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...."
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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")
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and of low(ish) quality for a fast download
(file size app 300KB)