The Cobza is a plucked string musical instrument of folk origin; widespread in Eastern Europe, it is part of the lute family.
It has a curved rim with a narrow opening that creates a characteristic dry sound; it is sometimes used as a solo instrument, but more often as accompaniment.
The most famous player and composer of pieces on the cobza was the famous Barbu Lăutaru (1780 - 1860), descendant of an ancient family of musicians, a Moldavian singer and cobzar, who enjoyed fame that became legendary. Barbu was one of those great Romanian folk composers and singers who helped shape and enrich Romanian folk music, combining elements of native Romanian folk music with elements of Russian and Western Eastern romanticism. Barbu aroused the admiration of Franz Liszt during his journey to Moldova in 1874 to Iaşi, the cradle of Romanian culture and a city of great beauty; during his visit, Barbu Lăutaru faithfully reproduced the improvisation performed immediately before by Franz Liszt, during a stop by the Hungarian composer at the villa of the poet Vasile Alecşandri, founder of the Romanian Academy.
Here I present to you'Eu sunt Barbu Lautarul' (I am the lutenist Barbu), an autobiographical piece by the aforementioned, in which he tells how no party was organized that was not animated by his cobza and how all the streets resonated with his songs.
