The tale of 'When the shepherd lost his sheep' is a form of programme music which holds a unique place amongst the folk music of the Capathian basin. In Hungarian folk dance research the genre is referred to as the 'The Vlach girl's dance'. This musical form – which in many areas was also accompanied by pantomimed dance movements – already caught Béla Bartók's attention in the beginning of the 20th century. In his Romanian collections, there are more than 50 variations of melodies with themes such as: 'The shepherd cries over his lost sheep', 'The shepherd celebrates finding his lost sheep', etc. The richness and popularity of this form of Romanian folklore is no coincidence, given the fact that Romanians have been present as herders in Transylvanian society for centuries. Most instrumental variations of course, were played on the characteristic shepherd's instrument – the wooden flute. Throughout the past century, numerous folk music researchers have documented some form of this musical-narrative-dance tale, in every part of the Hungarian language area, from Vas County [in the west] all the way to Moldavia [in the east].

1. Váralmás (Kolozs m. / County) – Zágor Aladár „Pici” (1932) 3'41"
2. Erdőszombattelke (Szolnok-Doboka m. / County) – Varga László „Balog” (1942) 5'11"
3. Hidegség (Csík m. / County) – Tímár Viktor (1936) 3'15"
4. Szilágybagos (Szilágy m. / County) – Csorba János (1933),
Csengettyűs Sándor (1927) 3'11"
5. Mezőkölpény (Maros-Torda m. / County) – Ruszi Sándor (1932) 5'09"
6. Mezőceked (Torda-Aranyos m. / County) – Rîzea Vasile (1941) 4'23"
7. Alsójára (Torda-Aranyos m. / County) – Bica Danilă (1955) 3'05"
8. Radnót (Kis-Küküllő m. / County) – Boca Gheorghe (1926) 3'12"
9. Szilágysámson (Szilágy m. / County) – Kovács Tibor (1959) 2'48"
10. Vajdaszentivány (Maros-Torda m. / County) – Bóné Sándor (1940) 2'32"
11. Csombord (Alsó-Fehér m. / County) – Varga Viorel (1932) 3'00"
12. Szászcsávás (Kis-Küküllő m. / County) – Jámbor István (1951) 5'16"
13. Bálványosváralja (Szolnok-Doboka m. / County) – Czopán György (1935) 2'27"
14. Fejérd (Kolozs m. / County) – Gabor Alexandru (1939) 4'05"
15. Báré (Kolozs m. / County) – Mácsingó György (1937) 3'26"
16. Szászfenes (Kolozs m. / County) – Muza József (1922) 3'29"
17. Récekeresztúr (Szolnok-Doboka m. / County) – Ötvös József (1937) 3'37"
18. Mezőméhes (Torda-Aranyos m. / County) – Beldean Dumitru (1936)
Varga Sándor (1937) 5'35"
Összidő: 67'22"