A mărunțel is a fast Romanian folk dance, originally from the Bihor region in the west of Transylvania. It is commonly danced in pairs, with quite fast movements.
Mărunțel dance style was featured in Béla Bartók’s Román népi táncok (or Romanian Folk Dances, Dansuri Populare Românești), as the last movement of 9 in the symphony. There too, it employed a very rapid movement on the part of the main instrument, the violin.
In most villages, the main instrument will either be a violin/fiddle or a taragot/clarinet. The sheet music published can be used for either.
Mărunțelul din Groși uses an ABABAB pattern. The A theme, 8 measures long, is composed of two identical phrases, which employ a swinging rhythm in 12/8 of quarter-eighth note pairs, filled with grace note ornaments. The B theme, 10 measures long, is composed of two nearly-identical phrases, which each begin with a descent from the 6th to the 2nd, followed by four groups of dotted quarter note, quarter note, and eighth note, resolving to the tonic.
To see the sheet music for this piece, click here.
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