Nowadays, in 2024, there are only a few places where the cobza has the closest life to the tradition of existence. It goes to Hârlăului area where cobzas and even cobza players, very few, can still be found, and also to the north of Iasi county and the southern part of Botosani, where cobas were made in the 1990s, cobza player Sasha-Liviu Stoianovici, a member of Balkan Taksim band, a museographer of the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant of Romania, stated in IPN’s public debate “UNESCO file “Cobza”. Moldovan-Romanian cooperation in promotion of intangible cultural heritage”.
According to Sasha-Liviu Stoianovici, the cobza is still preserved today, for example in its form of factory cobza, in the traditional rural area, in Suceava area. There are cobza players in Teleorman and more in Bucharest, who, like him, “allowed to be enchanted by cobza’s stories”.
He noted that he generally speaks of the cobza, as well as of other instruments, as having constant presences. In his opinion, it is possible, like in the case of any other cultural element, that the presence of the cobza in a particular region was interrupted by various economic and social factors.
Sasha-Liviu Stoianovici finds interesting the idea of the “undeniable continuity” of the cobza, but, at the same time, says that there were human communities that migrated or, for various reasons, rebuilt their villages and restored their social relations. And then the presence or continuity of this cobza, in light of this, can be questioned.
The cobza player noted that in the north of Iasi and in the southern part Botosani, cobzas were made and there were at least two craftsmen who made cobzas to order, generally following the old patterns. The oldest cobza model in the Romanian cultural space has been preserved there until now, in terms of its structure and the method of playing.
According to Sasha-Liviu Stoianovici, the cobza allows solo singing and this makes the cobza an instrument recommended for this century and for the following centuries. So, he can say “yes” to the cobza as a modern instrument.
The public debate was the third edition of the project “Double integration through cooperation and information. Continuity”, which is funded by the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova. The content of this debate does not represent the official position of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova.
