1 MUSIC AS MARKER OF LIMINALITY IN 18 TH – CENTURY BALKANS: RE-EVALUATING PHANARIOT MUSICAL ACTIVITY IN THE ROMANIAN PRINCIPALITIES John Plemmenos Abstract For more than a century (1709–1821) the Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia were governed by Greek Phanariots from Istanbul, appointed by the Sultan to replace the native rulers. In Romanian music literature, the Phanariots have been accused for introducing the Oriental element into Romanian music, thus contributing to its ȃcontaminationȄ along with other ethnic traditions (gypsy, Jewish, etc.). This paper suggests an alternative (and more moderate) approach towards the interpretation of Phanariot musical activity in Romania, by using the notion of liminality. The Romanian principalities functioned for the Phanariots as political as well as cultural alternative, where they could escape the control of their Ottoman overlords and lead their own lifestyle. The principalities represented for the Phanariots a liminal space between their Greek subculture and Ottoman supraculture. At the same time, the Phanariots do not seem to have had a hidden agenda, either to Hellenise or ȃorientaliseȄ Romanian music, as has been proposed by some scholars, and this is attested by a) their political instability (princes replaced very often by the sultan), b) their internal rivalry (a few families competing for the succession to the two thrones), and c) the ephemeral nature of their musical output (light love songs set to short, easily memorised melodies). The author will attempt to challenge another long-held assumption, namely that the Phanariots prevented the early westernisation of Romanian music (and culture in general), whereas