Pascal Bentoiu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pascal Bentoiu (1927) is a Romanian Modernist composer.
Bentoiu studied harmony, counterpoint and composition with Mihail Jora and piano with Teophil Demetriescu. He spent three years researching the rhythm and harmony of Romanian folk music at the Bucharest Folklore Institute and then began composing for the stage. His operas are written with dramatic flair and make use of a variety of elements, including folksong, tape, serialism and diatonicism. His instrumental and orchestral works also contain a variety of contemporary techniques, and Bentoiu's work is characterized by its color and lyricism.
According to the UCMR (Romanian Union of Composers and Musicologists):
Composer and musicologist, b. April 22, 1927, Bucharest.
[edit] Biographical Data
Studied music in Bucharest (1943-1948) under Mihail Jora (harmony, counterpoint, orchestration, composition), Faust Nicolescu (theory, solfeggio), Vasile Filip (violin) and Theophil Demetriescu (piano), and, at the same time, studied at the Law School of Bucharest (1945-1947).
Scientific researcher at the Institute of Folklore in Bucharest (1953-1956). Has written studies, essays, musical chronicles and reviews, as well as critical notes. Has held conferences and lectures,and presented lecture-concerts, radio and television broadcasts, as well as presented scientific papers. Has compiled collections and made transcriptions of folkloric music.
His contributions to Romanian music and musicology clearly illustrate the venture of a modern musician and thinker who, taking the Romanian and Western tradition as starting point, achieved a singularity in both music and musicology in today's landscape. A musician with vast professional and esthetic horizons, he is among the top ranks of Romanian professionals recognized worldwide.
Has been awarded the State Prize (1964), the Italia International Prize of Italian Radio and Television (RAI) in Rome (1968), the Order of Cultural Merit, 3rd Class (1969, 1971), the international Guido Valcarenghi Prize in Rome (1970), the Romanian Academy prize (1974), and numerous prizes of the Romanian Composers' and Musicologists' Union (1971, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1987).
[edit] Selected Works
Musical Compositions: music for the theater: L' amour docteur, op. 15, 1964, comic opera in one act after Molière; Jertfirea Iphigeniei [The Sacrifice of Iphigenia], op. 17, radio opera after the play by Eurypides, 1968; Hamlet, op. 18, 1969, opera in 2 acts on the libretto of the composer after Shakespeare), vocal-symphonic music (Cîntec nou [A New Song], for soprano and orchestra, 1962), symphonic music (8 Symphonies, op. 16-op.30, 1965-1987; Eminesciana III, op. 23, 1976), concertos (Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, op. 9, 1958; 2 Concertos for Piano amd Orchestra, op. 5, 1954, and op. 12, 1960), film music, chamber music (sonatas for piano, piano and violin, many string quartets, etc.), vocal music (Eminesciana II - Trei sonete [Three Sonnets of Eminescu], op. 8, soprano and piano, 1958; Gelozie [Jealousy], bass and piano, 1962; Flăcări negre [Black Flames], op. 21, cycle of 7 songs for tenor and piano, 1974), orchestrations.
Ethnomusicology, Esthetics: 100 Jocuri din Ardeal [100 Dances from Ardeal]. Bucharest, ESPLA, 1955 (în colaborare); Imagine şi sens. Eseu asupra fenomenului muzical [Image and Meaning. Essay about the Phenomenon of Music] , Bucharest, Edit. Muzicală, 1971 (Ed. I), 1973 (Ed. II), idem in French, 1979; Gîndirea muzicală [Musical Thought]. Bucharest, Edit. Muzicală, 1975; Capodopere enesciene [Enescu's Masterpieces]. Bucharest, Edit. Muzicală, 1984.
[edit] Selected Bibliography
Hugo Riemann. Musiklexicon. Ergänzungsband. Personenteil. Mainz: Dahlhaus, 1972; David Stevens. Opera in Marseilles. The Durability and Richness of Hamlet, in The Herald Tribune, London, April 30, 1974; Sohlmans Musiklexicon. Ed. Hans Astrand. Stockholm: Sohlmans Förlag AB, 1975; Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Music. 6th ed. Rev. Nicolas Slonimsky. London: Collier Macmillan, 1978; Alan Pedigo. International Encyclopedia of Violin-Keyboard Sonatas and Composer Biographies. Bonneville: Arriaga Publications,1979; Mihai Popescu. Repertoriul general al creaţiei muzicale româneşti [General Repertoire of Romanian Music]. Vol. 1. Bucharest: Edit. Muzicală, 1979; Luminiţa Vartolomei. Les quatours de Pascal Bentoiu sur disque, in Revue roumaine, Bucharest, 33, nr. 2, 1979; Horst Seeger. Musiklexicon. Personen A-Z. Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, 1981; Malá Encyclopedie Hudby. Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1983; Iosif Sava - Petre Rusu. Istoria muzicii universale în date [The History of Music in Dates]. Bucharest: Edit. Muzicală, 1983; The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Ed. Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 1980; Viorel Cosma. Muzicieni din România [Romanian Musicians]. Lexicon. Vol. 1. Bucharest: Edit. Muzicală, 1989.
