Traditional dance music of Romanians in Vojvodina

Thus far, the traditional dance music of Romanians living in Vojvodina, in the Republic of Serbia, have not been the subject of any major ethnomusicological research. Hence the twofold purpose of this paper: a classification and morphological peculiarities of the known dance tunes is presented on the basis of the available ethnomusicological, ethnochoreological and ethnological literature, data obtained from informants, published notational records and personal field research. Special attention is devoted in this respect to the diachronic and synchronic processes, starting with the phonographic recordings and notational documents made by Béla Bartók in this region in 1912, via diverse musical instruments from the folkloric practices of Romanians from Vojvodina to the latest trends present/registered in the domain of tunes for traditional dances. Moreover, the paper addresses the factors which have contributed to the preservation of music intended for dancing and of the dances themselves, the melodic and rhythmic patterns, as well as those factors which have had an impact on the evolution of these dances, the means of expression in their interpretation (ornaments, dynamic, articulation), metro-rhythmic patterns, tempo and agogics, plus the contexts in which traditional Romanian dances are performed today. Dance music is considered in the light of cross-influences taking place in Vojvodina in the relationship to other cultures, its contacts with art music, and its practice on industrially-manufactured instruments such as the taragot, accordion, clarinet and saxophone, since these have become part of the musical accompaniment to the dance performances of Romanians from Vojvodina. The paper responds to a focus on - "the interplay between the creators of music and dance and its impact on the ways in which values are shaped in this context".