The group Trei Parale is truly unique in the Romanian musical landscape. Through its serious, ethnomusicological approach to largely forgotten music—transformed over centuries into something entirely different—the group manages to appeal to a diverse audience, from professionals to amateurs drawn to curiosities with an exotic flavor. The initiator and leader of this project is Florin Iordan, a researcher at the Museum of the Romanian Peasant. He is the one who has set the path the group follows to this day; this approach involves meticulous research of written sources from the era, audio recordings from Edison wax cylinders, and other materials, as well as fieldwork, which forms the basis of every Trei Parale concert.
The group’s activity is rich and varied, including performances at medieval and early music festivals, as well as theater festivals, both in Romania and abroad. They have also appeared in numerous television programs and contributed to the soundtracks of films such as Povestea lui Bucur (directed by Aurelia Mihai, Germany, 2009), Chira Chiralina (directed by Dan Pița, Romania, 2014), and Aferim! (directed by Radu Jude, Romania, 2015).
The leader of Trei Parale, Florin Iordan, is an ethnomusicologist. A graduate of the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Bucharest, he has been employed by the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant since 2003, where he has specialized in ethnomusicology. He has conducted numerous field research studies, focusing on organology, traditional musical professionalism, revivalism, and customs. He contributed to the production and publication of the last 18 CDs in the traditional music series Ethnophonie, published by the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant and the Alexandru Tzigara-Samurcaș Foundation. This series received the “Coup de Coeur” award from the Charles Cros Academy (2005) and the German Critics Award (2006), and included a CD published in Switzerland. Iordan has delivered and published a series of conferences and papers in his field of expertise—ethnomusicology. He has organized or co-organized traditional music concerts (in Romania and Israel), festivals (such as the first edition of the National Folklore Festival, Bucharest, 2006), and other cultural activities.
Iordan’s artistic and research experience is vast. He is the founder and coordinator of the Trei Parale group (2003), in which he performs on various traditional instruments, including Romanian flutes, bagpipes, cobza, zither, and braci. His research focuses on early Romanian music (18th-19th centuries). He has published CDs such as Bazar (2008), Bazar II. Cântări din secolul al XIX-lea (2012), and Ciobanul care și-a pierdut oile (2015). He has given numerous concerts at specialized festivals (medieval and early music festivals), participated in interviews and TV and radio programs, contributed to the soundtracks of Aferim! (2015) and Chira Chiralina (2014), and led traditional music workshops for children, such as Șezătoare cu fluiere și povești.
The repertoire of performances making up the “Romania. 100 de minute” project is drawn from early 20th-century folk collections, compiled by the likes of Constantin Brăiloiu, Tiberiu Brediceanu, Béla Bartók, and Dimitrie Vulpian. The group will showcase an astounding variety of instruments on stage: all types of flutes (standard flute, double flute, open-ended flute, caval), Jew’s harp, bagpipes (two different types), zither, dobă (a percussive folk cello) accompanied by cobza, violin, contră, double bass, and various traditional percussion instruments (dairea, drum, bass drum with cymbal). The artistic journey touches upon key elements of traditional Romanian culture: the doina and Miorița, while also presenting the țâpuritura from Oaș, the ballad of Iancu Jianu, the Moldovan drinking song, and love songs.
The program unites music from all the historical provinces that came together 100 years ago during the Great Union, representing various ethnographic regions: Mărginimea Sibiului, Țara Vrancei, Ținutul Buzăului, Alba, Arad, Tulcea, Neamț, Muscel, Olt, Romanați, Suceava, Botoșani, Teleorman, Cluj, Strășeni, Edineț, Cahul (today in the Republic of Moldova), and even beyond the borders (the music of Romanians from Timok-Serbia and Transnistria).