thumb|right|upright=1.2|Lăutari in the 19th century
The Romanian word lăutar (; plural: lăutari) denotes a class of musicians.
The term was adopted by members of a professional clan of Romani musicians in the late 18th century. The term is derived from lăută, the Romanian word for lute. Lăutari usually perform in bands, called taraf.
Terminology
thumb|Lăutarii, a 1995 Moldovan stamp
Lăutar, according to the DEX ("Dicționarul Explicativ al Limbii Române" — "The Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language"), is formed from lăută (meaning "lute") and the agent suffix -ar, common for occupational names. Originally, the word was used only for the peasant Romanian musicians who played the lăută. A distinction should be made between the generic Romanian-language word lăutar and the Romani clan. The others were named after their instruments, too, e.g.: scripcar (scripcă player), cobzar (cobza player), and naingiu (nai/panflute player). From the 17th century, the word lăutar was used regardless of the instrument that was played.
History
The first mention of lăutari is from 1558 when Mircea Ciobanul (appointed ruler by the Ottomans in January 1545), the Voivode of Wallachia, gives Ruste lăutarul (Ruste the lăutar) as a gift to the Vornic Dingă from Moldavia. In 1775 the first lăutărească guild (breaslă), was established in Wallachia.
The lăutari were both slave Roma and serfdom Romanians, but the Roma were the majority. Only a few of them, with ancestors from the kalderash or from the ursari groups, still spoke the Romani language.
The lăutari existed mainly in the Moldova, Muntenia, Oltenia and Dobruja regions of present-day Romania. For this reason the peasant music of Transylvania remained more "pure". A similar situation was in Banat. Today the Romani lăutari are also predominant in Transylvania.
As performers, lăutari are usually loosely organized into a group known as a Taraf, which often consists largely of the males of an extended family. (There are female lăutari, mostly vocalists, but they are far outnumbered by the men.) Each taraf is led by a primaș, a primary soloist.
Traditionally, the lăutari played by ear, but today more and more lăutari have musical studies and can read notes.
The lăutari consider themselves to be the elite of the Roma. The lăutărească music is complex and elaborated, with dense harmonies and refined ornamentations, and its execution requires a good technique.
The lăutari drew inspiration from all the musics they had contact with: the pastoral music of Romania, the Byzantine music played in the church, as well as foreign music, such as Turkish, Russian or Western European.
Improvisation is an important part of the lăutărească music. Each time a lăutar plays a melody he re-interprets it. For this reason the lăutărească music has been compared to Jazz music. A lăutar from the Damian Draghici band, who also played Jazz, said that the lăutărească music is a kind of Jazz.
The music of the lăutari establishes the structure of the elaborate Romanian peasant weddings, as well as providing entertainment (not only music, but magic tricks, stories, bear training, etc.) during the less eventful parts of the ritual. The lăutari also function as guides through the wedding rituals and moderate any conflicts that may arise during what can be a long, alcohol-fuelled party. Over a period of nearly 48 hours, this can be very physically strenuous.
The repertoire of the lăutari include hora, sârba, brâul (a high tempo hora), doiul, tunes with Turkish derived rhythms (geamparaua, breaza, rustemul, maneaua lăutărească, cadâneasca), doina, de ascultare (roughly "song for listening", it can be considered a more complex form of doina), cântecul bătranesc, călușul, ardeleana, corăgheasca, bătuta.
In southern Romania, the lăutărească music has a rural stratum and an urban one.