Transsylvania Phoenix, Romanian Ethno-rock, and the Politics of Folk Music

Abstract

ABSTRACTBoth scholarly and lay definitions of progressive rock mention its ties to classical music. However, strands such as romanian prog are influenced by folk music, with few ties to the genre's alleged classical roots. The Romanian political context of the late 1960s led bands to embracing archaic musical traditions in order to pass Communist Party censorship. One such example is Phoenix, a group who fully embody the “ethno-rock” aesthetic of Romanian prog. The aim of this paper is to show how folk music was incorporated in Romanian rock, and how the politics of the time led to such a fusion.