A study of the Dobrogean Lipovan Russian wedding repertoire
A study of the Dobrogean Lipovan Russian wedding repertoire

Summary/Abstract: Living mainly in the Romanian counties of Tulcea, Braila, Constanta and Ialomita, Lipovan Russians are a small ethnic group (consisting of about 40,000 people) of Russian origin (Eastern Slavs).One of the most important events in human life is the wedding. The nuptial ceremony amongst Lippovan communities has preserved a very high number of ethnic features within the stages of wooing, engagement and the wedding ceremony itself. All these stages have been preserved and have gradually adapted to changing times under the influence of modernity and pressures from without.Regarding the traditional music of the Lipovan Russians we can say that it bridges a period of profound change. All these changes demonstrate that the tradition has not disappeared, but that the music adapts to conditions imposed by society and progress. The evolution and development of the Dobrogean Lipovan Russian community has led to their adaptation of their repertoire to instruments borrowed from neighbouring ethnic groups: these include the electronic organ, the accordion, and percussion instruments. To preserve their Lipovanian folk culture within the mainly Daco-Romanian cultural context of the Dobrogea, demonstrates just how vigorous this traditional culture must be given their survival amidst an alien environment.

• Details
• Contents