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This catalog site is designed so that it can be searched by keyword, collection, type of instrument, and date. It contains information on instruments in the possession of Duke University, with the exception of modern practice and performance pianos.
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Contact Info
Dr. Brenda Neece, DPhil (Oxon.)
Curator, DUMIC
Box 90665
Durham, NC 27708-0665
USA
Tel: 919-660-3320
Fax: 919-660-3301
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Special Exhibit: Romanian Musical Instruments at DUMIC
This exhibit is the result of the research of scholar Ioana Sherman and features the newly arrived Romanian instruments, some of which were discussed in her September 14, 2007 Rare Music Program entitled "Transformation and Totalitarianism: The Case of the Romanian Caval and Fluier."
Read more about Ioana Sherman's Rare Music program here
DUMIC Acquires Romanian Instruments

On August 29, 2007, Romanian-American scholar Ioana Sherman delivered DUMIC’s new Romanian instruments made by Ion Costache. The instruments include a double fluier, a large fluier, three small fluiers, a caval, a pai, and an ocarina. These instruments can be seen in the current online exhibit and will soon be on display in the upper lobby of the Biddle Music Building. The instruments were obtained and transported by Sherman. Two instruments were the generous gifts of Mr. Costache and the purchase of the other six instruments was made possible through the support of the Carrabina Endowment, with generous assistance from Duke alumni Dr.s George & Sue Neece.
Ion Costache, Romanian Instrument Maker

Ion Costache was born in Merisani, Romania, on June 15, 1933. He started making fluiers at the age of 10. By the age of 16 Costache became a prominent fluier and caval maker and was able to make a career as a craftsman in Romania. In 1999 Costache participated in the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington, D.C. He currently holds vending contracts with the Museum of the Romanian Peasant and the Village Museum in Bucharest.—Text by Ioana Sherman
Here Costache is playing a double fluier that he made. Sherman has been working with Costache for several years to learn about his instruments, the culture of making and playing the instruments, as well as details about him as an artist and craftsman.
Ioan Costache Making an Instrument

Here Ion Costache shows an instrument he is making. He works at his home in his workshop that also doubles as his bedroom. He works to the highest standards, and has only recently started incorporating electric tools (of his own design) to help him cut out the bore of the instruments.
R1 Pai

Pai, Ion Costache, Romania (2007)
Identifying mark(s):
None
Description:
This reed cap instrument has a single reed, and six finger holes. It is ornately decorated with red and green pigment. The finger holes are undercut.
Materials:
ash wood, bamboo reed (bamboo tube with integral reed), pigment
Notes:
Costache claims to have invented this version of the instrument, modifying the standard version by adding a reed cap to protect the reed.

R2 Fluier

Fluier, Ion Costache, Romania (2007)
Identifying mark(s):
None
Description:
This duct flute has its duct on the back of the instrument, and its six finger holes on the front. It has an ornamental brass ring at either end and is inscribed with parallel lines for ornamentation. Both the body of the fluier and the block are made of plum wood.
Materials:
plum wood, brass



R3 Fluier

Fluier, Ion Costache, Romania (2007)
Identifying mark(s):
None
Description:
This duct flute has its duct on the back of the instrument, and its six finger holes on the front. It has an ornamental brass ring at either end and is inscribed with parallel lines for ornamentation. Both the body of the fluier and the block are made of plum wood.
Materials:
plum wood, brass


R4 Fluier


Fluier, Ion Costache, Romania (2007)
Identifying mark(s):
None
Description:
This duct flute has its duct on the back of the instrument, and its six finger holes on the front. It is ornately decorated with red and green pigment. The end of the bore is reduced in size by an internal wooden ring. The body of the fluier is made of ash wood, and the block is made of plum wood.
Materials:
ash wood, plum wood, pigment





R5 Double Fluier


Double Fluier, Ion Costache, Romania (2007)
Identifying mark(s):
None
Description:
This double duct flute has two bores. Only the right hand bore has finger holes (six), while the other side provides a drone note. Both bores have their ducts on the back of the instrument. It is ornately decorated with red and green pigment. The body of the fluier is made of ash wood, and the blocks are made of plum wood.
Materials:
ash wood, plum wood, pigment



R6 Large Fluier


Large Fluier, Ion Costache, Romania (2007)
Identifying mark(s):
None
Description:
This duct flute has its duct on the back of the instrument, and its six finger holes on the front. It is ornately decorated with red and green pigment. The body of the fluier is made of ash wood, and the block is made of plum wood.
Materials:
ash wood, plum wood, pigment.
Note:
Gift of Ion Costache





R7 Caval


Caval, Ion Costache, Romania (2007)
Identifying mark(s):
None
Description:
This large duct flute has its duct on the back of the instrument, and its five finger holes on the front. It is ornately decorated with red and green pigment. The end of the instrument flares to a small bulge and ends in a small bell. The body of the caval is made of ash wood, and the block is made of plum wood.
Materials:
ash wood, plum wood, pigment





R8 Ocarina

Ocarina, Ion Costache, Romania (2007)
Identifying mark(s):
None
Description:
This ceramic vessel flute has seven finger holes on top, and two thumb holes on bottom.
Materials:
Clay
Note:
Gift of Ion Costache


Transformation and Totalitarianism
September 14, 2007
4 PM
Rare Book Room
Perkins Library, Duke Universtiy West Campus
Ioana Sherman

The fluier and caval, types of end-blown duct flutes, are the most prominent instruments in the southern region of Romania and have had a connection to the Romanian people for many centuries. Sherman will discuss the caval and fluier before, during, and after the Communist regime, in particular their role and function in the community, how playing techniques have changed over the century, and how the skill of crafting the instruments has changed. The research presented was conducted in the summer of 2007 and during the 2004-2005 academic year on an IIE Fulbright Fellowship. Duke has obtained examples of both types of instruments this fall.
Find Parking information here.
Ioana Sherman
Ioana Sherman

Ioana Sherman earned a Bachelor of Music, magna cum laude, from the University of California, Riverside in 2002. As an undergraduate she received the Arts Bridge fellowship to teach music in inner-city schools. She also taught private piano, saxophone, and clarinet lessons. While doing her master’s (UC Riverside, 2005), she was a Gluck Fellow, presenting lectures and workshops on Romanian music, and was awarded the William J. Fulbright Fellowship (2004) in ethnomusicology to do research on the caval and fluier in Romania. She now teaches privately in the Triangle area and volunteers for DUMIC.
Here Sherman is shown playing a double fluier made by Ion Costache.