Sound Itineraries

The diversity of topics and approaches proposed in this issue has the appearance of a map with several itineraries, some of them converging, and musicians with various interests contribute to its realization: Daniel Dascălu and Andreea Butnaru – pianists, Alina Bottez – philologist and soprano, Joseph Cadagin and Gabriela Bejan – musicologists.

Daniel Dascălu initiates an investigation on the tonal language of Claude Debussy, based on examples from Book II of Préludes (1913). In order to trace the way in which conventional tonal elements are merged with new ones in Debussy’s music, the author takes as a reference point the evolution of the concept of tonality in Western European musical thought up to the beginning of the 20th century. He then synthesizes a series of features that characterize the music of the French composer, foregrounding aspects of tonal structure. Finally, he provides analyses of the tonal organization of the preludes Brouillards, Les fées sont d’exquises danseuses, Bruyères and Ondine.

Alina Bottez imagines a journey through the countries crossed by the Danube from its spring to its entrance in Romania – Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine –, exploring the most significant musical hypostases inspired by this river in various genres: folk and light music, film soundtracks, symphonic and vocal-symphonic works, vaudevilles, operettas and operas. The author’s approach from the perspective of cultural studies is an invitation to reflect on the way of life of the inhabitants of the riparian countries, their customs and traditions, their mentalities and philosophies, as well as on the various national characteristics.

In his study, Joseph Cadagin starts from György Ligeti’s strong stylistic affinity with the German writer W. G. Sebald. He focuses on a number of similarities he has noticed between the first part of the Viola Sonata (1991-1994), Hora lungă (1994), in which Ligeti evokes the spirit of Romanian folk music, which had a powerful effect on him during his childhood in Transylvania, and the novel The Rings of Saturn (1995), conceived by Sebald as a travel diary in Suffolk. As well as describing some striking structural analogies between the two works in question, one musical and the other literary, realized only a year apart, the author also highlights the presence of such common themes as absence, loss and decay (including that of memory).

The Hungarian composer’s personality is also evoked by Andreea Butnaru in her essay entitled A Few Thoughts on György Ligeti. The author reflects on his biography, marked by traumatic historical events such as the World War II, the Holocaust and then communism, up to his exile from Hungary to the West. She also discusses some of the aesthetic and technical dimensions of Ligeti’s music, its reception and the effect of his works on listeners.

Finally, Gabriela Bejan invites you to read a book of memories about Radu Lupu, a pianist of remarkable stature. The accounts of several personalities who knew him, published in this bilingual volume (in Romanian and English) coordinated by Monica Lup and Ștefan Costache, are all the more valuable as Radu Lupu, beyond his appearances on the concert stage, was an extremely discreet presence, far from the spotlight.

 

Florinela Popa

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