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* “In the world of contemporary music,
there can surely be no more radical or daringly original a personality
than IANCU DUMITRESCU.
At forty, he has confirmed himself in the triple
role of composer, of conductor and producer, and finally of writer, as
a vital force in new music, not only in Romania but on the international
scene. As leader of the Hyperion Ensemble, which he founded in 1976 and
has run ever since - a group comprising some of
the most brilliant instrumentalists of Romania -
he has expounded throughout Europe not only his own most important
works but also those of other representatives of the most forward
looking wing of romanian music.
For a music that uncompromisingly addresses
the future, opening us to an entirely new and unheard universe of sound,
IANCU DUMITRESCU`s art is no netheless grounded in tradition,
and nourished on the fecund resources of the romanian land.
He epitomises
a school which, uniquely in the world, has uncovered, in its own ancestral
roots, the means to go forwards in a spirit of the utmost adventure.
From
this has grown a music that is absolutely new, and yet accessible, graspable,
and completely removed from all abstract speculation and laboratory
experiment - a music that draws its new sonorities from fundamentally
simple and “natural” means, without recourse to “heavy” IRCAM - type technologies.
A bit of
electro-acoustics, some amplification, a synthesiser or two, very little
surely alongside the work being done here on the radical renewal
of the instrumental sound itself.
For all that this emphatically micro-intervallic
music is constantly exploding the boundaries of the tempered scale, it
never sounds “dissonant”; it simply pursues its search for the most remote
harmonics in the spectrum.
Whilst
the new romanian school, with IANCU DUMITRESCU at the forefront,
is not alone in its search for a spectral approach -
hyper consonant, hyper harmonic, in the real sense of these
terms - and whilst we find parallel
tendencies in the young french school of the Groupe de
l' "Itinéraire", amongst the young canadians
( the late lamented C. Vivier, M. Georges Brégent, J. Rea
) or the italians ( C. Ambrosini, A. Brizzi ), the romanians,
working for so long in relative isolation are the first
to have achieved - especially in the work of IANCU DUMITRESCU
- a real spectral analysis of the interior of the sound, equivalent
to a kind of nuclear fission.
The great
predecessor in this direction, whose importance is just beginning
to be recognised as he celebrates his eightieth birthday, is
the italian composer Giacinto Scelsi....”
HARRY HALBREICH ( EDITIONS SALABERT ) - Paris
* “ This composer appeals to the intellectual
avant-garde, as well as noise mongers. DUMITRESCU writes a lot of
excellent music for contrabass, and <Aulodie Mioritica > ( Gamma)
is a concerto for said solo instrument and chamber orchestra. There are
some extended techniques: whistling harmonics, snap pizzicatos and
multiphonics, in both the solo and accompanimental parts, along with
a colorful battery of percussion instrument.
The work is severe,
intense, raucous, and very exciting. < Ursa Mare > ( Grande
Ourse ) , for tape and an ensemble ( again the Hyperion Ensemble, conducted
by the composer ), includes a huge percussion section.
Like all
of DUMITRESCU’s music, the focus is on texture and a fascination
with bizarre, unorthodox noises, though this work is
considerably more restrained than most of his other compositions.
The sounds that he creates both acoustically and electronically
are like some strange hybrid of whale calls and grinding metal.”
DEAN SUZUKI - “ OPTION “ -
Los ANGELES
* ” Aulodie Mioritica by IANCU DUMITRESCU is a meditation at the edge between life and death, a passionated investigation of the instrumental resonance and the virtuoso <<improvisation>> is heighted at a very unaccustomed and sophisticated level... ”
Luis Pérez de ARTEAGA (Koussevitzky Prise - New-York 1986 )
* “Echos lointains. Les oeuvres du IANCU
DUMITRESCU et d’ANA MARIA AVRAM font l’objet d’une série de quatre
CD publiés par EDITION MODERN.
Personnalité musicale explosive,
DUMITRESCU est un grand chercheur de sonorités, persévérant
explorateur de l’harmonie et du geste instrumental. Sa musique vit de la
force, le geste s’y décompose en multiples réverbérations,
variation de couleur et d’intention qui prolongent l’impact et imposent
un temps musical propre, méditatif et dynamique ( < Harryphonies
> bénéficie de plus d’un <cast > exceptionnel où
figurent Fernando Grillo, Barry Webb et Melvin Poore).
En complément, des
oeuvres d’Ana-Maria Avram, qui cultive les timbres vifs et l’harmonie calme
et solide.
Costin CAZABAN “Le MONDE de la MUSIQUE ” ( Paris
)
*” (...) IANCU DUMITRESCU understands
this. He uses every technical means at
his disposal - and the 20th
century composer has a formidable array of
procedures to choose from - to wrest
new timbres from his players. He achieves
sonic intensities more likely to appeal
to fans of Steve Albini, David Ware
or On-U Sound than to ‘classical’ listeners.
Nevertheless
( as Adorno said of Webern, contra Tchaikovsky ),there
is more of the classical dynamic in
a few notes by Dumitrescu than in all
the works of Reich, Glass and Andrew
Lloyd Webber.
Compared to the lavish packaging
of most classical releases -
booklets replete with trilingual annotation, photographs,
musician biogs - these Dumitrescu CDs
look poverty stricken. Sound is hisstly
analogue. But the music !
Born in Romania in 1944,
Dumitrescu declares he is interested in
“acousmatic, sonic analysis and dissociation”. Close-miked
amplification results in gorgeous eruptions of
raw, molten sound ( there is a solarized image
of magma on the cover - apt ) . The
first of these releases features Fernando Grillo’s bass,
sounding like an unholy cross between Last
Exit - period Laswell, Simon Fell
and Sigfried Palm. Works has a seething
orchestral work, “Au Dela De Movemur” and a study
on a single note, “ Monades”, all expression achieved
through variant timbre.
Dumitrescu’s
music has a visceral , untidy force rare
in classical music - the textures of
Xenakis pared of the latter’s
Beethovenian ambition, made more focused
and linear. Works also features
three compositions by Ana-Maria AVRAM,
born in Bucharest in 1961. Wonderful
to hear music where textural innovations
aren’t employed to colour pre-existing structures,
but evolve form in process. On “Zodiaque”
she plays prepared piano opposite Dumitrescu
a percussionist and magnetic tape.
Seems
like these Romanians are engaged in a
similar kind of sonic research to that
which resulted on the masterpieces
of Giacinto Scelsi and Ennio Morricone collective
endeavour, genuine ‘deep listening’. The results are
similarly overpowering a milion miles from the tootling inconsecuence
of most of what passes for New Music in the
classical world.“
Ben WATSON - The WIRE,issue 135,May 95 ( London )
*” IANCU DUMITRESCU: It’s hard to imagine a more
imaginative, creative, colorful, and for that matter, better composition
for solo bass than DUMITRESCU’s MEDIUM II. The composer
is one whose concerns are timbre and texture rather than form and structure
( though the latter two are, indeed, well conceived ). The mood and
atmosphere varies ,ranging from restrained, even tender at times,
to more frenetic, though never chaotic, outbursts.
The sonority of the
contrabass is extended and expanded by unorthodox playing techniques, as
well as electronic manipulation, with colors that brilliant , metallic,
and perhaps brittle. However, this is no gimmicky piece.
DUMITRESCU extracts
a full spectrum of sound from the bass in a very musical way. Trompe -
l’Oeil is even more radiant and spectral, with instrumentation that includes
two contrabasses, prepared piano, Javanese gong, crystals and metal objects.
Though purely acoustic, the work sounds electronic much of the time. Again,
dynamics are low and the textures spare, and there’s a mysterious aura.
A superior album by an excellent new composer."
Dean SUZUKI, “OPTION MAGAZINE”, Los Angeles
*” Iancu DUMITRESCU is Romanian, an extraordinary
composer by anyone’s standards, he’s indeed out on a limb in
his homeland. Each LP side features one lengthy work .
There’s not much music I
like in this area of the avant-garde, but this certainly succeeds.
The other LP, released in co-operation
with P16. D4’s label Selektion features Grillo more exclusively. MEDIUM
II is for contrabass alone, though one wouldn’t believe it with such a
baffling array of sounds, it pales Tom Cora’s experiments of this nature
considerably. Cogito strikes more of a balance between the classical avant-garde
of say Stockhausen’s MIKROPHONIE I and the likes of latter-day
experimentalists Nurse With Wound, P16. D4, et al.
The grating percussives and metallic screeches twist and dive against a
strange array of contrabass sounds and prepared piano, a spectacularly
aggressive yet pleasing sound tapestry . “
Nigel HARRIS - “AUDION” - England
*” In the realms of the avant-garde ( red:
serious, weird and innovative classical music ) the countries of Eastern
Europe have been notorious as burgeoners of the most experimental and creative
talents. Probably best known of all is György Ligeti, along with innumerable
other Hungarian and Czechoslovakian talents in the realms of electronic
music.
The composer under discussion here however,
hails from Romania and is the creator of some of the most radical and inventive
music.
Born in 1944, it’s obvious that the political
and social climate in Romania had profound influence on his perception
of music, and later after studies with one Sergiu Celibidache, he began
to experiment with aesthetics of sound creation, manipulation, and
harmonic mutilation. In 1976 he formed the HYPERION
ENSEMBLE to realise his works, and also those of other composers like N.B.
These early orchestrated works are quite reminiscent of Ligeti’s similar
dissonant ensemble pieces, often sounding as electronic as orchestral.
Intriguing , but only hinting at the radical work to come.
A major step forward in his realisation
of truly bombastic sonic disintegration was realised by the co-operation
of the experimental bassist Fernando Grillo ( also known for an album on
the Cramps label ), who seems capable of coaxing the most impossible
sounds out of his instrument. The work Cogito / Trompe l’Oeil is an excellent
example of this in a more atmospheric Stockhausen - like manner, whereas
MEDIUM III features same of the most awesome brain-numbing
sonic effects I’ve heard. Many of the works from this era came to
light via releases on the German Edition RZ label ( see reviews in
AUDION’s # 10, page 11 and # 11, page 29) revealing to the world a sonic
creator of unique talent. Other albums of note from this era ( the late
-80’s) are two produced in co-operation with Generations Unlimited
( David Prescott’s label ) , NIMBUS / ZENITH being quite different
and surprising with one piece for tree trombones, percussion and tape,
and the other just for percussion. It was very much a return to his earlier
works, and then there’s also a split LP featuring works by Dumitrescu and
Prescott.
As is the
case with many composers, the advent of the CD has given Iancu the chance
to consolidate his ideas and compile many of his best ideas onto lengthy
CD anthologies. Of the three CD’s issued thus far, one also contains
three excellent works by a pupil of his: ANA MARIA AVRAM, whose compositional
style is every bit as fascinating and innovative ( Dumitrescu
is featured as pianist on one track ) and is certainly a talent to look
out for.
As a creator of radical
music that breaks convention, riding on the edge of the classical avant-garde
onto realms more closely asso-ciated with the likes of Nurse With Wound
or The Halfer Trio, IANCU DUMITRESCU has the talent to lure you in,
mystify and startle with unnerving furiousity...”
Alan FREEMAN “AUDION“ ,No.24 1992, ENGLANDD
* “...Personnalité indépendante
dans une Roumanie où l’immobilisme a longtemps été
imposé comme une vertu, IANCU DUMITRESCU n’a pas été
prophète dans son pays et ne le deviendra vraisemblablement jamais.
Qu’importe ! Le compositeur, dont Harry Halbreich relevait <<la personnalité
radicale, audacieusement novatrice >>, poursuit un travail visant
à transgresser les frontières entre l’électronique
et l’instrumental, entre la notation et l’improvisation. L’analyse et la
synthèse disparaissent au profit d’un chant multi directionnel,
l’harmonie se renouvelle sans s’apitoyer sur son propre passé. Cette
<< pan-consonance >> (toujours selon Halbreich ) passe par
la transgression des limites des instruments traditionnels ( Movemur et
Sumus ) ou de l’invention d’instruments nouveaux ( GALAXY ).
La quête du son primordial
semble le but principal de DUMITRESCU, non pas dans le sens d’un accord
mystique (comme dans les laps hindous) mais plutôt comme
invocation d’une source de permanence et de diversité.(****)
Costin CAZABAN “ Le MONDE de la MUSIQUE”
* “GALAXY is a new work, for Harryphones percussion
& micro-processing. Movemur a virtuoso sound work for 3 contrabasses
and percussion, Reliefs for 2 orchestras and piano, Memorial for
string quartet and Bas-reliefs for orchestra Each is a gem, each
keeps right on top of its moment with no unnecessary note or tone, each
tunnels deep into the inner quality of sound. Innovative and profound.
Great works.”
Chris CUTLER -
ReR RECOMMENDED - London
n* ”Chez Ana-Maria Avram,
les repaires sont plus stables,... mais la musique n’en a pas moins
de charme. La transparence des intentions n’est cependant point compromise
et les contrastes ont une precision exemplaire. “Icarus”, musique electronique
de belle facture cultive un mystère très attrayant.
Costin CAZABAN. “Le Monde de la Musique”, Paris
* “The music of IANCU DUMITRESCU
is a fantasy upon a sound; that appears as impressive
as possible, tremendous, full of virtuosity...”
Edward
GREENFIELD (BBC) (Koussevistzky Prise - New York)
*... “ The music of IANCU DUMITRESCU explores
the ultimate sense of sound guiding the listener through new spheres of
sonic adventure, a kind of cryptical music. Based on the idea of “acousmatique”
a socratic term meaning the intimate exploration of sonic phenomenon, his
music takes its formal models from the very structure of sound, with a
perfect relationship between micro - and macro-structure, this phenomenological
approach to the act of composing implies at the same time a very good confidence
in the intuitive dimension of discovery. The young generation of
romanian composers headed by Iancu Dumitrescu have a unique position
through their development of the “spectral sound” music, using almost only
acousmatical instruments. IANCU DUMITRESCU and his colleague Horatio
Radulescu have awaked new attention to this until now almost unknown Romanian
music. Similar tendencies are to be found in the music of the Italian composers
- Giacinto Scelsi, Mario Bertoncini and the late Francesco Evangelisti
( Gruppo di Improvizazione Nuova Consonanza), also in the music of the
late Greek composer, Jani Christou...”
Robert ZANK - “Edition RZ”, 1988, W.-Berlin
* “A great CD!!!! 5 pieces;
three new works by IANCU DUMITRESCU ( two for chamber ensemble
- with electronics - tracking sound to its furthest lairs,
and one for Orchestra; two by ANA-MARIA AVRAM, one for Orchestra
( “de Sacrae...” an indispensable classic ) and one for Tape.
Chris CUTLER - ReR
RECOMMENDED - London
* “Mnémosyne “ est une pièce écrite
pour piano préparé, saxophone basse, flûte octobasse,
deux percussions, Tam-tam de résonance et bande magnétique.
Élève de Sergiu Celibidache, Iancu Dumitrescu réalise
ici une musique réellement acousmatique, fondée sur la valeur
intrinsèque du son, issu de l’expression spectrale. Jamais froides
ou mathématiques, les pièces qui figurent ici, restent malgré
tout sensuelles derrière les jeux d’espace tourmentés qui
s’animent dans l’alternance des tensions et des repos et des migrations
capricieuses de la flûte. De son coté, Ana-Maria Avram, maniant
les sonorités de souche spectrale, d’une tradition plus européenne,
s’épanouit dans la synthèse des sources instrumentales en
intégrant l’imaginaire du son archétype, tout en privilégiant
la structure dont elle exploite les différentes colorations dans
un camaïeu de résonances. Lignes brouillées, démultipliées,
s’intermodulant en une géologie d’harmoniques fluides, cet album
constitue une parfaite introduction à l'œuvre de deux des compositeurs
roumains les plus innovateurs et représentatifs de ce siècle.”
Cristal Web : c Crystal Lake/
Serge Belleudy - d’ESPINOSE
* “De son côté, Ana-Maria Avram fait une
musique dense et parfaitement taillée
( Swarms III) le geste y est très sur,
attentif aux suggestions d’un matériau que la compositrice sait
provoquer et fructifier avec beaucoup de grâce. Une lumière
particulière se répand de cette œuvre, comme dans Labyrinthe
I, une attitude peut-être ludique, qui ne néglige cependant
pas la rigueur architecturale”
* "An Iancu Dumitrescu rant:
If you enjoy many of the "terror=beauty" type of classical
music works from the late 20th century such as Ligeti's "Requiem", Pendecki's"Threnody
to the Victims of Hiroshima", Xenakis's "Kraanerg", Crumb's "Black Angels",
blah blah blah, you probably have spent some time hunting for more recent
(post 1972) compositions with the same evocative power and come up with
very little.
Why this is the case one can only
speculate, and opinions will surely vary on the point since many of us
have "matured" to the point where these days we may not necessarily NEED
horrifyingly lucid depictions of the 'moment of death' to grab our attention!
Still, concerning today's composers we have mostly come to expect that
oh-so-familiar convoluted haze of gobbledygook - the indirect, non-confrontational,
non-evocative energy - that fucking stench rising from the corpse post-modernism!
Iancu Dumitrescu is changing all that.
Now it's naive in the extreme of me to lump Dumitrescu's
music in with the "terror=beauty" habits of the past. He has conceptual
precedent in the 'legit' world perhaps only in Giacanto Scelsi. But one
cannot doubt his 'modernity':
"His compositions are based on an 'acusmatic' aesthetics
by virtue of which the sound is subjected to analyses and dissociations
(harmonic multisons - diagonal sounds) which confer it a genuine force
of suggestion and penetration."
In 1976 he founded the Hyperion Ensemble, an ensemble
of interpreters dedicated to the "new aesthetical programme of the Romanian
avantgarde". It is this group who performs many of his pieces.
But Dumitrescu is most impressive when it comes
to the art of RECORDING his ideas. No composer has ever had a better ear
for the recording process than Dumitrescu - Not Stockhausen, Not Nono,
Not Xenakis. Nobody. Not even Masami Akita!! (
Web of Mimicry - USA,(1999)
