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The Music of Transylvania (sax)

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Transylvania is a province in central Romania. Over the centuries it has been inhabited by Romanians, Hungarians, Serbs, Slovaks, Germans and Romani people, and has long been an important centre for the folk music of these different cultures. A typical traditional Transylvanian folk band would include instruments such as fiddle, taragot (a cross between a clarinet and a saxophone), contra (a 3-string viola with a flat bridge), cimbalom (a large box with metal strings over the top, which are struck with a pair of beaters), utogardon (a percussion instrument that looks like a cello) and double bass. The composers Bartók and Kodály were both influenced by the folk music of Romania.

Here are some traditional Transylvanian folk tunes being played on taragot, saxophones, accordion and double bass: