Romani Folk Music

Romani folk music is the traditional music of the Romani people across Europe: less a single style than a family of regional practices unified by professional Romani musicianship. In the Balkans and Romania it centres on lăutari string ensembles — violin, cimbalom, accordion and bass — and on Romani brass bands whose repertoires power weddings and village feasts; in Hungary it meets verbunkos and csárdás traditions, in Spain flamenco, in Russia the guitar-accompanied romance. Virtuoso ornamentation, flexible rhythm and command of the host culture's repertory, played from inside, are its common signatures.