THE FOLK SONG OF TELEORMAN

Abstract

Situated in the southwestern region of Muntenia (Greater Wallachia), Teleorman County is situated in the southern of Romania. It is an integral part of the Danube Plain counties, which have historically served as the reservoir for Romania's granary. Agriculture, the linchpin of existence and perpetuity in these lands, was the primary occupation of the peasantry of Teleorman County. In contrast to the unconstrained improvisational free- form found in doina and ballad genres, the specific form of the traditional folk song proper is a stanza, which restricts the performer to this fixed frame. The key differences between the southern region and other parts of Muntenia (Greater Wallachia) region are the distinctive melodic formulae and the ornamentation system. The Teleormanian repertoire exhibits heterogeneity, characterised by chromatically coloured scales and abundant melismatic features.