-- Liner Notes --
Horatiu RADULESCU was born on January 7,1942 in Bucharest, Romania.
He studied violin privately with Nina Alexandrescu, herself a disciple of George Enescu and Jacques Thibaud.
In 1969 he was awarded the Master of Arts in Composition from the Bucharest Academy of Music, where he studied composition, analysis, orchestration, formalized music with Tiberiu Olah, Stefan Niculescu and Aurel Stroe.
1970 - 72 he attended the Cologne Courses for New Music (Mauricio Kagel, Luc Ferrari) and the Darmstadt Summer Courses (John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Gyorgy Ligeti) and 1979 - 81 the Paris IRCAM Courses for computer-assisted composition and psycho-acoustics.
He has been living in Paris since 1969 and became a French citizen in 1974. In 1988 he was guest of the DAAD in Berlin, and 1989 & 90 he was granted the French Prize "Villa Medicis hors les murs" for the USA (San Francisco) & Italy (Venice, Rome). 1992 "AnnCe sabbatique" grant of the French government. 1969 he lays the base of the spectral technique of composition : variable distribution of the spectral energy - "spectrum pulse", synthesis of global sound sources, processual micro- & macro-form four simultaneous layers of perceptual speed, spectral scordatura - scales of unequal intervals corresponding to Fourier's harmonics, e.g. : opus 10 CREDO (1969) for nine violoncelli (55') where over 4000 spectral processes integrate the first 45 components of a unique spectrum - "Cmanation de I'Cmanation" or opus 33 "INFINITE TO BE CANNOT BE INFINITE INFINITE ANTI-BE COULD BE INFINITE" (1976-87) for nine string quartets (49') where 128 different spectral components - inbetween the 36th and the 641st harmonic - are building up the scordatura of an imaginary "viola da gamba" (the 128 strings of the 8 string quartets around the audience) while the 9th string quartet, in the center of the space, is modulating within 27 spectra : the micro-music tuning (the choice of a specific fundamental, of one of the 27 spectra at any given moment of the macro-form) is for the first time function of the strict duration of that micro-music, i.e.absolute interdependance between pitch and time.
Publications describing his compositional theory include : SOUND PLASMA - MUSIC OF THE FUTURE SIGN, Edition Modern, Munich 1973, and MUSIQUE DE MES UNIVERS, Revue Silences No I, Editions de la DiffCrence, Paris 1985.
His oeuvre consits of over 80 works : for orchestra (TAAROA op. 7, LAMENT0 DI GESU op. 23), large ensemble (IUBIRI op. 43, AWAKENING m op. 53), choir - 48 actual parts (DORUIND op. 27)- children's choir - 34 actual parts (DO EMERGE ULTIMATE SILENCE op. 30), choir - 24 actual parts & 3 sound icons (VETRATA op. 83), 9 orchestras (WILD INCANTESIMO op. 178), six string quartets, chamber orchestras, solo instruments, compositions that were performed or broadcasted on five continents.
On November 3rd 1979 wrote in Paris Olivier Messiaen :
"Horatiu Radulescu is one of the most original young musicians of our time.
We know that in the XXth century - more than in any other - Art and Science go hand in hand.
This is particularly true for the music of Radulescu who has participated in the renewal of musical language".
"DIZZY DIVINITY 1" opus 59 (Turin 1985) is written for flute alone : grand, alto, bass, ... baroque, ... shakuhachi.
The smallest and most variable intervals are reached through fingering changes. The very large intervals are obtained through tremendous dynamics as if there were other polyphonic voices, as a sensation of remembrance of communication at distance (telepathy).
A great majority of the sounds is describing a big crescendo after the initial marcato pp, without any portamento or vibrato.
Secretely, now and then, the voice (singing possibly in falsetto) is "polyphonizing" with the flute, beginning always in unison with the flute but keeping this unique sound (tenuto) during the 5-10 next flute pitches.
On the longer sound appear yellow tremoli ("morse" - like signals due to different fingerings on the same note), irregular, slow or fast, as "palpitating soundstars". The emphasized dynamic of certain pitches is bringing in evidence an F-spectrum (harmonic 6th to 23rd).
The whole melopee gives through its pitch instability the impression of a neobyzantin style of cadences with micro-intervals of a great intrinsic force, with full and passionate sounds which help both performer and audience reach a special state of soul, that of the title.
During the global legatissimo the sudden fingering-changes produce timbre transformations at least in the second formant of the spectrum, the new fingering always arriving on the crescendo climax of the previous sound ! The "spectralmatter", the spectral content of each pitch is instantaneously cut, interrupted by the new fingering as if it was a "danse of timbre-columns". This "danse" should "enter" a sort of polyphony - conceptually and aurally - with the horizontal "danse" of the micro-dynamic sharps.
The performer must try to controll and render independant (by shifting them) these two "danses" : the vertical of pitches/timbres and the horizontal one of dynamics.
This opus 59 was premiered 1985 in Rome by Pierre-Yves Artaud to whom it is dedicated. Scelsi found it was containing "une enorme tristesse".
Labels: Avant Garde Project, Horatiu Radulescu, jodru
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