ey co s es A Cy BI be a BY rCostantin LupuMUZICA VECHE DIN MOLDOVA DE SUS Tinutul Botosanilor, parte a Moldovei de Sus Tinutul Botosanilor este situat in extremitatea nordica (sau “de sus”) a Moldovei. Este o regiune frumoasa, cu munti i coline invesmantate cu livezi, fanefe si paduri ce ar putea sta la temelia unei ravnite prosperitati. Dar satele si targurile patriarhale ale Botosanilor se modernizeaza icnit gi cu o lentoare specific moldoveneasca. Nu e insa mai putin adevarat c& oamenii sunt orgolios impregnati de amintirea unui trecut mai bun si a unei vieti culturale intense si de calitate, din care s-au ridicat doi din creatorii cei mai de seama ai Roméaniei: poetul national Mihai Eminescu si compozitorul George Enescu. Ca intreaga provincie a Moldovei, Botosaniul s-a aflat timp de cateva secole (16-19) sub suzeranitate otomana. Suzeranitatea implica unele servituti economice, dar mai ales — important din perspectiva care ne intereseaza aici — favoriza mentinerea tinutului in raza de influenta a culturii balcanic-orientale, o cultura concurata energic, pe la sfarsitul secolului 18, de cea central-europeana. Miraculos, cea mai mare parte a Botosaniului a ramas alipita de trupul Moldovei, chiar atunci cand regiunile invecinate au suportat transferari intempestive cand in imperiul austro-ungar, cand in cel rus sau sovietic. Botosaniul este populat in principal de roméni. In decursul vremilor, alaturi de ei au vietuit hufulil (care traiesc si azi adunati in cateva sate, fara sa-si fi pastrat cu obligativitate limba), evreii (foarte numerosi inca de la sfarsitul secolului 18, majoritatea galitieni, in parte deportati sau ucisi in cursul ultimei conflagratii mondiale, in parte stabilifi in Statele Unite ¢i Izrael) $i figanii, Toate grupurile etnice au avut sau au muzici proprii, contingente cu cea a romanilor si in acelasi timp capabile sa influenfeze devenirea acesteia din urma. Desi se deterioreaz& rapid si denivelat — unele genuri muzicale, aga cum e dansul, conservandu-se mai bine decat altele —, cultura muzicala traditionala a regiunii este inca vie. Oamenii canta mai putin decat inainte, cu vocea sau din vechile instrumente agro- pastorale precum fluierul (de diverse marimi, din lemn sau din metal), tulnicul si cimpoiul. Muzica privata s-a retras ins in beneficiul celei festive, ultima fiind incredinjata formatillor de muzicieni profesionisti (/autar/). Dar chiar si aceasta muzica festiva se executa dastul de rar, pentru c& oamenii au abandonat multe din ritualurile comunitare care se incheiaucu petrecere, muzica si joc. Continua sa rémané viguroase doar nunta $i obiceiurile legate de innoirea anului: colindatul si jocurile de mascafi, In ziua Anului Nou, care in calendarul ortodox coincide cu Sfantul Vasile, grupuri de barbati tineri deghizati sau/si mascati joaca in fata concetatenilor lor farani sau targovefi o piesa muzicalizata care prezinta agonia, moartea si invierea unui animal (capra, urs sau cerb) — in fapt stingerea si renasterea simbolicd a Timpului. Grupul se preumbla din casa in casa, insotit de un mic tarat (alcatuit din vioara, fluier, cobzé, acordeon si toba, de exemplu) sau de o minuscula fanfara. Una sau cealalta executé melodiile de joc pe care se misca si danseaza personajele. Despre muzica inclusa pe disc Cele mai multe din piesele gi suitele de piese de pe acest disc sunt melodii de joc. Ele sunt grupate in trei categorii, pe criteriul notei lor stilistice dominante. Categoriile sunt insa destul de ambigue, pentru ca in practica populara piesele gi suitele de piese concrete combina sau juxtapun adeseori melodii si segmente melodice de origini si vechimi relative diferite. Primul pachet de melodii (piesele 1-5) este oglinda muzicii pe care o considera a fi cea mai interesanta si mai rara, pe care o denumim aici post-fanariota. Ea se canta prin secolul 49a curile bolerilor instarifi si prin targurile Botosanilor si era dominata de horele boierest, devenite astazi rare — dansuri in miscare asezata si acompaniate cu formule ritmice asimetrice; dansuri pe care compozitori timpului le aranjau cu placere pentru pianoforte, spre folosinta domisoarelor educate la pension. Acelasi pachet ,post-fanariot” subsumeaza simelodiile cu inflexiuni evreiesti explicite, asa cum este Hora boiereasca a lui Nemfeanu (index 4). Credem ca cei interesafi de radacinile muzicil evreiesti-americane Klezmer ar putea cu greu gasi un material mai semnificativ si revelator decat cel din Moldova de Sus. Muzica post-fanoriata a existat cu certitudine, in secolele 18-19, pretutindeni in proximitatea Stambulului; ea n-a lsat ins nicdieri urme mai pregnante decat in Muntenia si Moldova, dar mai ales in Moldova de Sus. ‘Al doilea pachet de piese, cel mai consistent cantitativ (piesele 6-18), grupeaz’ muzici eminamente sdtesti, inrudite mai degraba cu cele ale Europei rurale decat cu ale Balcanilor $i ale Orientului Mijlociu. Piesele care il compun — melodii de joc, cantari rituale de nunta gi cantece lirice in versiuni instrumentale — sunt preluate de violonisti din muzica vocalé,de fiuier si de cimpoi a plugarilor si crescAtorilor de animale. In Hora pe hang si Sarba pe hang, index 12, de exemplu, violonistul atinge cu arcusul o coarda grava, imitand astfel deliberat hangul cimpoiului. Piesele se construiesc din structuri melodico-ritmice economice, construite din motive putine, cu ambitusuri restranse si ritmuri repetitive. in fine, ultimul grupaj ilustreaza lumea eterogena a mahalalelor de la conjunctia secolelor 19 $i 20. Piesele amalgameaza sonoritati rurale, de salon bonjourist (din perioada primei »@vropenizan” a Romaniei) si de targ, descinse parca din colectiile de cantece de lume ale lui Anton Pann. Unele melodii amintesc de muzica fanfarelor populare, la moda in Europa acelor timpuri, dar gi in intreaga Moldova rurala. Lucrul cel mai insemnat pe care il aflaém ascultand muzica de pe disc este acela cA satul din Moldova de Sus a fost in vremi trecute, intocmai ca si azi, eterogen si expus la cele mai variate influente. Presiunile au venit din directia Balcanilor cosmopoliti, a mahalalelor gi saloanelor boieresti — in curs de occidentalizare dar inca tributare Stambulului —, a comunitatilor evreiesti, ucrainiene ¢i tiganesti din regiune. Satul si targul au sorbit, succesiv sau simultan, elemente sonore provenind din toate aceste izvoare si le-au remodelat in propriile lor tipare, in jurul unui nucleu dur; muzica jaraneasca romaneascé a locului. Este semnificativ de asemeni faptul ca Muzica veche din Moldova de Sus aduce marturie despre ambientul sonor din anii copilariei lui George Enescu, cel pe care ni-| reveleaza — in forme maiestrit transfigurate — faimoasele compozitii /mpresii din copilarie, Suita sdteascé, Caprice roumain si mai ales Sonata a Ill-a pentru pian si vioara ,in caracter popular romanesc*. Interprefii principali Violonistul Constantin Lupu s-a nascut in 1951, la Gadinti (Moldova centrala). A invatat vioara in familie si de la un vecin barbier, un “Figaro” faran indragit de toata sufiarea satului. P&rintii Lau impins de timpuriu la oras, spre $coli de «muzica serioasa». Devenind un foarte bun violonist, Costicad Lupu a fost ispitit s& se consacre definitiv muzicii academice. Dorinta de a ramAne fidel satului a fost insA mai puternic&. Lupu s-a angajat la Centrul Cultural din Botosani, iar in parale! s-a apucat s& cante pentru nuntile din oras si din imprejurimi. Prin anii 70-80, Constantin Lupu a rascolit cu constiinciozitate toate cotloanele rurale alefinutului Botosani in c&utare de muzici nestiute. A lucrat cu o multime de fluierasi, cobzari, vioristi si fanfaragii pe care {ranii nu-i bagau prea mult in seam, pentru c muzica lor jesise din moda: Dumitru Nemteanu din Saveni, Vasile Ursache din Frumusica, loan Roman din Avrameni, Costache Aiordachioaie din Baluseni, mos Toader Tinta din Baranca. |-a torturat pe toti pana cand le-a extras din memorie piesele invaitate in prima copilarie, de la parinti gi bunici, pe care ei insigi le cantasera rareori de atunci incoace dar pe care alti muzicanti nu le mai stiau sau nu le mai cantau de multa vreme. Fiecare muzician-taran luat in parte cunostea doua sau trei piese batranesti; dar Lupu le-a prins pe ale tuturor, asa ca la capatul a doua decenii a devenit detinatorul unui insemnat repertoriu de melodii cu parfumuri vechi, stranse $i puse pe note in volumul Folclor muzical instrumental din judeful Botosani. Un repertoriu exceptional ca intindere si atat de frumos incat iti taie respiratia. Speram ca oricine asculté acest disc si ji realizeaza unicitatea se va simti indemnat sd omagieze, ca si mine, munca migaloasa $i inspirata a celui caruia i-o datoram: violonistul si folcloristul Constantin Lupu din Botosani, intelectual si faran totodata. Constantin Negel este un cobzar batran, unul din ultimii care mai existé in Modova de ‘Sus. Batrana ji e si cobza, batrani fi sunt ochii cei neagri, blanzi si intelepti. Mos Negel (Mosnegel, cum fi spun cei apropiafi) a inceput sa cante la petrecerile satesti inca de pe Ja sfarsitul anilor 30, alaturi de tatal sau viorist. O data cu trecerea timpului, instrumentul sau, devenit demodat, a fost treptat inlocuit de altele, mai eficiente sonor si mai moderne ca aspect, precum tambalul, acordeonul, iar mai apoi orga electronica. Negel s-a vazut dat lao parte. In zilele noastre, el canta rareori, doar pentru nunti mai mici de oameni modest ‘siimpreuna cu cativa prieteni-—printre care si Constantin Lupu. Cand Isi apuca instrumentul, fata mosnegelului se destinde: omul se intoarce cu gandul in tinerete si-si regaseste dintr-o data puterea, siguranja, rostul gi demnitatea pierdute. La anii senectutii, Negel a avut o mare si neasteptata bucurie: in anul 2003 a cAntat in Franta, la Cité de la Musique, in fata a sute de oameni, cu inima lui cea obosita zbatandu- Se nebuneste sub reflectoare. Peste cateva luni el va canta din nou la Paris. In asteptare, Mosnegelul s-a intors in sat, la nevasta si la gospodarioara lui batraneasca cu gaini, curci, vaci si purcel pentru Craciun.Vioara Vioara populara din finutul Botosaniului este instrumentul normal, folosit si in muzica academica. Muzicienii jarani ii aduc uneori, pentru anumite piese, o modificare necunoscut muzicienilor savanti: ei coboara coarda a Il-a (/a) cu o cvarta si o aseaza lang coarda |-a (mi), in acelasi locas de pe caus. Atacate simultan cu arcusul, cele doud corzi astfel ,incdlecate” (dupa cum spun localnicii) produc octave care, prin inseriere, devin octave paralele. (Vezi Sarba cu corzi incalecate de la Albesti, index 3, si Hora cu corzi incalecate, index 5, de pe acest disc.) Tehnica instrumentala a vioristilor populari prezinta, si ea, unele particularitati. Astfel, arcusul este apucat energic de sus, de deasupra talonului, si folosit numai in portiunea sa centrala. Vioristii populari sunt mari mesteri in atacarea si incheierea sunetelor prin mici glissandi, ascendente sau descendente. Cobza Cobza este, sau mai degraba a fost in Moldova de Sus, principalul acompaniator al viorii. Ea este un instrument de coarde din familia acelui /uth raspandit in intreg Orientul Mijlociu. Luthul — care are infatisari diferite si poartaé nume deosebite in arii culturale distincte — a patruns probabil in tarile Romane prin intermediul muzicii de curte. (Dimitrie Cantemir, c&rturar iluminist si principe al Moldovei la inceputul secolului 18, un mare virtuos al /uthului- tampur, a intocmit 0 metoda pentru acest din urma instrument.) Treptat, luthul-cobza a coborAt in sate si a ajuns in mana lautarilor si a faranilor obignuiti. Acestia au preferat cobza cu gat scurt, limba lata si cutie de rezonanta voluminoasa, pentru c& aceasta li ‘se parea cea mai potrivita pentru producerea unor acompaniamente patrunzatoare, care pot fi auzite usor de toti participantii la o petrecere populara. Cobza are un numér variabil de coarde, intre opt si douasprezece. Acestea sunt dispuse in patru coruri de cate doua sau trei strune, acordate la aceeasi nivel de inaltime sau la octava. Coardele sunt lovite cu un plectru din pana de gasca, os, ebonita sau material plastic. Acordurile de acompaniament pe care le emit sunt fie placate, fie arpegiate, bazate pe fiituri (formule melodico-ritmice scurte gi repetibile). Ca instrument acompaniator, cobza are insa si o functie ritmica. Atacarea coardelor sale produce zgomote adifionale penetrante, care seamana cu rapaitul tobelor mici sau mijlocii((toba fiind’de’altfel un instrument care nu lipseste din ansamblurile muzicale regionale). in grai local, un instrumentist nu canta la cobza, ci bate cobza. Un cobzar adevarat de pe timpuri — asa cum este Constantin Negel, interpretul de pe acest disc —trebuia sa stie sa cante vocal si sa se acompanieze simultan cu instrumentul (vezi Chiftilareasa, index 23). In plus, el era dator sé-si includa in repertoriu si vreo dola- trel melodii de joc, pentru situatiile in care trebuia sa cante singur sau in care solistul formatiei sale devenea temporar indisponibil. (Vezi Margineaca de la Flamanzi, index 6, Ciobanasul si Batuta, index 13.) Azi majoritatea cobzarilor ramasi in activitate sunt pur si simplu instrumentisti Lautari de altaédata/ Musicians of yoreCONTINUT: 1. Melodie de joc: Hora ui Nemfeanu de la Saveni (vioara, viola, cobza, contrabas) 2. Melodie de joc: Hora boiereasca a lui Toader Tinta (vioaré, cobz&, doba) 8. Melodie de joc: Sarba cu corziincélecate de la Albesti (vicara tn scordatura, viola, cobza, contrabas) 4. Melodie de joc: Hora boiereasca a lui Nemfeanu (vioara, viola, cobza, contrabas) 5. Melodie de joc: Hora cu cori incalecate (vioara in scordatura, viol&, cobza, contrabas) 6. Melodie de joc: Margineanca de la Flamanzi (cobza) 7. Melodii de joc: Margineanca de la Flamanzi si Batuta (vioara, viola, cobza, doba) 8. Melodie de joc: Hora (fluier, vioara, viola, cobza, doba) 9. Melodie de joc: Cobzareasca (vioara, cobza, doba) 10. 1. 12. 13. 14, 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 24, 25. 26. C&ntec de la Holm si melodie de joc: Joc batrénesc de la Prisacani (vioara, cobza, doba) Melodii de joc: Hora pe hang, Sarba pe hang si Coragheasca (vioara, cobza, doba) Melodie de joc: Mosnegeasca din Prisacani (vioara, viola, cobza, contrabas, doba) Melodii de joc: Ciobanasul si Batuta (cobz’) Melodie de joc: Tardneasca de pe Siret (doua viori, viol, cobza, doba, contrabas) Céntec ritual de nunta: De jele la mireasd (fluier, vioara, cobza, contra, contrabas) Melodie de joc: Batuta iui Berucai (vicar, cobza, doba) Melodii de joc: Sarba pe batai a lui Mitica din Vorona gi Joc (vioara, cobza, doba) Melodii de joc: Batréneasca de la Albesti si Saérba din batrani (vioar&, cobz4, doba) |. Melodie de joc: Sarba din Baiceni (cobza, vioara) 20. 24. 22. 23. Melodie de joc: Sarba de pe Valea Jijiei (vioara, cobza, doba) Melodie de joc: Sarba lui Nemfeanu (vioar’, viol&, cobz4, contrabas) Melodie de joc: Noghiul (vioara, cobz’, dob’) Céntec: Chittiléreasa (cobza, voce) Melodie de joc: Hora de la Hlipiceni (vioara, viola, cobza, contrabas) Melodie de joc: Sarba de la Prisacani (cobza, vioara, viola, doba) Melodie de joc: Pe-ntrecute (vioaré, cobza, doba)Constantin Nege!“5 moe Ses gye o oes sa So8 Sigs SOLD MUSIC FROM NORTH MOLDOVIA The Botosani County, part of Upper Moldavia The Botosani country is situated in the northern (or “upper’) extremity of Moldavia. It is a beautiful region, with mountains and hills strewn with orchards, hayfields and forests that could be the foundation of much sought-after prosperity. But the patriarchal villages and ‘small towns of the Botosani country have been modemizing at a stumbling pace, with typical Moldavian sluggishness. It is no less true, though, that the people are impregnated with the pride of a better past and an intense, first-class cultural life which gave two of Romania’s brightest creators: the national poet Mihai Eminescu and the composer George Enescu. As the entire province of Moldavia, Botosani was under Ottoman suzerainty for several centuries (16"-19"). Suzerainty involved some economic servitude, but more importantly, from the perspective that concerns us here, favored the country's prolonged maintenance under the influence of Balkan-Oriental culture, which by the end of the 18" century was in energetic competition with the Central-European one. Miraculously, most of the Botosani country remained united with the rest of Moldavia, even when neighboring regions suffered tempestuous annexations either by the Austro-Hungarian or the Russian — or Soviet — empires. Botosani is mainly inhabited by Romanians. Over the years, there also lived Hufull (who still populate a few villages without having necessarily kept their language), Jews (very numerous since the late 18" century, most of them Galician, partly deported or murdered during World War Il, partly emigrated to the United States and Israel), and Gypsies. All the ethnic groups have had their own musics, coexisting with the Romanians’ and at the same time capable of influencing the latter's evolution. Although it is quickly and unevenly deteriorating (with some musical genres, such as the dance, being conserved better than others), the traditional musical culture of the region is still alive. The people sing and play less than before, using old agro-pastoral instruments Such as the pipe (in various sizes, made of wood or metal), the alphom and the bagpipe. Private music has lost ground to the festive music performed by professional musicians (/4utari). But even this festive music is performed quite seldom, because people have abandoned many of the community rituals that would end in partying, music and dancing.‘Only the wedding and the customs related to the New Year— caroling and masque dances —have remained vigorous. On New Year Day, which in the Orthodox calendar coincides ‘with St. Vasile (Basil), groups of young men in disguise and/or wearing masks perform before their fellow villagers or townsfolk a play set to music that presents the agony, death and resurrection of an animal (goat, bear or stag), in fact the symbolic extinction and rebirth of ‘Time. The groups go from house to house accompanied by a small taraf (band) lining up aviolin, a flute, a cobza, an accordion and a drum, for example, or a tiny brass band. One or the other performs the dance tunes to which the characters dance and move. About the music on the CD Most of the pieces and suites on this disc are dance tunes. They are grouped here in three categories following the criterion of the dominant stylistic note. Nevertheless the categories are quite ambiguous, because in popular practice the concrete pieces and suites often combine or juxtapose melodies and melodic segments of different origins and periods. The first set of tunes (tracks 1-5) is the reflection of the music we regard as the most interesting, and rare, herein named post-Phanariot. It used to be performed in the 19" century at the courts of wealthy boyars and in towns all around the Botosani country, and it was dominated by boyar's horas (hore boieresti), which have now become infrequent — dances with a steady movement accompanied by asymmetrical rhythmic formulas. The composers of the time would gladly arrange them for pianoforte, so that young ladies educated in boardinghouses might play them. The same post-Phanariot set subsumes tunes with explicit Jewish inflections, such as Hora boiereascd a lui Nemteanu: (index 4). We believe that those interested in the roots of the Jewish-American klezmer music will hardly find a more significant and revealing material than that coming from Upper Moldavia. Post-Phanariot music is certain to have existed in the 18"-19" centuries everywhere around Istanbul. It left its most profound marks in Muntenia and Moldavia, but most of all in Upper Moldavia. The second set of tunes, the most substantial (6-18), groups together chiefly village musics, which are related to rural Europe rather than the Balkans or the Middle East. The pieces included — dance tunes, ritual wedding songs and instrumental lyric songs — are taken by the violinists from the vocal, as well as from the pipe and bagpipe music of plowmen andanimal breeders. In Hora pe hang and Sarba pe hang, index12, for instance, the violin player strikes a low string with his bow, thus imitating the sound of the bagpipe deliberately. ambitus and repetitive rhythms. The last set illustrates the heterogeneous worid of slums at the conjunction ofthe 19° and 20 centuries. The pieces amalgamate rural, “bonjourist”-salon (from the epoch of Romania's first “Europeanization”) and small-town sounds seemingly originating in Anton Pann’s so- called “woridly songs” of the mid-19> century. Some tunes remind of the music of folk brass bands which were then fashionable both in Europe and throughout rural Moldavia. The most significant thing we learn listening to the music on this disc is that the village in Upper Moldavia used to be, as it still is, heterogeneous and open to most diverse influences. Pressure came from the cosmopolitan Balkans, the slums, the westemi: boyars’ salons that were still tributary to Istanbul, as well as from the Jewish, Ukrainian and Gypsy communities in the region. The village and the town absorbed, successively or simultaneously, sound elements from all these sources, and remodeled them in its own patterns, around a hard core: the local Romanian peasant music. It is also significant that Old Music from Upper Moldavia bears witness to the musical background of George Enescu's childhood years, revealed in masterfully transfigured forms by the famous compositions Impressions from Childhood, Village Suite, Caprice roumain, and especially the 3° Sonata for piano and violin in “Romanian folk style.” ‘The main interpreters ‘The violin player Constantin Lupu was bom in 1951 at Gadinti (central Moldova). He leamed to play the violin in the familly and from a barber neighbor, a peasant Figaro loved byeveryone in the village. His parents encouraged him very early to go to “serious music” schools in town. As he became a very good violinist, Constantin Lupu was tempted to devote himself to academic music entirely. In the end, the desire to remain faithful to the village prevailed. Lupu found employment with the Botosani Cultural Center, and in parallel began performing“ at weddings in the city and its environs.In the 1970s and 1980s, Constantin Lupu rummaged conscientiously every rural nook in the country of Botosani, in search of unknown music. He performed with a host of pipers, ‘cobza (kind of lute) players, fiddlers and brass-band members whom peasants treated rather with indifference, because their music had gone out of fashion: Dumitru Nemteanu from Saveni, Vasile Ursache from Frumusica, loan Roman from Avrameni, Costache Aiordachioaie from Baluseni, old Toader Tinta from Baranca. He tortured them all until he dug out of their memory the tunes they had leamed in early childhood, from their parents and grandparents, which they had seldom played ever since, and which other musicians had forgotten or stopped playing a long time before. Each peasant musician taken separately knew two or three old tunes, but Lupu learned all ofthem, so two decades later he became the possessor of a substantial repertoire of archaic tunes, collected and set to notes in Instrumental Musical Folklore from the County of Botosani an exceptionally large repertoire, so beautiful that it takes one’s breath away. We hope that every listener of this disc who understands its uniqueness will fee! the urge to pay homage, as we did, to the meticulous and inspired work of the man to whom we owe it: the violinist and folklorist Constantin Lupu from Botosani, an intellectual and a peasant with one voice. Constantin Negel is an old cobza player, one of the few remaining in Upper Moldavia. His cobzais old too, as his black, gentle, wise eyes. Old Negel (Mosnegel to the intimates, i.e. ‘little old man”) began to play at village parties as early as the late 1930s, together with his Violinist father. Over the years, the cobza went out of fashion and was gradually replaced by other instruments, more efficient in producing sound and looking more modern, such as the dulcimer (famba!), the accordion, and later the electronic organ. Negel found himself thrust aside. Today, he seldom plays, and only at small weddings of modest people, together with a few friends, among which Constantin Lupu. When he seizes his instrument, his face lightens: the man’s thought wanders back to his youth, and he suddenly recovers his lost Strength, self-assurance, sense of usefulness and dignity. In his senescent years, Negel experienced a great and unexpected joy: in 2003 he performed in France, in Cité de la Musique, before hundreds of people, his weary heart pounding under the projectors. In a few months he will perform again in Paris. Till then, the “Mognegel” retumed to his village, to his wife and his old-fashioned household with hens, turkeys, a cow, and a piglet for Christmas.The violin The folk violin from the country of Botosani is the normal instrument also used in academic music. For certain tunes, however, peasant musicians sometimes make a change unknown to scholarly musicians: they lower the 2° (A) string by a fourth and fix it next to the 1* (E) string, in the same groove on the bridge. Hit simultaneously with the bow, the two “overlapping” strings (corzi incdlecate) produce octaves that, by serialization, become parallel octaves. (See Sarba cu corzi incdlecate de la Albesti, index 3, and Hora cu corei incdlecate, index 5). The instrumental technique of the folk violinists also evinces some particularities. Thus, the bow is held vigorously by its upper end, above the heel, and only its middle section is used. Folk violin players are maestros of hitting and terminating sounds by small ascending or descending glissandi. The cobza The cobza is — or rather used to be — the main accompanist of the violin in Upper Moldavia. Itis a string instrument from the lute family, a widespread instrument in the Middle East. The lute, which looks different and has different names depending on the cultural area, must have arrived in the Romanian Principalities by way of court music. (Dimitrie Cantemir, an Enlightenment scholar and prince of Moldavia at the beginning of the 18" century, and a virtuoso of the lute—tampur, wrote a method for the latter). In time, the lute-cobza went down to the villages and into the hands of common musicians and peasants. These preferred the short-necked cobza with a wide tailpiece and a big soundbox, as it seemed the most suitable for producing incisive accompaniments that may be easily heard by all the participants in a folk feast. The cobza has a variable number of strings, between eight and twelve. These are divided into four courses of two or three strings each tuned at the same pitch or at octaves. The ‘strings are struck with a plectrum made of a goose feather, bone, ebonite or plastic. The accompaniment chords they emit are either played simultaneously or arpeggiated and based on filturi (short, repeatable melodic-rhythmic formulas).AS an accompaniment instrument, the cobza has also a thythmic function. Hitting its stings produces additional, penetrating sounds resembling the rattle of a small or midsized drum (an instrument that is never missing from music ensembles in the region). In the local idiom, one does not play, but beat the cobza. A true cobza player of yore, like Constantin Negel, featured on this disc, had to know how to sing and at the same time accompany himself with the instrument. (See Chiftiléreasa, Eng. Mincemeat Ball Maker, index 23). In addition, he had to include in his repertoire two or three dance tunes in case he was to play alone, or the band soloist became unavailable. (See Margineanca de la Flamanzi, index 5, Ciobanasul, and Batuta, index 18.) Today, most active cobza players are mere instrumentalists. Constantin Lupu, Aurel Holeru, Neculai BradeanuCONTENTS: 1. Dance tune: Hora lui Nemfeanu de la Saveni (violin, viola, cobza, double bass) 2. Dance tune: Hora boiereasca a lui Toader Tinta (violin, cobza, drum) 3. Dance tune: Sarba cu corzi incdlecate de la Albesti (violin with “overlapping strings’, viola, cobza, double bass) 4. Dance tune: Hora boiereasca a lui Nemfeanu (violin, viola, cobza, double bass) 5. Dance tune: Hord cu corzi incalecate (violin with “overlapping” strings, viola, cobza, double bass) 6. Dance tune: Margineanca de la FlamAnzi (cobza) 7. Dance tunes: Margineanca de la Flamanzi and Batuta (violin, viola, cobza, drum) 8. Dance tune: Horé (flute, violin, viola, cobza, drum) 9. Dance tune: Cobzareasca (violin, cobza, drum) 140. Song tune: Cantec de /a Holm and Dance tune: Joe batranese de la Prisacani (violin, cobza, drum) 11. Dance tunes: Hora pe hang, Sarba pe hang, and Coragheasca (violin, cobza, drum) 12. Dance tune: Mosnegeasca din Prisacani (violin, viola, cobza, double bass, drum) 13. Dance tunes: Ciobanasul si Batuta (cobza) 14. Dance tune: Tardneasca de pe Siret (two violins, viola, cobza, double bass, drum) 15. Ritual wedding tune: De jele la mireasa (Eng. Grieving for the Bride) (flute, violin, viola, cobza, double bass) 16. Dance tune: Batuta /ui Berucai (violin, cobza, drum) 17. Dance tunes: Sarba pe batai a lui Mitica din Vorona si Joc (violin, cobza, drum) 18. Dance tunes: Batraneasca de la Albesti si Sarba din batrani (violin, cobza, drum) 19. Dance tune: Sarba din Baiceni (cobza, violin) 20. Dance tune: S4rba de pe Valea Jjiei (violin, cobza, drum) 21. Dance tune: Sarba lui Nemfeanu (violin, viola, cobza, double bass) 22. Dance tune: Noghiul (violin, cobza, drum) 23. Song: Chiftiléreasa (Eng: Mincemeat Ball Maker) (cobza, vocals) 24. Dance tune: Hora de /a Hiipiceni (violin, viola, cobza, double bass) 25. Dance tune: Sarba de la Prisacani (cobza, violin, viola, drum) 26. Dance tune: Pe-ntrecute (violin, cobza, drum)Interpreti/Musicians: CONSTANTIN LUPU: vioara/violin. CONSTANTIN NEGEL: cobzi, voce/cobza, vocals Aurel Holeru: fluier/flute : George Mandra: vioara/violin Mircea Antoneac: viola/viola Neculai Bradeanu: contrabas/double bass Marian Emanuel Schiopu: doba (toba mica cu cinel)/small drum with cymbal Anton Mitica Stefan: doba/small drum with cymbal Realizatori/Producers: Inregistrari/Recordings: Speranta Radulescu, Cristian Tarnovetchi, Florin lordan Selectia muzicii i textul de prezentare/Musical selection, liner notes: Speranta Radulescu, Florin lordan Versiunea engleza/English version: Adrian Solomon Master digital/Digital mastering: Cristian Tarnovetchi Fotografii/Photos: lulian Ignat Design: Rodica Lomnasan Tehnoredactare/Typesetting: Florin lordan Editare si productie/Editing and production: Speranta Radulescu, Florin lordan, Steliana Mocanu inregistrari digitale realizatein Bucuresti, in 2002 si 2003/ Digital recordings originally made in Bucuresti in 2002 and 2003 All rights of the producer and authors are reserved. 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