theaccordion). Violins andbrass instruments have been imported in modern times.
Crișana has an ancient tradition of using violins, often in duos. This format is also found in Transylvania but is an older tradition.Petrică Pașca has recently helped popularize thetaragot in the region. Also, inRoșia village are well known two local instruments: Hidede, a type of violin with a trumpet, replacing the resonance box and a type of drum called Dobă.
Dobrujan music is characterized by Balkan and Turkish rhythm and melodicism.Dobrogea's population is ethnically mixed and the music here has a heavierTurkish,Bulgarian,Tatar and Ukrainian import than in the rest of the country.
The typical folk ensemble fromMaramureș iszongora[1] and violin, often with drums.Maramureș is a remote province (likeBucovina) and its traditions include some of the most ancient Romanian instruments andpeasant music. Its music shares many features withBucovina. Traditional flutes include thețilincă andFluierul Gemanat (similar to the BulgarianDvoyanka). Taragot, saxophones and accordions have more recently been introduced. Traditional singing in this region includesdoina.
InOaș, a violin adapted to be shriller is used, accompanied by thezongora. The singing in this region is also unique, shrill with archaic melodic elements.
See:Music of Moldova
Violin andțambal are the modern format most common inMoldaviandance music. Prior to the 20th century, however, the violin was usually accompanied by thecobza, which, although very rare, is still in use today.[2] Brass ensembles are now found in the central part of the county.Moldavia is also known forbrass bands similar to those inSerbia.
Transylvania has been historically and culturally more linked to Central European countries thanSoutheastern Europe, and its music reflects those influences. The province is tied historically to the smaller western regions ofMaramureș,Criana andBanat and they are often referred to collectively asTransylvania.
Violin,kontra anddouble bass, sometimes with acimbalom, are the most integral ensemble unit. All these instruments are used to play a wide variety of songs, including numerous kinds of specificwedding songs.
Drum,guitar andviolin make up the typical band inMaramureș and virtuosofiddlers are also popular in the area. In the end of the 1990s, theMaramuzicalmusic festival was organized to draw attention to the indigenous music of the area.
Wallachia, consisting ofMuntenia andOltenia, is home to thetaraf bands, which are perhaps the best-known expression of Romanian folk culture. Dances associated with tarafs includebrâu,geamparale,sârbă andhora. Thefiddle leads the music, with thecimbalom anddouble bass accompanying it. The cobza, once widespread in the region, has been largely replaced by the cimbalom. Lyrics are often about heroes like thehaidouks.Taraf de Haïdouks is an especially famous taraf and have achieved international attention since their 1988 debut with thelabelOcora. The Haidouks first attained visibility aslăutari, traditional entertainers at weddings and other celebratory occasions.
Oltenia's folk music and dance are similar to those in Muntenia. Violins and pipes are used, as are țambal and guitar, replacing the cobza as the rhythmic backing for tarafs. Thecimpoi (bagpipe) is also popular in this region.
Muntenia has a diverse set of instrumentation. The flute (fluier in Romanian) and violin are the traditional melodic element, but nowclarinets and accordions are more often used. Accordionists include the performersVasile Pandelescu andIlie Udilă.
The most widespread form ofRomanianfolk music is thedoina. Other styles of folk music include thebocet ("lament") andcântec bătrânesc (traditionalepicballads; literally "song of the elders").
Doina is poetic and often melancholic, sometimes compared to theblues 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.
Regional styles of doina:
Other styles of doina:
A syncretic genre exists at the intersection of narrative structure, musical expression, ritual function, and dramatic progression. One of the most well-known examples is the archaic pastoral poemWhen theshepherd lost his sheep.
Notable Romanian composers of the 19th and 20th centuries includeCiprian Porumbescu,Anton Pann,Eduard Caudella,Mihail Jora,Dinu Lipatti and especiallyGeorge Enescu. Also famous are the composer and conductorSergiu Celibidache andVladimir Cosma.
The Australian composerJulian Cochran wrote works extensively titledRomanian Dances with a collection of piano works and six orchestral works, exemplifying affinity amongst classical composers with the Romanian folk music tradition outside of Romania.[3][self-published source].
And from the second half of the 20th century by the Romanianspectralism school:Ştefan Niculescu,Horațiu Rădulescu,Iancu Dumitrescu,Octavian Nemescu,Ana-Maria Avram and others.
Jazz has been imported in Romania as early as the interwar period, thanks to musicians such asSergiu Malagamba.[4] However, jazz music was banned after World War II, with the arrival of the communist regime. The ban was dropped in 1964.
Promoted but not limited to Cornel Chiriac, jazz musicians and others such asEugen Ciceu, helped establish the genre in Romania, initially promoted alongside "easy music". VocalistAura Urziceanu has performed inNew York City in 1972 and toured extensively under the name Aura Rully.
Although restrained, jazz after 1989 still has cult following, with a number of festivals such as Gărâna International Jazz Festival. Contemporary jazz singers includeJohnny Răducanu,Anca Parghel and others. In recent years a few bands have emerged that make use of elements ofnu-jazz,trip hop and electronic music:Aievea,Jazzadezz,Norzeatic & Khidja and others.
Romanian rock music has a great history with an array of influences. During the 1980s, bands such asIris,Phoenix,Celelalte Cuvinte,Compact,Holograf orCargo achieved popularity, with songs about love and friendship. Contemporary popular Romanian rock bands includeVița de Vie,Robin and the Backstabbers, Coma,Alternosfera,Vama,Luna Amară,The Kryptonite Sparks, andGrimus.
The term could be translated literally as "Romanian Easy Music" and, in the most common sense, this music is synonym with "Muzică de stradă" (from French "estrade", which means "podium"), defining a branch of Pop music developed in Romania afterWorld 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. This musical form shows many similarities with Western Popular music, as most songs could be defined as a form ofSchlager. It supported influences from other similar melodic styles, like Musica leggera italiana (from Italy) and Canción Melódica (from Spain). This Romanian style of music was popularized abroad through the internationalGolden Stag Festival, held inBrașov, since 1968. 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.
Romanţă (plural: romanţe) 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. It presents similarities to British music style "Easy Music". The history of Romanian romanţe can be traced back until theInterwar period, when it became famous through the agency of the most popular Romanian singer of that time, Marin Teodorescu, who is better known asZavaidoc. AfterWorld War II, singers likeGică Petrescu integrated in this music orchestral elements, which are specific for Argentinian style, Tango Nuevo.
Anton Pann had the first few transcriptions of a new style that was present in the suburbs of Bucharest in the 19th century. The new style flourished and grew, being promoted by ordinary musicians playing insuburbs calledMahala. This musical style combined theBalkan (many traditional folkloric genres, including Turkish) andGypsy styles into a new style calledManele. After theRomanian Revolution in 1990, this genre was booming. A few contemporary bands that promoted the style are:
Some modern manele singers, among others, are:
Etno music is a popular Romanian style, which keeps most accurate the typical ethnic sound of Romanian traditional folk music. It is adapted to the modern sound of music, as employs frequentlysynthesizers along with the typical traditional instruments. It emerged in the early 1990s as a revival of Romanian traditional folk music and maintained a constant popularity until nowadays. It has the largest audience through the fans of Romanian folk music and it is popularized, along with Romanian folk music, through the medium of Etno TV, a Romanian Television, dedicated mainly to Romanian folk music, especially the modern side of this music.
Acoustic Romanian style of music, inspired by American folk music, with sweet lyrics and played almost exclusively with guitar. Generally, it evokes a poetic and melancholic atmosphere. It emerged in the early 1960s, along with the first releases of Phoenix band. It was promoted later, through the medium of theCenaclul Flacăra, a cultural phenomenon from the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s, which was initiated by Adrian Păunescu, a Romanian poet. Many Romanian folk artists gain affirmation through the Cenaclul Flacăra movement: Mircea Vintilă,Vasile Șeicaru,Florian Pittiș,Valeriu Sterian,Nicu Alifantis, Alexandru Zărnescu, Victor Socaciu, Vasile Mardare.
From the early years of the communist regime (the 1960s) there was an active rock scene in Romania. Because of their free attitude which was associated with Western culture and the capitalist society, the communist regime censored rock musicians as much as possible.[5] From the beginning they had a "paria" social position. Symbols of the movement such as long hair, jeans, stage attitude were considered decadent. The bands operated under the name of "instrumental-vocal musical ensemble" to avoid the expression "rock", which was considered to be subversive.[6] Despite this, the rock scene resisted with consequence in a kind of "official underground" before the 1989 Revolution.[7]
Veterans of the scene kept the rock spirit alive under difficult restrictive conditions.[8] The connection with the "news" from the West was made within radio stations such "Free Europe", which were disallowed. Rock was in these troubled times for its Romanian supporters more than music. It was attitude against the lack of freedom.[9] Names with historical resonance for the Romanian rock movement includePhoenix,Sfinx,Roșu și Negru,Mondial,Sincron,Sideral,Semnal M,Metropol,FFN,Progresiv TM,Pro Musica,Catena,Iris,Compact,Holograf,Timpuri Noi,Krypton,Cargo,Celelalte Cuvinte,Post Scriptum,Florian Pittiș,Cornel Chiriac,Dan Andrei Aldea,Octave Octavian Teodorescu,Sorin Chifiriuc,Nicu Covaci,Valeriu Sterian,Mircea Baniciu,Ovidiu Lipan,Ilie Stepan,Liviu Tudan,Mircea Florian,Dorin Liviu Zaharia,Teo Peter,Florin Ochescu,Cristi Minculescu,Dan Bittman.
The political freedom and the cultural openness gained after the 1989 Revolution marked a new era for rock music in Romania. The scene is now very active, despite rock music not being one of the main acts in Romanian mass media. Rock clubs have a rich list of concerts. There are yearly organized great rock festivals with national and international character.[10]
In the 1990s and the early 2000s, with the emergence of independent television and radio stations, the term easy music has been replaced by pop. Mainstream success is shared between early dance-pop bands such asA.S.I.A.,Animal X, Blondy,Body & Soul, L.A.,3rei Sud Est orAkcent, pop-rock singers and bands such asȘtefan Bănică Jr.,Holograf,Bosquito,Voltaj orVH2, hip-hop outfits such asB.U.G. Mafia,La Familia,Paraziții orCa$$a Loco, Latino singers (Pepe) and others (the electronic bandȘuie Paparude and alternative rock bands such asVama Veche,Bere Gratis,Sarmalele Reci,OCS, Spitalul de Urgență,Zdob și Zdub orLuna Amară that are still popular, especially underground).
With the exception of Moldavian-based bandO-Zone, Romanian Europop had not achieved considerable echoes outside the borders of the country until 2005, when the bandMorandi reached success with songs written inEnglish,Brazilian-Portuguese and other languages. The music style of Morandi,DJ Project,Fly Project and a few others marks the transitional period to the Romanian dance-pop of the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Artists such asEdward Maya,Vika Jigulina,Alexandra Stan,Andreea Bănică,Smiley,Inna,Andreea Bălan,Antonia,David Deejay,Play & Win andRadio Killer brought a new sound has emerged that has managed to achieve commercial success outside Romania and dominate the national TV and radio music charts. This new sound, nicknamed pejoratively by some "popcorn"[11] after the name of one of its characteristic synths, is characterized by "shiny", danceable melodies, hooks sometimes based on synthesized accordion[12][deprecated source] and simple lyrics written most often in English, accompanied by videos frequently featuring young women. "Popcorn" has been criticized by some as superficial (sometimes being even compared toManele), overly commercial, repetitive and easily grating, as a large number of producers and performers have adopted this sound in a short period of time. However, since Romanianspectralism is virtually unknown outside theavant-garde music community, "popcorn" may be considered the first movement in the history of Romanian history to gain momentum.
An important influence on Romanian dance-pop washouse music, which gained so much following in clubs that, thanks to radio stations such as Pro FM, has attained mainstream status.Minimal house in the vein ofRicardo Villalobos has and is being produced by DJs such asPetre Inspirescu, but vocal-based house continues to have more success. As of recently,dubstep has emerged alongside house music, although currently still underground.
Pre-1989 underground bands include the new-wave bandRodion G.A. alongside older rock bands such asCelelalte Cuvinte andSemnal M. Firstelectronic music attempts belong to composerAdrian Enescu.
First represented by bands such asVorbire Directă andR.A.C.L.A., hip-hop music has achieved quickly mainstream success with bands such asB.U.G. Mafia,La Familia andParaziții, in spite of them being criticized for delivering explicit language and themes. The scene is currently split between mainstream rappers (Puya,Guess Who) and underground rappers (Vexxatu Vexx,CTC., Haarp Cord). Labels dedicated to hip-hop include Hades Records, 20 CM Records andFacem Records (the first independent hip-hop label from Romania).
Rock scene is currently split between metal bands (such asNegură Bunget and Trooper), progressive and indie rock outfits (byron, Kumm,Robin and the Backstabbers). There are also other niches such as punk rock (E.M.I.L. Haos, Terror Art) or post-rock (Valerinne).
Underground electronic music scene has been until 2010 somewhat unified by the existence of theTimișoara-based festival TMBase, reuniting DJs and producers from genres such asdrum and bass,breakbeat,dub techno,electronic rock etc. A result of TMBase collaborations is the IDM outfitMakunouchi Bento, who have attracted some attention with theirBandcamp-released material.[13] Also notable is the label La Strada Music, which has been home to names such asSilent Strike (who has gained acclaim on the Internet and some radio stations with the singleAstenie featuringAda Milea),Yvat (a prolificIDM producer ofBelgian origin, based in Bucharest),Electric Brother, nu-jazz outfitAievea and others.
Trip hop andpost-rock have influenced a few bands such asMargento, butdream pop,shoegaze and other niche genres are poorly represented.Freak folk is partially known due to the success of singer-songwriterAda Milea, but is practiced by only a few other bands such as Nu & Apa Neagră. The producerMinus has attempted to introducebitpop and, more recently,chillwave.
Dubstep DJs have started to emerge, though with the genre has also been associated the bandR.O.A., who have achieved some mainstream success thanks to the leader Junkyard, formerly vocalist inȘuie Paparude.
Jazz festivals
Electronic Music
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