More important, behaviour that does not fit into the ‘hot-tempered’ stereotype or is caused by something other than the flowers, mountains and ‘ethnic genes’ of nature is downplayed or ignored altogether.

Thus, festival promoters and authors of album booklets often need Romani music to be ‘fiery’, ‘wild’ and ‘passionate’ but very often neglect to mention, let alone describe or analyse, Romani music that is introspective, cerebral, philosophical, calm, meticulously arranged or composed using advanced harmonies.

Not infrequently, even lengthy and detailed descriptions of Romani art or lives (e.g. the work of Marek Jakoubek) reduce an entire group of people to an archetype that is virtually devoid of any real meaning.

People are thus sometimes surprised to learn that a field as formal and institutionalised as Western art (classical) music has been not only suffused with real and imagined Romani themes but also shaped by a large number of Roma in concert attire.

János Bihari, Panna Czinka, Pista Dankó and Riccardo Sahiti – these are but a few of the Romani composers and orchestral conductors who have enriched European art music with influential projects since the 18th century.

Romani instrument-makers, too, have contributed to the sonic colour of orchestras and chamber groups in many countries. And while it may be uncommon for women in many historically oriented societies to play musical instruments, girls in Romani families have not always been excluded from formal instruction in the violin (The Girls of the Rajkó Ensemble), guitar, cimbalom or other instruments.

For hundreds of years, music – and perhaps art music, in particular – has been an arena for Romani people not only to benefit from but also to contribute towards cultural and technological advances.

Petra Gelbart

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