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Ioan 'Popicu' Pop and Ensemble

Romanian, Ukrainian and Jewish Music from Maramures -
Musique roumaine et ukrainienne de juive de Maramures

(ETHCD006)

Musicians:
Ioan Pop - guitar, voice, contra viola
Nicolae Pitis - voice, flute, dance
Dumitru Hirb - vioara
Ion Paul - vioara, voice, guitar
Ioan Covaci - vioara, voice
Ioan Petreus - doba, voice

Label - Ethnophonie, Romania
Released 2003

'Ioan Pop, nicknamed Popicu by his wife and close relatives and friends, was born to a family of peasants in the Maramures village of Poienile Izei, where Bela Bartok himself stopped once for his ethnomusicological research (1913). As a child Popicu learned to play the instruments in fashion then: tilinca (shepherd's pipe), cetera (fiddle), bracia (prepared alto), zongora (guitar) and doba (drum). He began to play as a zongoras at parties and village Sunday dances, for his own pleasure but also to save money to finish high school. Later he was hired as an instrument player with the folk ensemble in Baia Mare, while continuing to sing and play on Sundays at village dances (hori), weddings and other parties in the village and region.

The categories of Maramures party music are few, but each of them is rich in distinct songs. The hori are occasional, widely accessible lyrical songs sung individually or in groups, with or without instrument accompaniment, at almost any age and on any occasion. The zicali (instrumental pieces) are performed by ceterasi on fiddles, guitars and drums.

Each peasant house accommodates at least one of these instruments, ever since ancient simple and twin pipes have been given up except by a few solitary shepherds. The zicali de baut (for drinking) are instrumental pieces during which people scan out loud lyrics appropriate to their age and gender. The scanned lyrics are ironical, funny, very dynamic. They are usually in the form of a dialogue between the girls who confront the boys, or the women in friendly contest with the men. The most common zicali de jucat (for dancing) are Barbatescul (for men) and De invartit (for swirling). Barbatescul is a men's dance in a circle, with a syncopated rhythm, during which the dancers shout dance commands or humorous lyrics.

De invartit is a mixed, couple dance; it is very quick, and its tunes are frequently improvised by ceterasi starting from preexistent melodic-rhythmic formulae. The hollers of the men (women are never allowed to holler during the dance) roll freely, apparently without any connection to the percussive, rhythmic beat of the tunes. However, apart from Romanians, Maramures is inhabited by Ukrainians, grouped in a few villages in the north of the region. Their party music is not too different, yet distinct from the Romanians'. The ceterasi know this music; it is only natural, as they are often hired for their weddings, at which they perform hori and invartite.'

GBP 9.97

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Ioan 'Popicu' Pop and Ensemble

Romanian, Ukrainian and Jewish
Music from Maramures -
Musique roumaine et ukrainienne de
juive de Maramures

(ETHCD006)

This symbol  indicates an mp3 sound clip for that track. Click on the symbol and wait for the clip to start. For more information click here. Tracks

1. Hore: Ce te legeni bradule (3'15")

2. Hore: Pana codru' frunza-o tine (1'03")

3. Hore: Nu da Doamne nimarui (2'30")

4. Melodie de joc: Invartita de la Suciu (2'57")

5. Suita de jocuri: P-a lungu' si invartita (2'23")

6. Hore: Dupa pui de lapusan (4'14")

7. Jocu-n sus (1'22")

8. Dance Suite: De invartita (I-III) (4'51")

9. Hore de ficiori (3'52")

10. Suite of Nuptial Dances: Invartita (8'35")

11. Nuptial Sequence: Horea miresei, Barbatescul la cusutul steagului (4'34")

12. Nuptial Sequence: Jocul miresi pe bani (4'25")

13. Suite of Ukrainian Nuptial Songs and Dances: Muzica ucraineana de nunta (5'55")

14. Ukrainian Dance: Invartita (1'22")

15. Suite of Jewish Nuptial Songs and Dances: Muzsica evreiasca de nunta (8'47")

Duration (70'00")

Our mp3 samples are approximately 30 seconds long and of low(ish) quality for a fast download (file size app 300KB)

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