Gheorghe Zamfir
Encyclopedia
Gheorghe Zamfir (ˈɡe̯orɡe zamˈfir; born April 6, 1941) is a Romanian pan flute
musician.
Zamfir is known for playing an expanded version of the traditional Romanian-style pan flute (nai
) of 20 pipes to 22, 25, 28 and 30 pipes to increase its range, and obtaining as many as eight overtones (additionally to the fundamental tone) from each pipe by changing the embouchure
.
He is known as "The Master of the Pan Flute", though his standing as a leading figure within the history of Romanian folk music has not been without criticism.
who extensively researched Romanian folk music
in the 1960s. Brought for the first time with his pan flute to western European countries in 1972 by the composer Vladimir Cosma
as soloist in Cosma's original music for the movie Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire
and made a big success, since then, he has been used as soloist in movie soundtracks by composers Francis Lai
, Ennio Morricone
and many others. Largely through television commercials where he was billed as "Zamfir, Master of the pan Flute", he introduced the folk instrument to a modern audience and revived it from obscurity. In the United States his commercials were widely seen on CNN in the 1980s.
Zamfir's big break in the English-speaking world came when the BBC
religious television programme "The Light of Experience" adopted his recording of "Doina De Jale", a traditional Romanian funeral song, as its theme. Popular demand forced Epic Records
to release the tune as a single in 1976, and it climbed to number four on the UK charts. It would prove to be his only hit single, but it helped pave the way for a consistent stream of album sales in Britain.
After nearly a decade-long absence, Romanian pan flute virtuoso Gheorghe Zamfir returns to Canada in January 2006 for a seven-city tour with TRAFFIC STRINGS quintet . In the program was include a world premiere: Vivaldi's Four Seasons for PanFlute and string quintet arranged by Lucian Moraru, jazz standards, and well-known favourites.
Most recently, Zamfir has been sampled
by Animal Collective
in the song "Graze" on their EP Fall Be Kind
.
. His first appearance in 1972 as soloist interpreter in a movie soundtrack was in Vladimir Cosma
's "Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire" with a very famous and successful melody known all over the world. His music has also been heard on the soundtracks of many Hollywood movies. He was asked by Ennio Morricone
to perform the pieces "Childhood Memories" and "Cockeye's Song" for the soundtrack of Sergio Leone
's 1984 gangster film Once Upon A Time In America
. His music is heard throughout the 1984 film The Karate Kid, and his piece "The Lonely Shepherd", recorded with the James Last Orchestra
, is featured in Quentin Tarantino
's film Kill Bill Vol. 1. The melody "The lonely shepherd" was written by James Last and first released on his album "Memories from Russia", released 1977 (Polydor Germany 2371 856). The panflute was played by Gheorghe Zamfir, who had a contract with the Philips record company. An agreement was made that Philips could release "The lonely shepherd" as a single (45 rpm) on the Philips label.
. Zamfir has been mocked by critics in comparison with Draghici on several occasions.
Another line of criticism came from his promotion of Romanian popular music
as opposed to the genuine traditional music.
Comparing Zamfir with his master, Fănică Luca, jazz-man Johnny Răducanu
said that a single fart of Luca would equal the entire music of Gheorghe Zamfir.
, Romania
on April 6, 1941. Although initially interested in becoming an accordionist, at the age of 14 he began his pan flute studies with Fănică Luca
at the Special Musical School no. 1 in Bucharest. Later he attended the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory
. He currently resides and teaches pan flute in Bucharest
. He has a son, Emmanuel Teodor who resides in Montreal, Canada also a drummer/musician.
Pan flute
The pan flute or pan pipe is an ancient musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting usually of five or more pipes of gradually increasing length...
musician.
Zamfir is known for playing an expanded version of the traditional Romanian-style pan flute (nai
Nai (pan flute)
The nai is a Romanian and also Moldavian diatonic pan flute used since the 17th century and used in lăutari bands.-Structure:...
) of 20 pipes to 22, 25, 28 and 30 pipes to increase its range, and obtaining as many as eight overtones (additionally to the fundamental tone) from each pipe by changing the embouchure
Embouchure
The embouchure is the use of facial muscles and the shaping of the lips to the mouthpiece of woodwind instruments or the mouthpiece of the brass instruments.The word is of French origin and is related to the root bouche , 'mouth'....
.
He is known as "The Master of the Pan Flute", though his standing as a leading figure within the history of Romanian folk music has not been without criticism.
Career
Zamfir came to the public eye when he was "discovered" by Swiss ethnomusicologist Marcel CellierMarcel Cellier
Marcel Cellier is a Swiss organist, ethnomusicologist and music producer, internationally known for his Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares project presenting Bulgarian traditional music and his work with Gheorghe Zamfir....
who extensively researched Romanian folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
in the 1960s. Brought for the first time with his pan flute to western European countries in 1972 by the composer Vladimir Cosma
Vladimir Cosma
Vladimir Cosma was born April 13, 1940 in Bucharest, Romania, into a family of musicians.His father, Teodor Cosma, was a pianist and conductor, his mother a writer-composer, his uncle, Edgar Cosma, composer and conductor, and one of his grandmothers, pianist, a student of the renowned Ferrucio...
as soloist in Cosma's original music for the movie Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe is a 1972 French comedy film directed by Yves Robert, written by Francis Veber, starring Pierre Richard, Jean Rochefort and Bernard Blier...
and made a big success, since then, he has been used as soloist in movie soundtracks by composers Francis Lai
Francis Lai
Francis Lai is a French accordionist, and composer noted for his film scores.While in his twenties, Francis Lai left home and went to Paris where he became part of the lively Montmartre music scene...
, Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
and many others. Largely through television commercials where he was billed as "Zamfir, Master of the pan Flute", he introduced the folk instrument to a modern audience and revived it from obscurity. In the United States his commercials were widely seen on CNN in the 1980s.
Zamfir's big break in the English-speaking world came when the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
religious television programme "The Light of Experience" adopted his recording of "Doina De Jale", a traditional Romanian funeral song, as its theme. Popular demand forced Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
to release the tune as a single in 1976, and it climbed to number four on the UK charts. It would prove to be his only hit single, but it helped pave the way for a consistent stream of album sales in Britain.
After nearly a decade-long absence, Romanian pan flute virtuoso Gheorghe Zamfir returns to Canada in January 2006 for a seven-city tour with TRAFFIC STRINGS quintet . In the program was include a world premiere: Vivaldi's Four Seasons for PanFlute and string quintet arranged by Lucian Moraru, jazz standards, and well-known favourites.
Most recently, Zamfir has been sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by Animal Collective
Animal Collective
Animal Collective is an experimental psychedelic band originally from Baltimore, Maryland, currently based in New York City. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare , Panda Bear , Deakin , and Geologist...
in the song "Graze" on their EP Fall Be Kind
Fall Be Kind
-Personnel:* Avey Tare* Geologist* Panda Bear* Heather McIntosh - Cello on "Graze" and "Bleed" * Ben Allen and Animal Collective - Mixing* Rob Carmichael - Design and layout* Andy Marcinkowski and Aaron Ersoy - Recording assistants-External links:* *...
.
Soundtracks
One of his most notable contributions was to the soundtrack for the classic Australian film Picnic at Hanging RockPicnic at Hanging Rock (film)
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian feature film directed by Peter Weir and starring Anne-Louise Lambert, Helen Morse, Rachel Roberts and Vivean Gray. The film is adapted from the novel of the same name, by author Joan Lindsay....
. His first appearance in 1972 as soloist interpreter in a movie soundtrack was in Vladimir Cosma
Vladimir Cosma
Vladimir Cosma was born April 13, 1940 in Bucharest, Romania, into a family of musicians.His father, Teodor Cosma, was a pianist and conductor, his mother a writer-composer, his uncle, Edgar Cosma, composer and conductor, and one of his grandmothers, pianist, a student of the renowned Ferrucio...
's "Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire" with a very famous and successful melody known all over the world. His music has also been heard on the soundtracks of many Hollywood movies. He was asked by Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
to perform the pieces "Childhood Memories" and "Cockeye's Song" for the soundtrack of Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone was an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter most associated with the "Spaghetti Western" genre.Leone's film-making style includes juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots...
's 1984 gangster film Once Upon A Time In America
Once Upon a Time in America
Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 Italian epic crime film co-written and directed by Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The story chronicles the lives of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City's world of organized crime...
. His music is heard throughout the 1984 film The Karate Kid, and his piece "The Lonely Shepherd", recorded with the James Last Orchestra
James Last Orchestra
The James Last Orchestra is a German big-band orchestra with strings. The orchestra was established in 1964 as a studio orchestra, led by jazz musician Hans Last...
, is featured in Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
's film Kill Bill Vol. 1. The melody "The lonely shepherd" was written by James Last and first released on his album "Memories from Russia", released 1977 (Polydor Germany 2371 856). The panflute was played by Gheorghe Zamfir, who had a contract with the Philips record company. An agreement was made that Philips could release "The lonely shepherd" as a single (45 rpm) on the Philips label.
Criticism
Although Zamfir is considered the most important person to popularize the pan flute worldwide, he has also received significant criticism, mostly for his propinquity with easy listening and kitsch. His personality often put him in disputes with other pan flute players such as Dalila Cernătescu, Simion Stanciu or Damian DraghiciDamian Draghici
Damian Drăghici is a Romanian-Romani musician, best known as nai player, and possibly the most noted exponent of this particular instrument in the world of jazz.- Early life :...
. Zamfir has been mocked by critics in comparison with Draghici on several occasions.
Another line of criticism came from his promotion of Romanian popular music
Romanian popular music
In Romania, the syntagm popular music is used to denote a musical genre based on folklore, but distinct from it. The distinction is both in form and essence and it arises mainly from the commercial aspect of the popular music.-Origins:...
as opposed to the genuine traditional music.
Comparing Zamfir with his master, Fănică Luca, jazz-man Johnny Răducanu
Johnny Raducanu
Johnny Răducanu was a Romanian jazz pianist of Romani ethnic background, whose family has a long musical tradition dating back to the 17th century....
said that a single fart of Luca would equal the entire music of Gheorghe Zamfir.
Personal life
Zamfir was born in GăeştiGaesti
Găești is a town in Dâmbovița county, Romania with a population of 16,598.- History :The name of the town comes from a family of nobles who owned most of the lands on which the town is now situated...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
on April 6, 1941. Although initially interested in becoming an accordionist, at the age of 14 he began his pan flute studies with Fănică Luca
Fanica Luca
Fănică Luca was a Romani-Romanian musician and a pan pipe virtuoso, who was the first to make this instrument popular outside his own country....
at the Special Musical School no. 1 in Bucharest. Later he attended the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory
National University of Music Bucharest
The National University of Music Bucharest is a university-level school of music located in Bucharest, Romania. Established as a school of music in 1863 and reorganized as an academy in 1931, it has functioned as a public university since 2001...
. He currently resides and teaches pan flute in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. He has a son, Emmanuel Teodor who resides in Montreal, Canada also a drummer/musician.
Cultural references
- Zamfir is mentioned in the television show King of the HillKing of the HillKing of the Hill is an American animated dramedy series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, that ran from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010, on Fox network. It centers on the Hills, a working-class Methodist family in the fictional small town of Arlen, Texas...
in the episode "Propane Boom (Part 1)". HankHank HillHenry Rutherford "Hank" Hill Age 50 animated series King of the Hill. Hank lives in Arlen, Texas and works at the fictional Strickland Propane selling propane and propane accessories. Hank's voice is provided by series creator Mike Judge. The Economist named Hank Hill as one of the wisest people...
claims that Zamfir has sold more records worldwide than The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. - He is also mentioned in the show NCISNCIS (TV series)NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
in the episode "Family Secret". - He is also mentioned in the television show "Sports NightSports NightSports Night is an American television series about a fictional sports news show also called Sports Night. It focuses on the friendships, pitfalls, and ethical issues the creative talent of the program face while trying to produce a good show under constant network pressure...
" during an episode. - He is referenced by Bill EngvallBill EngvallWilliam Ray "Bill" Engvall, Jr. is an American comedian and actor best known for his work as a stand-up comic and as a member of the Blue Collar Comedy group.-Early life:Bill Engvall was born in Galveston, Texas...
in Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One for the RoadBlue Collar Comedy Tour: One For the RoadBlue Collar Comedy Tour: One for the Road is a 2006 television film, and two-disc CD album.- Synopsis :Bill Engvall was the first performer, covering a variety of anecdotes including incidents with his son's trampoline, nearly being thrown off an airplane, his stressful time at a massage parlor,... - 30 Seconds to Mars30 Seconds to Mars30 Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1998. Since 2007, the band has consisted of actor Jared Leto , Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević...
often references 'Zamfir pan flutist' as one of their favorite musicians in interviews.