Music and dance represent a lively part of
the Romanian folklore and there are a
great variety of musical genres and
dances. Party music is very lively and
shows both Balkan and Hungarian
influences. Sentimental music, however,
is the most valued, and Romanians
consider their ‘doina’ (a sad song either
a b o u t o n e ’s h o m e o r a b o u t l o v e ,
composed like an epic ballad) unique in
the world. Maria Tanase is considered to
be one of the greatest Romanian folk
singers and today Grigore Lese and
Taraful Haiducilor are two of the most
famous musicians. The dances are lively
and are practiced throughout Romania by
a large number of professional and
amateur groups, thus keeping the
tradition alive;
Hora is one of the most famous group dances but men’s folk dances such as’ calusari’
are extremely complex and have been declared by UNESCO to be ‘Masterpieces of the
Oral and Intangible Heritages of Humanity’.