Ireland's Balkan connection

`In the north of Romania, in a village called Sapinta, there is a cemetery where all the little wooden crosses are decorated with stories - funny stories - about the people who are buried there. The whole cemetery is full of lively colours, and to me that says a lot about the type of people Romanians are. It's not the product of a sad, gloomy people."

The Romanian violinist Mircea Petcu has lived and worked in Ireland for 20 years. For most of that time he has been preoccupied with the usual trappings of daily life: house, kids, full-time job with the RTE Concert Orchestra. He didn't lie awake at night worrying about his socio-cultural identity, let's say. Over the past year, however, he has been forced to think about exactly that - about what it means to be Romanian in a society where the word "Romanian" conjures up images which are, for the majority of people, overwhelmingly negative - and he is determined to do what he can to provide Irish people with a fuller and, he hopes, more balanced picture. The field of traditional music is, he says, an ideal place to begin such a cultural rapprochement because there is already a strong Irish-Balkan folk connection, in the shape of Riverdance. "When we first recorded Riverdance with the Concert Orchestra," he says, "I thought it was one of the most exciting pieces of music I'd heard for a long time, and I remember remarking on its "Balkan feel" to Bill Whelan. I wouldn't want to suggest that he copied the tune or anything, but he certainly imported the rhythms - it's a fact that those uneven rhythms are from the Balkan tradition. The interesting thing is, they have now become part of the Irish heritage - which proves that music can't be boxed in, you can't put lines and borders around it.

"Because people have moved around Europe so much over the centuries, you can't say `this is mine, that's yours' in terms of culture, and it's particularly appropriate that that is being highlighted just now by the success of Riverdance. I'm always thrilled to hear it - and every time I hear it, I think, `hmm, I'm part of that, somehow'. And that's why I want people to come and see these concerts we're putting on - to come and focus on the similarities between Ireland and Romania for a change, to forget about differences and find something that we can all relate to and enjoy." The concerts in question are a series of four, beginning tomorrow night at the NCH, planned for the week leading up to December 1st - the Romanian National Day - which will see the band Romanian Legend team up on stage with the box player Mairtin O'Connor and four pairs of Romanian folk dancers for what Petcu promises will be a colourful and dramatic evening, with generous helpings of both Irish and Romanian tunes. "In fact, having worked out a programme with Mairtin, I think people are going to find it quite difficult, at times, to know where the shift from Irish to Romanian actually happens." Which is not to say that Romanian traditional music doesn't have a distinctive sound world of its own. The members of Romanian Legend (most of whom, like Petcu himself, are classically trained) will produce a variety of instruments ranging from the pan pipes - "which have been brought to an incredible level of virtuosity when you think that basically it's like blowing over the top of a bottle" - to the cembalum, which is shaped like a piano but played with hammers.

"Because of the shape of the instrument, there are parts at the top where the strings are not arranged according to pitch, so you're going to have to jump - and to manage that, you really need to know where you're going," says Petcu. Then there are those famously off-centre rhythms. "The complexity of the rhythms," says Petcu, "is really to do with Romania's history. The country was at the centre of several major empires; the Ottoman to the east, the Austro-Hungarian to the northwest, the Russians, and, going back in history, the Greeks and the Romans. Because of that, depending on which part of Romania you go to, you'll find those different influences, which is a great recipe for extraordinarily exciting music and dance. "The uneven beats make the music very dramatic - even if you do know the piece, it gives you the impression that you don't know what's around the corner. So, as a listener, you don't have a chance to get bored - in fact, if you've ever been to a Romanian wedding you'll know that it goes on for days because they won't let the musicians stop playing. The poor guys really need to know what they're up against before they go, and they need to be really physically fit, because once they're there, that's it . . . "

Most Irish people probably don't know that - but then, as Petcu points out, there are a lot of things about Romania which many Irish people probably don't know, such as the fact that the country's winemaking industry dates back to 200 BC, or that its spas, with their copious quantities of natural sparkling mineral water, were used by the Romans, or that it has some of the largest expanses of broadleaf forest left in Europe. To this end he has founded the Irish-Romanian Trade Bureau, to help forge business links between the two countries and he can, he says, provide information and contact for anyone who is interested in creating such links. A discordant note for a musician, perhaps? He smiles. "Culture can be practical. It can come up with concrete things like concerts, theatre pieces, exhibitions; but there are other things too which, though they aren't as enjoyable or as artistically rewarding, need to be looked after."

Romanian Legend, with special guest Mairtin O'Connor, play at the National Concert Hall, Dublin on November 25th, and then tour to the Everglades Hotel, Derry on November 29th, the Town Hall Theatre, Galway on December 1st and the Elmwood Hall, Belfast on December 5th. A photographic exhibition by Gita Turda called Have You Seen Dracula? will be exhibited in the foyer of the National Concert Hall to coincide with the Dublin concert. The Irish-Romanian Trade Bureau can be contacted at 01-286 9711.