(Hung. Brassó; Ger. Kronstadt).
Town in Romania. It is on the southern edge of the Carpathians, and the main town of southern Transylvania. It was a Roman citadel when the area was part of the province of Dacia (107–275 ce). The earliest documentary reference dates from 1234; the town was subsequently known as Corona, Barasu, Brasu, Braso, Braşov, Brassov, Brassó, Kronstadt and Krunen-Kronen. The German name Kronstadt was officially used up to 1918, when the town became Romanian; there still exists a large German (Saxon) minority in Braşov. The main churches are St Bartholomew's, the ‘Black’ Church (c1385–c1476), and St Nicholas in the Schei quarter.
As early as 1533 it was a centre of Romanian and Transylvanian Saxon printing; Honterus and Gheorghe Coressi printed religious and secular texts and music (Odae cum harmoniis, 1548). The virtuoso lutenist Bálint Bakfark was born in Braşov in 1507; he performed at the courts of Poland, France, Austria and Transylvania, and composed dances and fantasies based on Transylvanian folk music. The town was well known as a centre of culture and education particularly because of the Schola Coronensis (founded in 1544), a humanist school with strong musical traditions. Subsequent outstanding schools of music were the Şcoala de Psaltichie Rumânească (Romanian psalm school, 16th century, the first school to teach in Romanian), the Kronstädter Gesang-Schule (founded in 1845 by J.L. Hewig) and the Astra Conservatory (founded in 1928 by C. Bobescu). Since World War II the Faculty of Music, the Music Lyceum and the Popular Art School have been the main centres of musical education. The organ school of the ‘Black’ Church has long been a feature of the musical life of Braşov; among the many musicians associated with it are Wolfgang (15th century), Hieronimus Ostermayer (1500–61), Georgius Ostermayer (1530–71), Michael Hermann (17th century), Daniel Croner and, in the 20th century, Rudolf Lassel (1895–1964), Adolf Weiss, Klaus Fogarascher, Eckart Schlandt and Valentin Gheorghiu.
In the 18th century instrumental bands (the Turnerii and a collegium musicum) grew up in the town and in 1815 a theatre was founded which was visited by Italian, German, Romanian and Hungarian troupes. In 1882 the Romanian operetta Crai Nou (‘Morning Star’) by Porumbescu had its premičre in Braşov. Musical activity flourished in 19th-century Braşov under the auspices of the many societies, which included the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (founded in 1834), the Stadt-Kapelle, the Kronstädter Männergesangverein (1859), the Reuniunea Română de Gimnastică şi Cîntări (Romanian Group of Gymnastics and Singing, 1868), the Reuniunea Sodalilor Români (1869), the Deutscher Lieder Kranz (1885), the Brassói Magyar Dalárda (Hungarian Choral Society), the Societatea Română de Muzică and, above all, the Kronstädter Philarmonischen Gesellschaft (1878), which survives as the Gheorghe Dima State PO. In the 19th century Braşov was visited by a number of virtuosos, including Brahms and Joachim.
Musical institutions active in the 20th century are the Teatrul Muzical (which produces opera, operetta, ballet and variety shows), the Pro Musica chamber group, a folk music orchestra and the Gheorghe Dima and Paul Richter choirs. Braşov is the home of the Cerbul de Aur international light music festival, the Muzica de Cameră festival and a national string quartet contest. In 1995 the company of the Teatrul Muzical made a successful tour of Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Britain.
Noted musicians associated with Braşov since the early 19th century are Anton Pann, Gheorghe Dima, Iacob Mureşianu, Ciprian Porumbescu, Tiberiu Brediceanu, Radu Lupu, Christiom Mandeal, Horia Andreescu and Ilarion Ionescu-Galaţi.
Quellen zur Geschichte der Stadt Kronstadt (Braşov, 1886–1926)
E. Hajek: Die Musik (Braşov, 1927)
V. Bickerich: ‘Muzica de orgă în România’, Studii de muzicologie, ii (1966), 209–17
A. Cornel: ‘Focar de cultura muzicală’ [A centre of musical culture], Astra (1968), no.5, p.14
G. Zinveliu: ‘File din trecutul muzical al Braşovului’ [Pages from the musical past of Braşov], Astra (1968), no.11; (1969), no.12; (1970), nos.1, 3
V. Bickerich and N. Petri: ‘Johannes Brahms în Transilvania’, Studii de muzicologie, vi (1970), 259–81
I. Moruş: Cărturari braşoveni (sec.XV–XX) [Scholars from Braşov: 15th-20th centuries] (Braşov, 1972) [bibliographical guide]
V. Cosma: România muzicală (Bucharest, 1980)
VIOREL COSMA