Under Soviet communism, the ethnic and folk music of Eastern Europe was often hijacked as a form of propaganda. Words were changed to express patriotic sentiments and slogans of peace. In Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, the country's dictator for 25 years, would bus out thousands of peasants to sing such sentiments in picturesque hills to be filmed and shown on television every Sunday.
After filming, musicians would simply go back to their villages and carry on with the real music. Years of isolation meant traditions survived intact, virtually unchanged for hundreds of years. Since the collapse of communism, the traditional groups are still mostly flourishing, but are coming under increasing threat from more Western and mobile bands.
One such secluded village in the east of Romania is Zece Parjini (meaning 10 fields), home to 400 people. Close to the former Soviet Republic of Moldova, the tradition here is of brass bands, who mostly perform at weddings and other celebrations. The tradition derives from the Hapsburg and Turkish military brass bands, an influence that spread right across the Balkans. Upholding the tradition in Zece Parjini, almost single-handedly in the Moldova region, is a group of 12 Romany Gypsy musicians, who compose the Fanfare Ciocarlia brass ensemble.