Landmarks of a Local Tradition
In Maramures, there is always an excuse for a party. Hardly a week goes by without one villager or other organizing a bãutã – that is, he throws a party for his neighbours, relatives and friends. It’s all about dancing and having fun, not only youngsters but all age groups – middle-aged people who don’t feel up to dancing sing along to a violinist (ceteras), a guitarist (zongoras) and a percussionist (dobas). Weddings, traditionally large and boisterous, are good opportunities to keep a village together. At the beginning of May, an agrarian fertility ritual (tânjaua) is held to mark the completion of spring plowing. It too ends with a party. In spring, before the sheep are driven to the mountains, the flock owners and their families gather in the hills to measure their sheep’s milk to ensure that each family gets the right quota of cheese – and then to party. Each church celebrates its patron saint on a holy day (hram) and people come from surrounding villages to share the celebrations. Any clacã – a gathering of villagers working to help one another – winds up with music and dancing. On Sundays, young boys and girls go to the discotheque and dance to various kinds of music, old and new. Five or ten years ago, they would still go to the barn dance (sopru); the entire village would come too, dressed in their regional costumes. They gathered to enjoy the spectacle, to enjoy the best dancers, to find out about the latest wedding engagements, to watch the young people flirting and speculate on prospective marriages.
There are only a few categories of Maramures party music, but each of them has a distinctive sound. The hori (sing.: hore) are occasional, widely accessible lyrical songs, sung individually or in groups, with or without instrumental accompaniment, at almost any age and on any occasion.
