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'Fiddler music from Chioar and Codru'

Various Artists

(ETHCD011)

Musicians:
Calin Rat -  vioara, violin, violoncel. cello
Daniel Dan - vioara, violin, viola
Adrian Pasca - viola
Catalin Ardelean - viola, violoncel, cello
Gheorghe Monea - strigaturi, extempore verses

Label - Ethnophonie, Romania
Released 2005

24 page booklet in Romanian and English giving details on the music and musicians.



Extract from CD notes:

'FIDDLER MUSIC FROM CHIOAR AND CODRU

Chioar and Codru are two small regions by the north-western border of Romania, between Hungary (to the west), Ukraine (to the north), Maramures and Transylvania (to the east and south respectively). Before 1919, when they united with Romania, they belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, together with the entire province of Transylvania. Their inhabitants are Romanians, a significant Hungarian minority, and a comparatively small group of Roma. About half of the population is still living in villages on animal raising and subsistence farming.

From the perspective of traditional rural culture. the two small regions are often thought of as slightly particularized components of the neighboring Maramures: however, their peasant music is rather closer to that of central Transylvania....

Revivalism based on respect and acquaintance

...It is in this shifting musical landscape that the fiddler Dumitru lederan showed up. Although not one of the protagonists, he is the main hero of this disc. because he is the initiator and promoter of the revivalist movement that brought forth the four interpreters.

lederan is the schooled son of a peasant. He has been an aficionado of the local rural music since early childhood, his passion growing with his age. For a while he was the apprentice of the fiddler Isidor Serban, a Gypsy from the village of Stana renown all around the region (and recently famous for the main part he played in the French movie Gadjo Dillo), but perfected his craftsmanship under the influence of all the fiddlers he has ever met. In the 1980s, the violinist lederan was already known for his agility, the 
delicacy of his tone, the clarity and sobriety of the melodic lines, the opulence of the ornamentation, the fine proportionality of the rhythms. His repertoire grew continuously by adding pieces gathered from all around the region, all in all faithfully noted and reproduced, but with a creative tinge added to the details. lederan settled in Carei and became a teacher at the Popular Art School, where he began to make his dream come true: "saving" the music of his native region from decline and demise by passing it on to the younger generations in its most elevated forms. It is hard to tell if lederan really hopes to save this music: what is certain is that he believes it is his duty to fight for it, whatever the odds.

The man lederan is nervous, impulsive and difficult, but the pedagogical lederan is quite remarkable. He has taught. year after year, a small army of city fiddlers, almost all Romanian. capable of playing superbly, in the peasant style of past decades, the most beautiful tunes from Chioar and Codru...."

GBP 9.97

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'Fiddler music from Chioar and Codru'

Various Artists

(ETHCD011)

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. Suita de melodii de joc din Stana de Codru, Suite of dance tunes from Stana de Codru (6'21") 2. Suita de melodii de joc din Chioar, Suite of dance tunes from Chioar (11'23")  3. Cantec liric (hore) (versiune instrumentala), Lyrical song (instrumental version) (4'37") 4. Suita de melodii de joc din Chioar, Suite of dance tunes from Chioar (12'01") 5. Melodie de joc (versiune 'de concert'), Dance tune ("concert' version): Scuturatul (1'29") 6. Suita de melodii de joc, Suite of dance tunes: Ardeleana (cu strigaturi), Dant din capat (4'42") 7. Melodie de joc, Dance tune: Ponturile batute (2'59") 8. Suna de melodii de joc din Codru (cu strigaturi), Suilt of dance tunes from Codru (with extempore verses) (8'17") 9. Car,tec Ilric (hore) (versione instrumentala), Lyrical song (instrumental version) (2'42") 10. Melodie de joc (cu strigaturi), Dance tune (with extempore verses): Dantul mare (5'04")

Duration (59'41")

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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