Researching the Tradition of the Dubaşi in Southern Transylvania
Dubaşi in southern Transylvania, December 2010
From the 23rd to the 26th of December 2010, The European Academy of Modern Celtic Languages and Culture participated in a field trip in the Arad region of southern Transylvania, Romania. The trip was led by ethnographer Dr. Bogdan Neagota. The purpose of the trip was to research the tradition of the dubaşi – ‘drummers’ – in southern Transylvania today. During the Christmas season in this part of Romania, groups of villagers, predominantly male, and often younger males, move from house to house beating small goat-skin drums, and singing from a repertoire of colinde for their hosts. The dubaşI are led by two or three musicians, playing saxophone, clarinet or accordion, for example. Certain of the colinde still sung in the Arad region are considered rare, and some are demonstrably antique. By following the dubaşi in a number of villages within a radius of approximately 40 kilometers of the town of Ilia, near Deva, the team hoped to establish which colinde are still sung, and whether uncollected colinde form part of the contemporary tradition. During the trip, members of the Academy took extensive footage of the proceedings, recorded a number of colinde, and obtained rich photographic evidence. By participating in the trip, they gained insight into the methods used in the field by experienced ethnographers, an enjoyed an invaluable opportunity to observe a society on the cusp of modernity where aspects of a traditional way of life, while fragile, are still intact.
Listen below to two selected field recordings.
Listen below to two selected field recordings.
The Martello Tower at Ros a' Mhíl, Connemara
Amanda Reid (2009)
| the_martello_tower_at_ros_a_mhl.pdf |
Scythe (Ir. 'speal', Welsh 'pladur', Br. 'falz', fr. 'faux', Deutsch 'sense')
This is a recording of a scythe being sharpened, Connemara 2002. Cloisfidh sibh faobhar á chur ar speal anseo thíos.
