Lie ciocârlie, a special song in Romanian music

Often nature impresses man so much that he enhances it in different ways. The world of animals has many aspects that people envy and that they transform into art. The skylark, a bird with an interesting symbolism, is special to Romanian popular culture. In traditional music, imitating the skylark's trills gave birth to a famous song that the Romanian included in their musical heritage.

Since traditional Romanian music is often surprising, with accents of archaism, but also of modernity, in a never-ending change, Lie ciocârlie is one of the famous songs of musical folklore. The imitation of the skylark trills is the most attractive features of this song, a feature that anybody can recognize, even if they do not speak Romanian.

Beyond these trills, Ciocârlia (The Skylark) is actually a sad song. However, it became famous in Romanian popular culture mainly because it is a very difficult song to sing. This song, launched by Maria Lataretu, became, over time, a part of the musical heritage of the Romanians and a test-song for those who had the courage to sing it.            

The most well known performances of this melody are those of Maria Lataretu and of Maria Ciobanu. Maria Lataretu's interpretation is considered to be the most original, a song with the accents of a tragedy which is allegedly inspired by the life of the interpreter who lost several children.

Maria Ciobanu's interpretation brings on a series of innovative features and the interpreter was actually given the name of „The skylark of Romanian songs.”

Although it seems to be a song preferred by the female vocalists, a few male singers also dared to interpret it, such as Ion Dolanescu or the younger Mihai Traistariu. Moreover, some young artists who came from different musical genres also tried to sing Lie Ciocârlie.  

Bibliography and photos:

raluxa.com/lie-ciocarlie-versiuni-si-interpretari-de-a-lungul-timpului/

www.emag.ro 

https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cioc%C3%A2rlie

www.youtube.com