THE FIGURE OF A GYPSY MUSICIAN AND A ROMANTIC VIRTUOSO. A BRIEF SKETCH OF SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

The paper discusses the identity of a Gypsy musician and explains the conditions under which this figure can be identified as a prototypical romantic virtuoso. Since improvising artists were heavily criticised in the early 19th century as those contaminating the true art, they soon became the objects of ambivalent perceptions: admired for their command of the instrument and, at the same time, eschewed by professional musicians. In the 1840s, Gypsy musicians became more appreciated as the their culture and history began gaining currency among scholars. Since Gypsy musicians relied heavily on oral tradition, they were often associated with the practice of improvisation. This common perception of the Gypsy musician – so deeply indebted in the romantic ideology of alienated genius – became one of the most stereotyped images of Gypsies in the European culture