Wallachian Retakes is a tribute to Anton Pann and anonymous Romanian folk musicians.

Anton Pann (1790 - 1854) was a man of many talents. Born in today’s Bulgaria, his family emigrated to Wallachia (the Southern region of contemporary Romania), where he grew up to become a composer, writer, musicologist, poet, translator, editor, school and seminary music teacher. He was among the first major collectors of Romanian folklore, using modern notation and Italian markings for tempo. His music, played at the courts of boyars as well as in taverns, inns, fairs and parks, was influenced by Byzantine chants and folk songs sprung from the Romanian, Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish city slums and villages.

The piece is inspired by several of Anton Pann’s popular song and other anonymous folk and entertaining pieces, including a section in the style of a Romanian “doina” (a slow and sad song) over a 12-bar blues progression and ending with polyphonic variations of a contemporary gypsy song and a fast old Romanian folk dance.