One Last Music Culture: The Romani

    Gypsies, travelers, strollers, bargees, sojourners, vagrants, tramps, thieves, whores—the Romani people have been called many names, but rarely their own. Misconceptions abound in reference to the Romani people, most of them concocted by governments and landowners that resented the Romani presence in their country. Rumors about the thievery, prostitution, witchcraft, and child abduction that the Romani supposedly committed stemmed from a resentment for these people who were able to travel through many countries free from taxes, social constructs, and governmental oversight. Through all of that, the real history and culture of the Romani people has often been overlooked and forgotten. So, who are the Romani? The Romani (sometimes referred to as Roma) are a diverse group of people spread all across the world in places like Iran, Morocco, Bulgaria, Germany, England, North and South America, and even Australia. This people group share two main things in common: their ethnic roots and their lifestyle. 

   In the 14^th and 15^th centuries emigrants from Northern India arrived in Persia. They traveled in covered caravans and had only what they could carry with them. Many think that these people were from the Dom caste in India, a caste filled with scavengers, musicians, vagabonds, traders, and sometimes, weavers. This was considered the lowest caste, sometimes referred to as the Untouchables. Some have suggested that in order to escape this caste system, a few of the people from the Dom caste left India and travelled to Persia, taking on the name Roma or Romani. They didn’t stop in Persia however, instead some travelled north through Turkey and into Europe, while others travelled through Arabia and into Northern Africa often referring to themselves as gypsies only instead of Roma. Those who journeyed into Europe kept the Roma name and took with them the culture, religions, and music from India and Persia. The Romani that settled in Balkan territories are further divided into three groups based on their language and religion. They are mainly Muslims and Orthodox Christians, with some Hindu influences mixed in. This is particularly apparent in their belief of Kuntari, an idea referring to universal balance. This affects how they view the world and interact with those around them and has woven itself into all of their rituals and traditions. 

   In the 15^th century, Vlad the Impaler started capturing and selling the Bulgarian Romani as slaves in Romania. He sold more than 10,000 into slavery, and soon other countries realized that they could do the same thing since there was no government or army protecting the Romani from being abused by the nations they had emigrated to. This mistreatment of the Romani has occurred multiple times throughout their history, most prominently in the 1940s when the Nazis specifically targeted and massacred an estimated 400,000 Romani. This atrocity wasn’t acknowledged until 1982.

   The Romani have remained nomadic throughout their entire history, migrating along pattered routes that ignore national borders. They live in groups of about 10-100 families and are perhaps the most valuable preservers of folktales as well as “national” customs and dances. They have made a living as tinkers, fortune tellers, livestock traders, healers (especially for animals), and most of all: entertainers.

   Musicians, dancers, and circus performers—the Romani have been extremely instrumental in the world of art. Brahms, Liszt, Schubert, Ravel, Debussy, Sarasate, and Dvorak have all used bits and pieces of Romani music in their compositions. A good example of this can be found in Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen. In this piece, Sarasate uses the chromaticism, glissandos, virtuosic runs, the mournful quality, and most especially the driving rhythms at around minute 6:00 to resemble Romani music.

   Romani music contains microtones, no doubt retained from their Indian heritage as well as their encounters with Arabic music. It is characterized by ornamental flourishes, frantic rhythms, bright melodies, and colorful dissonances. Their scales are more resemblant of Arabic maqams than Western scales and they have a strong tradition of improvisation. Romani musicians are almost all self-taught and families pass their music down orally as many of them can’t read music. This has allowed for an unprecedented conservation of traditional folk tunes, ballads, and epic singing. Their music revolves around subjects and values that they can relate to such as a lack of homeland, legacy, folklore and myths, joy for life, and pain from what they have endured. Their music reflects all of this as well as a sense of wandering and free-flow seen most notably in their lack of musical structure. The Romani view music as a expression of themselves as well as a way to ease psychological maladies. In the example below you can clearly hear the frenetic pulse as well as the microtonal ornamentations found in almost all Romani music. 

   In most Romani groups, women are the main providers becoming notable dancers, singers, and primases (lead violinists). This has caused those outside the culture to shame women, calling them prostitutes, whores, and femme fatales. While this was meant to demean Romani women, they instead used it to their advantage, using the stereotypes to create an air of mystery and seduction that made people curious and more intrigued to attend their performances. This was especially apparent in their gypsy form of the Arabian belly dance. 

   The instruments used by the Romani vary depending on their geographical location, but one consistency in almost all groups is the use of the violin. The violin is a very versatile instrument that is easy to travel with and was able to adapt to the melting pot of musical tradition in Romani music. In Balkan Romani groups, ensembles known as tarafs, cigany bandas, or tambura bands formed which often included violin, viola, and double bass combined with local instruments such as the cimbalom (similar to the dulcimer or the Arabic qanun), tambourine, or accordion. Later, the formation of virtuosic brass ensembles became very popular, usually with the addition of a drum. The second example showcases one such brass ensemble. 

Cimbalom

   These groups would play for weddings, funerals, circumcision ceremonies, and other rituals that often included dance. One of these specific Romani rituals is known as the paparuda, a dance that is meant to summon the rain to fall from the skies. This dance is performed by young girls who dress in grass skirts and sing as they dance. Another form of Romani dance can be found in their street dancing which contains extremely quick foot work as well as body percussion. Below is just such an example from Romania with a cigany banda performing behind him.

   Today, Romani musical idioms are scattered throughout many of the dance music still performed today from flamenco, cha-cha, and tango. Romani music has melded into many other genres of music, from gypsy swing to gypsy jazz (known as manush jazz), to gypsy punk. You can see examples of those genres below if you're curious. 

Citations

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Roma." Encyclopedia Britannica, August 24, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rom.

Catalunya, Museu Virtual del Poble Gitano de, and Paco Suárez. n.d. “The Roma and Music.” Museu Virtual Del Poble Gitano a Catalunya. Accessed January 26, 2023. https://www.museuvirtualgitano.cat/en/art/the-roma-and-music/.

“Roma - Introduction, Location, Language, Folklore, Religion, Major Holidays,  Rites of Passage.” 2011. Everyculture.com. 2011. https://www.everyculture.com/wc/Norway-to-Russia/Roma.html.

“We Call Ourselves ‘Roma’ | Facing History and Ourselves.” n.d. Www.facinghistory.org. Accessed January 27, 2023. https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/we-call-ourselves-roma.

“Who Are the Romani?” n.d. Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk78yjCgB5o.

Wilkinson, Irén Kertész. "‘Gypsy’ [Roma-Sinti-Traveller] music." Grove Music Online. 2001; Accessed 25 Jan. 2023. https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000041427.