Violin Performance practice in twentieth century Moldova

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to document the evolution of Moldavian violin performance practice from the middle ages through the twentieth century and examine the major influences and significant musicians that shaped its development over time. My primary sources include excerpts from anthologies, textbooks, and periodicals, as well as audio and video clips; in most cases, the original language is Romanian or Russian and I will provide a translation if none is given in the original source.I will begin by investigating the emerging role of the violin in medieval musical ensembles and exploring the origins of Moldovan musical folklore in art, literature and culture. A discussion of lăutari (a class of musicians) is fundamental to understanding the cultural and societal roots of the taraf (a group of lăutari) and the muzica lăutărească (music of the lăutari) to help differentiate this style of music and the musicians who played it from Romanian peasant music and other folk music traditions in the region. I will show how the movement of the lăutari into cities helped familiarize people with the muzica lăutărească, normalizing and establishing it in popular culture and bringing notoriety to exceptionally talented lăutari. Next, I will examine the professionalization of violin education beginning in the last decades of the nineteenth century and the ways in which the establishment of musical societies expanded exposure to professional performers and opportunities for education through the founding of public and private music schools. This process created a hierarchy of skilled foreign performers and teachers who raised up a generation of local musicians who became performers and teachers in Moldova and whose students became performers and teachers all around the world, some of them attaining international acclaim. I will highlight the societies, schools, teachers and performers who were most influential in helping to grow this performance practice architecture. Nineteenth and twentieth century geopolitics – changing national borders and colonial influences in the region – shaped the development of violin performance practice in Moldova which came to favor Eastern European technique and style. The characteristics of muzica lăutărească, and the centuries in which the lăutari refined their skills and abilities primed them to prefer Eastern European music. I will share examples that illustrate this preference in both audiences and performers of the time. Finally, I will focus on contemporary Moldavian violinists whose careers demonstrate the culmination of these factors that have shaped the evolution of Moldavian violin performance practice. These award-winning, internationally famous violinists are actively exporting a centuries-in-the-making home-grown performance practice that is both diverse and unique, taking its place among the best performance practice traditions in the world.