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Începuturile Ansamblului folcloric „Periniţa” se află într-un modest cor de bărbaţi, întemeiat spre finele celei de-a doua decade a veacului nostru. Mai pe urmă corul a devenit mixt, numărînd 120 de membri. S-a ridicat la nivelul celor mai bune corale din România şi a dobîndit însemnate succese, în forma sa actuală, ansamblul a luat fiinţă în vara anului 1948: coralei i s-au adăugat, între altele, o orchestră de muzică populară, sub conducerea lui Cucu Bănăţeanu şi un colectiv de dansuri populare, sub conducerea lui Nicolae Sever. Din bun început, Ansamblul folcloric „Periniţa” s-a dedicat valorificării bogatului şi variatului folclor românesc. Sub conducerea lui Viorel Doboş şi apoi a lui Nicolae Patrichi a susţinut numeroase spectacole complexe, de mare succes, la care au conlucrat toate formaţiile sale, orchestra, corul, baletul şi soliştii. In activitatea ansamblului se înscriu spectacole date în Bucureşti şi în provincie, precum şi răsunătoare turnee peste hotare.

Orchestra de muzică populară a jucat din totdeauna un rol deosebit în activitatea Ansamblului. Sub conducerea dirijorilor Cucu Bănăţeanu, Anatol Albin, Traian Tîrcolea, Ion Mărgean, Nicolae Băluţă şi Ionel Budişteanu ea s-a impus printr-un repertoriu ales de doine, cîntece şi jocuri din toate provinciile ţării, interpretate într-o vervă strălucitoare. Este alcătuită din 64 de lăutari; mai toţi din Muntenia. Cea mai mare parte a repertoriului, precum şi chipul în care acesta este însufleţit, armonia în care este înveşmîntat şi instrumentele muzicale care-1 tălmăcesc reflectă această componenţă. Melodiile caracteristice altor ţinuturi ale ţării sînt prezente prin cîţiva solişti, de fel de pe acele meleaguri : Măria Pietraru şi Ştefania Rareş (Moldova), Ştefania Stere (Dobrogea), Eugenia Ticu (Oltenia), Gheorghe Lazăr şi taragotistul Remus Bistriţa (Banat) etc.

The „Periniţa” folklore ensemble of the Bucha-rest Municipal People’s Council was set up in 1948 and ever since it nas been engaged in turning to account the rich and varied Romanian folklore. Under the direction of Viorel Doboş and later of Nicolae Patrichi, the ensemble, with all its sections, gave many successful shows in Bucharest and in other parts of the country and went on tours abroad in the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the German Democratic Republic, Yugoslavia, Vietnam, China, Corea, Mongolia, Algeria, Tunisia, the Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Brasil. The „Periniţa” group has been awarded distinctions at se-veral internaţional folklore competitions and festivals : Agrigento – Italy (1958], Vienna (1959) and Bursa-Turkey (1966), competitions from where it brought back home as many first prizes.

The folk music bând has always occupied a special place in the artistic activity of the group. Now it is a well known and highly appreciated artistic team, thanks to its carefully selected and worked-out repertoire performed in a brilliani manner. The bând is made up of 64 instrumentalists, coming mainly from the geogra-phical aree known as Muntenia, or — with an older name — Walachia. Most of the music played by the bând, as well as the harmony of the tunes and the instruments used reflect this particular composition. The characteristic music of other regions is represen-ted by several soloists coming from those areas; Măria Pietraru and Ştefania Rareş (Moldavia), Ştefania Stere (Dobrudja), Eugenia Ticu (Oltenia), Gheorghe Lazăr and Remus ‘Bistriţa (Banat).

The basis of the orchestra is made up of strings, mainly violins, supported by altos, cellos and basses. The „cobza” — the oldest string instrument of the Romanian people —, the „dulcimer” (cymbalom), as well as some wind instruments, which have become popular with Romanian folk music bands, the „nai” or the „pan-pipe”, the clarinet, the „torogoată”, the accordion are added. Several solo instruments : the bag-pipe, the shepherd’s flute and the fish-scale also create the band’s musical peculiarities.

A conspicuous feature with the bând is the „oral” way they work out their repertoire. The choice of the tunes, as well as the arrangements are the result of the laborious and creative activity of the director, who permanently receives the advice and collaboration of the soloists and other members of the group.

This record presents a selection from the repertoire of the folk music bând and of its soloists, sin-gers and instrumentalists, under the baton of Ionel Budişteanu.

1. The programme begins with „Perinita”, the signature tune of the whole ensemble; it is one of the popular European entertainment dances, performed with a small cushion. The Romanian version of the
   dance has been greatly popularised lately, especially during the folklore events of the various World Youth Festivals.
2. The tune „On the Banks of the Danube” is played on a rather strange instrument, a fish-scale, held between the lips and the lower gum. The soloist is Ion Lăceanu.
3. Two dance tunes from Banat, a province in South-Western Romania, played on the „torogoata” by Remus Bistrița, are following. The instrument, a reconstruction and perfected form of an ancient wind instrument, is particularly popular in Banat. The local folk musicians have proved an exceptional skill in handling it.
4. „If the Ant is an Ant” is a vocal „sirba” from Oltenia, a province • in the South-Western part of Ro It makes a witty comparison between the industriousness of that small being and the infidelity of men. It is sung by Eugenia Ticu. Dance tunes of this type, folkloric creations of a new style, are the result of a prodigious and untiring process of popular art creation.
5. Among the dances with „limping” rhythm in Muntenia the most frequent is the „geampara”. From its three beats, the third is somewhat longer than the .The rhythmic system this dance belongs to is based on the intermingling of two time-units, whose „irrational” ratio is 2:3 and 3:2. The system has been thoroughly studied by the Romanian ethno-musicologist Constantin Brăiloiu, who termed it „aksak”, using a word taken from Oriental music. The „geampara” on our record is played on the bag-pipe by Ion Lăceanu. This instrument has been known with the Romanian people from times immemorial.
6. The girl asking her mother to oppose her marriage to the man she doesn’t love is a theme often met with in the Romanian folklore. In the song „When I Left My Home” (Maria Pietraru) this theme blends with the idea of parting with the beloved.
7. The „nai”, or the pan-pipe, as it is also called, is one of the widest-spread musical instruments in the world, but it is the Romanian folk musicians who hold the merit of having raised it to the highest peaks of In the next tune on our record this is proved by Radu Simian, one of the several virtuosos of the „nai”. Listen to him in „Hora veche” (Old Country Dance) and the song „You, My Dear Lad”.
8. When the „dulcimer” (cymbalom) has a talented musician behind it, it can become a solo instrument with a particularly rich range of expressive resources. The manner Nicolae Visan plays an aid ballad, which or the people had devoted to a popular hero, Corbea, is a telling example in this direction.
9. The Dobrudjan dance „Pandelasul”, sung by Ștefania Stere, is based on the same rhythmic system as „geamparalele” (5). The lyrics underline the merriment this dance goes with during vintage periods.

10. „Sirba of Murfatlar” — although it borrows its name from a famous vinyard in Dobrudja, the province nearest to the Romanian Black Sea coast, is a fiddlers’ creation in the style of drinking songs appearing and flourishing especially in the outskirts of The accordion is played by Nicolae Florian.
11. The words of the song „Savetu|a” reflect lots of folk humour. An anxious mother tries to stop her daughter meet a young man, who, half frozen, is waiting for her in front of the gate. The singer is Ștefania Hares.
12. The Romanian choreographic repertory also includes girls’ dances. Such is the „Brîulețul fetelor”, played on the flute by Ion Lăceanu. Out of the 13 types of flutes used by Romanian folk musicians, the one this tune is played on is the most popular: with wind-holder and six finger-holes.
13. The song „Teiule cu frunză lată” (Broad-leafed Limetree) with Gheorghe Lazar is yet another sample of the „aksak” rhythm, specific also for several dances from Banat. Here of the three beats, the first is the long one.
14. The programme of the folk music band of the „Perinita” ensemble ends with „Ca la Breaza” (Just as in Breaza village), a pair dance, characteristic to the mountaneous areas of Muntenia and to some zones in the neighbouring Transylvania province. The main feature of the dance is its special dynamics, imprinted on it, among other elements, by its syncopated rhythm.

TIBERIU ALEXANDRU