Folk music is an oral collective
creation and art by excellence. According to the performing manner it can
be divided into three categories: vocal, instrumental and vocal-instrumental.
They can be interpreted by individuals or by groups. The music folklore
knows three genres: lyrical, epic and dramatic. The lyrical genre includes
doina, lament, lullabies, burial songs, disenchantment, wedding songs.
The dramatic genre: the puppeteers, the evening sittings of the village
women, the rainmakers.
The folklore of the winter
season, occasioned by Christmas and the New Year, is represented by carols,
wish making and mask games. The carol is one of the ancestral musical genres,
partly practiced by the church, with a rich profane content. Through the
carol, wishes of thriving and happiness are addressed especially by groups
of children or young people sometimes accompanied by instruments. The mask
games hold a strong magic substratum, lost in the long run, preserved only
as a musical ritual. Călușarii is a dance with magic load. It is performed
by young men and its related to fecundity and to the initiation in the
ancient cult of the Sun.
The folklore genres related
to no special occasion are the ballad and the doina. The ballad also called
the old-age song is sung on the occasion of gatherings, before an audience.
It has a wide theme range and over 300 themes are known. The masterpiece
of the genre is the pastoral ballad "Miorița" (Little Ewe Lamb).
Doina is so widely spread that it is often mistaken for the folk song proper.
Doina features a musical style of a lyrical nature, which conveys feelings
of sadness, longing, and nostalgia. |
