The Renaissance:

Fanica Luca’s fight for the survival of the Panflute

And his successes!

Damian Luca told me the story of

the Renaissance of the panflute.

(see below)

and ... Damian showed me a unique photograph:

Story of the Panflute - The Renaissance

- as Damian Luca told it to Jos Aerts, the panman, June 2000.

Hundred years ago all Romanians loved the panflute. They used it whenever it was possible, mostly at festivities. The panflute was one of the instruments that formed an ensemble. The other instruments were the cobzar (lute), cymbalom, violin and bass. In that time the panflute was still called 'muscal’.

At the end of the 19th century (april 5th 1894) Fanica Luca was born as Iordache Stefan. His father, Iordache Luca, was a panflute player, a muscalagiul, hence his other name Luca Muscalagiul.

Iordache Stefan (first name and family name) also got an altered name. Stefan became Fani, Fani became Fanica. He got the name Luca from his father and that’s why we now know Iordache Stefan as Fanica Luca.

Iordache Luca didn’t want his son playing the panflute, because he thought is would be too difficult for him. But the only thing Fanica wanted was to learn how to play it. So when his father wasn’t at home, he took his panflute and went out into the woods. There he climbed a tree, to make sure they couldn’t find him immediately. But in the meantime his father forced him to play the guitar. Talented as he was, Fanica became famous not only as a panflute player and a guitarist, but as a singer too, which he also loved to do.

At the beginning of the 20th century Fanica Luca showed people a new way to play the panflute, with more and different techniques and with the unique panflute vibrato. During that period, only musicians from Bucharest - Ploiesti played the instrument. A different kind of musical instrument was getting more and more important in Romania: the accordion. It almost entirely replaced the panflute, because melody and chords can both be played at once.

Fanica Luca fought for the survival of his favourite instrument, but even he himself played less on his panflute and concentrated more on his guitar and his singing.

1925 a new kind of medium came at the market: the gramophone. Fanica Luca decided to make a few singles and that way he boosted the image of the panflute. He also tried very hard to play on the radio as much as possible, where he also explained how terrible it would be if the panflute should ever disappear. In a way, Fanica gave this instrument a new life through his fight. More and more people began playing the panflute and got really good at it too. Angelutsa from Ploiesti and Ion Malacu from Bucharest were among them.

1939 Romania went to the worldexposition in New York. The minister of cultural affairs decided that it would be a good idea if a taraf (music group) from Romania performed there. He asked the orchestra of Grigoras Dinicu, the famous violist and concertmaster, to do it and he asked Fanica Luca to play the panflute. Unfortunately Fanica was on tour through Turkey and the minister had to ask Fanica’s wife if he would be able to play in New York. She came with the idea of going with to groups: a salon orchestra directed by Dinicu and a taraf guided by Fanica Luca. The minister agreed with her that would be the best and in 1939 Fanica left with his taraf for New York where he would start his overwhelming international successes.

After this Fanica Luca got a lot of contracts, including a year in the Palladium in London, England and a year in the theatre Chatelet in Paris, France. In an especially written part about the god Pan Fanica Luca had to play this part himself! Then the war came. Fanica Luca had to go back to Romania and play solo in the military band. After the war times were very tough for musicians. In spite of that bands and ensembles were formed: The Barbu Lautaru and Perinitsa each consisted of about 100 people and the orchestra of the Home Office of about 60 people (M.A.I.). The orchestra of the Department of defense (M.F.A.) and another military orchestra got financial aid. These two also had their own dancers. Unfortunately there weren't enough panflutists to play in all these orchestra’s. That’s why Fanica Luca sometimes played with the M.F.A.

Together with a few other famous musicians Fanica Luca tried to get financial aid for Barbu Lautaru. 1950 Barbu Lautaru was re-established as a street orchestra in order to provide for a monthly income for over 100 musicians. The conductor of this large orchestra was chosen from the most talented of the violin players: Nicu Stanescu, Victor Predescu and Ionel Bodisteanu. The panflute soloist was Fanica Luca, the other panflutists were Ion Malaca and Boitsa. Singers were Maria Lataretsu and Emil Gavris. Ion Zlotea played the cobzar batrin (a lute).

Fanica Luca thought it necessary that there came a few younger panflute players. He tried every possible department to ask for panflute training at the school of music. But in those times a lot of classical educated musicians considered the panflute as an inferior instrument and regarded it as a mere gypsy instrument, as well as the cobzar and the cymbal and those kind of instruments didn't belong at a school of music. Fanica Luca opposed their views and in 1951 the minister of culture gave his permission to start panflute training. But it had to be at the Institute of Folklore.

Fanica Luca had two cousins: Fanica and Damian. He wanted these two to become panflute players, especially Fanica, because he thought Fanica Luca jr. would sound best. He let the boys do a test together. Fanica got dizzy and said he didn't want to learn how to play the panflute. Damian got dizzy too, but kept his mouth shut. That’s how Damian became the first pupil at the new panflute school, but that would not be for long. Very soon many other boys joined in to learn how to play the panflute. After a year many dropped out again, they thought the panflute was too difficult. Only a few stayed. Damian made quick progress, played live for the radio and was solo player of the young group of musicians that the pupils of the panflute school now formed. He took the name Luca and became Damian Luca. After this folklore music was integrated in the school of music. The teacher of song was the famous Maria Tonase.

Because Damian Luca was such a success in such a short time, he toured with Fanica Luca and Barbu Lautaru in three countries surrounding Romania. As 14-year-old he played duets with his uncle. When they were in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland or Bulgaria and Fanica Luca had to give an encore, he and Damian played a duet and were a vast success. Because of all this, a lot of younger people got interested in the panflute and quite a few came to a school of music to take lessons. Some of them were Dobre Constantin, Dobre Tudor, Nicolae Pirvu and Radu Simion. Ion Oprea initially played flute, but switched to the panflute and ended up playing with the M.A.I.-orchestra. There even was someone who studied at home as an autodidact. Damian Luca made a contract with the Barbu Lautari orchestra and was often asked to play at festivals and at the television or even to give concerts at home and abroad. In this period there was another pupil at the school of music for panflute, called Damian Cirlenaru. Georghe Zamfir also attended the panflute education, though he initially came for the accordion. But because they didn't teach that at the school for music, Zamfir chose panflute instead. It turned out to be a very wise decision. He studied at the same time as Cirlenaru, Pirvu and the others.

Damian Luca already tried to alter the panflute techniques he had learned from Fanica Luca a little. Not because he thought they were no good, or didn’t give a good tone, but because he was young and wanted more. And that’s how Damian Luca introduced the technique of the double and triple staccato. He also changed the technique to play sharps and flats. This required more muscle from the embouchure, so to say.

Fanica Luca was a bit angry at Damian, but Damian knew older people have difficulty accepting new styles. To Damian Fanica Luca still was the father of the panpipe and the man who gave the panflute new life. If Fanica Luca hadn't been there, the panflute probably wouldn't even have existed in its current form.

We have to be very careful with this instrument because it doesn’t always get to the right people who want to make the best of it. A lot of people only think of the commercial side of this beautiful instrument, the only thing they want is earn money. While doing that, they break down the good reputation of the panflute, that Fanica and Damian Luca have worked so hard for.

The three most important people for the panflute in this age are Fanica Luca, who brought the panflute pack to life, Damian Luca, who developed better techniques and Gheorge Zamfir, who made the panflute (and himself) famous.

These three people have contributed a lot to the panflute. Nowadays there are a lot of people who play this instrument and many of them are very good, even more could be if they love the panflute and practise with discipline. But it’s important never to forget the three men mentioned above, since they made it possible that we can now play this beautiful instrument at this level, that they achieved. Though even younger pupils can play better than these three, because it’s more normal now to play the panflute, we have to remember the pioneers.

Builders

In the time when Damian Luca became a player there were only a few people who were able to build a panflute: there was a man with just one hand, who we called Ciungu, which means handicapped person. Another man was Stefanescu, and when Zamfir became famous, Dumitrescu became a builder too, a very good one, and he was the first to make the folklore ornamentation at the base of the panflute. Some time later Damian also had his own builder Urucu. He liked to play the panflute himself and was a pupil of Damian Luca, but he was more talented at building than playing. For some time now, twelve to fifteen years, we have Preda, who makes very good panpipes. There is a new panflute builder, called Georgescu, who lives in Romania. He is a clarinet player and a teacher at the school of music in Bucharest. There aren't just Romanian builders, builders can actually be found all over the world, but they don't always build the panflute according to the authentic Romanian model.

The Panflute Pages - Jos Aerts