Music in Context: A Romanian Wedding

In Romania, many people love to celebrate. As mentioned in the interview, the wedding is an especially joyous occasion, and typically, no expense is spared. There is lots of music, dancing, and of course Romanian plum brandy called tuica [ts-u-ee-ka]. As mentioned before, a common tradition after the wedding ceremony is dancing the "hora" dance when the newlyweds emerge from the church. I have attached a few photos that depict this tradition from a wedding of a close family friend from last summer. While this is a modern-day wedding, this tradition dates back hundreds of years

Newlyweds emerging from the church greeted by their guests 

Parents of the bride dancing the "hora" with all the guests

The taragot instrument (will be discussed in later posts)

Several of the musicians 

Traditional flask containing tuica 

Wedding guests enjoying the "hora"