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Dumitru Farcas
Orchestras directed by Alexandru Viman and Dumitru Farcas

'A Virtuoso of the Taragot'

Featured in many compilations of Romanian Folk Music CDs in the 'west' here is a great collection showing the brilliance of Dumitru Farcas. Accompaniment is by small folk orchestras.

'Folk-music enthusiasts will find on this CD 26 pieces from the rich and varied musical repertoire of Dumitru Fàrcas: doinas and songs (often called ‘hori” in Transylvania), dances and a ballad. Most of them come from his native Maramures; he collected the others in other regions in northern, central or southern Transylvania. All of them are an eloquent testimony to the amazing possibilities of the taragot in the hands of such an excellent musician.

Dumitru Fàrcas is one of the greatest virtuosi of Romanian folk music. A peasants’ son, he was born in Maramures in 1938. As a small child he began to play the shepherd’s flute used in the region. His remarkable talent was noted at several regional amateur artists’ contests, where he won three First Prizes. As part of the widespread promotion of young talents, he was given the opportunity to study music. At the age of 14, he became a pupil of the Cluj-Napoca music school. He started by learning to play the flute and then went on to learn the double bass, and oboe. Although he studied the oboe at school, his absolute preference was the taragot, which he learned to play by himself in the most authentic folklore spirit.

While still a student, Dumitru Fàrcas founded the ‘Märtsorul’ students’ folk-music orchestra at the Clul Napoca university centre, whose conductor he remains to this day.

He has won numerous distinctions, including First Prize and the title of Laureate of the Helsinki International Festival of Youth and Students (1962) as well as First Prize and the special Prize of the Jury at the National Students’ Festival (1984). He also participated in other folklore festivals in Turkey and at Dijon in France, where he won the ‘Collier d’or’ and ‘Disque d’or’ awarded by the Academie Charles Cros
(1972).

He participated in a number of artistic tours in many parts of Switzerland together with the ‘Doina Argesului’ orchestra (1989) and with the extraordinary ensemble ‘Les Virtuoses Roumains’ (1973 and 1975). He also played in several European countries with the famous orchestra conducted by Radu Simion, with which he has been collaborating since 1973.

The taragot or ‘torogoata’ is a reconstruction and improvement of a centuries-old primitive oboe originally found in the countries of south-eastern Europe and in the Balkans. It was build by V.J. Schunda of Budapest at the end of the past century, on the advice of the Hungarian composer and musicologist Gyula Kàldy, and it was first presented at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900. It was taken up, used and raised to the highest peaks of art by Romanian folk-musicians. 

A Romanian fiddler from the Banat district, Luta lovita, took the instrument to Romania in the first decade of the twentieth century. It didn’t take long for the taragot to be adapted to local folk-music, and its use spread to other regions of Romania. Dumitru Farcas himself introduced it most successfully in northern Transylvania.'

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Dumitru Farcas
Orchestras directed by Alexandru Viman and Dumitru Farcas

'A Virtuoso of the Taragot'

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 din Tara motilor (5'38")

2. Maruntel din Grosi (1'06")

3. Tarina mare (2'17")

4. Barbatesc din Apuseni (2'27")

5. Cantec batranesc din Grosi (2'59")

6. Tarina din Ponorel (1'58")

7. Du-te, dor, in munti de piatra (3'41")

8. Invartita din Glod (1'39")

9. Marie, draga Marie (1'38")

10. Joc din Transilvania (2'43")

11. Mara, pe marginea ta (3'19")

12. Jurelul fetelor (0'58")

13. Romanesc de pe Valea Almasului (1'59")

14. Colo-n muntii Tebei (4'20")

15. Barbatesc din Maramures (2'56")

16. Ciobanelul (2'13")

17. Aseara-n gradinita (3'43")

18. De sarit din Grosi (2'15")

19. Mana, Gheorghe, boii bine (3'07")

20. Mireasa, cununa ta (2'32")

21. Sambra oilor din Maramures (5'56")

22. Fecioreasca de pe Mures (2'30")

23. Roata feciorilor (1'48")

24. Crihalma (2'04")

25. De strigatn (2'40")

26. Horea lui Pintea Viteazul (4'07")

Duration (72'33")

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