The prowess of the lăutari – Performing the ‘lăutar space’ at the ‘Nacht van de Balkan’ concert in 1980 - Linden

Abstract

On 6 September 1980, the Circustheater in the Netherlands hosted the ‘Nacht van de Balkan’ (NvdB), a concert featuring renowned ensembles from Romania and Hungary. The majority of the invited musicians belong to the Roma community. While the event celebrated these musicians, media framing reduced them to stereotypical figures, overlooking the political and cultural forces that shaped their artistry. Within Socialist Romania, the lăutari (Romanian Roma musicians) navigated systemic discrimination, limited mobility, and state control. Simultaneously, against the backdrop of the Cold War, countercultural movements in the Netherlands fostered a fascination with ‘Gypsy’ music, shaping the reception of the lăutari in Western Europe. Positioned between these forces, the lăutari created their own ‘lăutar space’, a space where they negotiated their musical identity, heritage, and asserted agency. Drawing from Homi Bhabha’s concept of the ‘third space’, Margaret Beissinger designated this space as ‘uniquely lăutar’, shaped by the musicians’ ability to bridge multiple cultural, ethnic, and socio-political worlds. Scholarly work has often examined the lăutari within Romanian frameworks or as part of broader Roma musical traditions, but their agency in performance settings abroad remains underexplored. Although Beissinger’s concept of the lăutar space identifies it as a distinct domain, its defining characteristics and how lăutari actively construct and negotiate this space remain insufficiently addressed. This thesis seeks to fill this gap by asking: how is the ‘lăutar space’ exemplified at the ‘Nacht van de Balkan’ concert in 1980? Using an approach that bridges musicology and ethnomusicology, this thesis situates the conceptual framework of the lăutar space within historical ethnomusicology, considering how the lăutari shaped their performance realities in a Dutch performance setting during the Cold War. This thesis employs musical and audiovisual analysis, alongside the qualitative analysis of interviews with key individuals. Theoretical perspectives from Timothy Rice, Allan Moore, Philip Auslander, David Hargreaves, and Kay Kaufman Shelemay inform of musical identity, authenticity, and a non-territorial diaspora. By defining the characteristics and features of the lăutar space, and examining its manifestations at the NvdB, this study highlights the lăutari’s agency, adaptability, expertise, and enduring prowess.