Romanian folk violin
Violin, Muntenia, first half of the 20th century | |
| Other names | vioară, lăută, diblă, ceteră, scripcă, higheghe, țibulcă, braci |
|---|---|
| Classification | Violin |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.322-71 (Composite chordophone sounded by a bow) |
Romanian folk violin (Romanian: vioară, Romanian pronunciation: [/viˈo̯a.rə/]; also diblă, scripcă, ceteră, higheghe, țibulcă, braci) is a bowed string musical violin instrument that plays a leading role in Romanian lăutărească music. Unlike other Romanian folk instruments (for example the fluier and the cimpoi), the Romanian violin entered folk practice from wider European musical culture and became established primarily as an instrument of professional musicians – lăutari. Lăutari adapted its technical possibilities to the demands of folk repertoire and regional performance styles.
Romanian folk violin developed at the intersection of Ottoman-influenced and Western European musical traditions. Lăutari violinists use non-tempered intonation, microchromatic inflections, and extensive ornamentation. In a traditional ensemble (taraf), the violin carries the melody and develops it through improvisation. Distinct regional forms of the instrument, and playing technique, developed across ethnographic areas, such as the Transylvanian violin (Romanian: braci) and folk variants of the Stroh violin.
The rhythmic organization of lăutari violin music includes both symmetrical dance structures and asymmetrical rhythmic models (aksak), as well as flexible treatment of metre. Techniques of lăutari violinists and the ensemble practice of the taraf were used in 20th-century classical music, and most notably by Béla Bartók and George Enescu.