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Lăutari
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Lăutari
The Romanian word lăutar (pronounced [lə.uˈtar]; plural: lăutari) denotes a class of musicians.
The term was adopted by members of a professional clan of Romani musicians in the late 18th century. The term is derived from lăută, the Romanian word for lute. Lăutari usually perform in bands, called taraf.
Lăutar, according to the DEX ("Dicționarul Explicativ al Limbii Române" — "The Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language"), is formed from lăută (meaning "lute") and the agent suffix -ar, common for occupational names. Originally, the word was used only for the peasant Romanian musicians who played the lăută. A distinction should be made between the generic Romanian-language word lăutar and the Romani clan. The others were named after their instruments, too, e.g.: scripcar (scripcă player), cobzar (cobza player), and naingiu (nai/panflute player). From the 17th century, the word lăutar was used regardless of the instrument that was played.
The first mention of lăutari is from 1558 when Mircea Ciobanul (appointed ruler by the Ottomans in January 1545), the Voivode of Wallachia, gives Ruste lăutarul (Ruste the lăutar) as a gift to the Vornic Dingă from Moldavia. In 1775 the first lăutărească guild (breaslă), was established in Wallachia.
The lăutari were both slave Roma and serfdom Romanians, but the Roma were the majority. Through time there have also been Jewish and Turkish lăutari.
Before the 19th century, Romani musicians were often employed to provide entertainment in the courts of the Princes and Boyars. In the 19th century, most of these musicians settled in rural areas where they sought new employment at weddings, funerals, and other traditional Romanian celebrations. They were called țigani vătrași and have the Romanian language as their mother language, or sometimes the Hungarian language. Only a few of them, with ancestors from the kalderash or from the ursari groups, still spoke the Romani language.
The lăutari existed mainly in the Moldova, Muntenia, Oltenia and Dobruja regions of present-day Romania. In Transylvania, traditional professional musicians didn't exist until the 19th century. For this reason the peasant music of Transylvania remained more "pure". A similar situation was in Banat. Today the Romani lăutari are also predominant in Transylvania.
As performers, lăutari are usually loosely organized into a group known as a Taraf, which often consists largely of the males of an extended family. (There are female lăutari, mostly vocalists, but they are far outnumbered by the men.) Each taraf is led by a primaș, a primary soloist.
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Lăutari
The Romanian word lăutar (pronounced [lə.uˈtar]; plural: lăutari) denotes a class of musicians.
The term was adopted by members of a professional clan of Romani musicians in the late 18th century. The term is derived from lăută, the Romanian word for lute. Lăutari usually perform in bands, called taraf.
Lăutar, according to the DEX ("Dicționarul Explicativ al Limbii Române" — "The Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language"), is formed from lăută (meaning "lute") and the agent suffix -ar, common for occupational names. Originally, the word was used only for the peasant Romanian musicians who played the lăută. A distinction should be made between the generic Romanian-language word lăutar and the Romani clan. The others were named after their instruments, too, e.g.: scripcar (scripcă player), cobzar (cobza player), and naingiu (nai/panflute player). From the 17th century, the word lăutar was used regardless of the instrument that was played.
The first mention of lăutari is from 1558 when Mircea Ciobanul (appointed ruler by the Ottomans in January 1545), the Voivode of Wallachia, gives Ruste lăutarul (Ruste the lăutar) as a gift to the Vornic Dingă from Moldavia. In 1775 the first lăutărească guild (breaslă), was established in Wallachia.
The lăutari were both slave Roma and serfdom Romanians, but the Roma were the majority. Through time there have also been Jewish and Turkish lăutari.
Before the 19th century, Romani musicians were often employed to provide entertainment in the courts of the Princes and Boyars. In the 19th century, most of these musicians settled in rural areas where they sought new employment at weddings, funerals, and other traditional Romanian celebrations. They were called țigani vătrași and have the Romanian language as their mother language, or sometimes the Hungarian language. Only a few of them, with ancestors from the kalderash or from the ursari groups, still spoke the Romani language.
The lăutari existed mainly in the Moldova, Muntenia, Oltenia and Dobruja regions of present-day Romania. In Transylvania, traditional professional musicians didn't exist until the 19th century. For this reason the peasant music of Transylvania remained more "pure". A similar situation was in Banat. Today the Romani lăutari are also predominant in Transylvania.
As performers, lăutari are usually loosely organized into a group known as a Taraf, which often consists largely of the males of an extended family. (There are female lăutari, mostly vocalists, but they are far outnumbered by the men.) Each taraf is led by a primaș, a primary soloist.
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