Romania Romania

Oy. If only there were a way to figure out how to arrange this for chorus. And nobody would notice this but me.....but the writer of this had to have based this on the one famous piece of classical music to ever come out of Romania.



conducted with lots of toches by the great Sergiu Celibidache. Go to 5:15 to see where it really starts to get similar.

Romania is on the cusp of the Balkan region, and the Balkans are fairly unique in Europe for being the only region of the continent that never produced more than its share of great composers. The reasons for this are more obvious than would ever meet the ear. The Balkans have an incredible oral musical tradition that pre-dates classical music (and may post-date it as well). It is, in so many ways, the tradition out of which classical music sprang. The debt was in no way acknowledged until the arrival of Bela Bartok and many still wish it were not so. But classical music is hitting the 'crunch time' in which it has to settle all its old accounts or it is in danger of disappearing. When the time soon comes to fuse classical with more popular forms, Eastern European Folk will continue to be the first in line.

And just in case anybody needs any help remembering just how awesome the music of the Balkans is.