Cornel Țăranu | |
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 Țăranu in 1975 | |
| Born | (1934-06-20)20 June 1934 |
| Died | 18 June 2023(2023-06-18) (aged 88) Cluj-Napoca, Romania |
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| Spouse | Dana Țăranu-Mărgineanu |
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Cornel Țăranu ([korˈnelt͡səˈranu]; 20 June 1934 – 18 June 2023) was a Romanian classical composer,musicologist, conductor andcultural manager. A native ofCluj-Napoca inTransylvania, he was always attached to this region, and contributed to cultural cooperation between Romanian andethnic Hungarian musicians. He studied locally, at theCluj Academy, assimilating the local avatar ofneoclassicism, alongside influences fromRomanian folk music—though his debut years also evidenced conformity withSocialist Realism, he was reportedly censured by thecommunist regime for keeping company with sidelined figures, such as the poetLucian Blaga. A teacher at his alma mater, he furthered his studies abroad, at theConservatoire de Paris, becoming an authority on, and posthumous disciple of,George Enescu. Braving controversy, he worked on completing unfinished scores by Enescu, including hisFifth Symphony and amusical poem,Strigoii. In parallel, he founded Cluj's Ars Nova, achamber orchestra dedicated tocontemporary classical music and performance art.
Țăranu's main compositions focus on orchestral work; he wrote two operas, vocal music for soloists and choirs, and critically acclaimedfilm scores. His style transitioned into apostmodernism withexpressionist tinges, used mainly in his shorter pieces, but remained largely neoclassical in his four symphonies. His personal project was a musical companion to modernRomanian literature, directing him to explore various other sources of inspiration. Depending on context, his contributions were informed by folklore (Romanian,Romani andGreek),Byzantine music, andjazz. He also produced a number of distinctlyhistoricist pieces, which took inspiration from political or descriptive texts in thehistory of Transylvania. Achieving mainstream recognition in the 1980s, when he won theKoussevitzky Prize, Țăranu maintained his reputation after theRomanian Revolution of 1989. A Chevalier of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres in 2002, he directed the music festivalCluj Modern, and was a long-serving vice president of the Union of Romanian Composers. His film work included collaborations with his brother-in law, directorNicolae Mărgineanu; he was also the son-in-law of psychologistNicolae Mărgineanu Sr.
Țăranu was born in the Transylvanian city of Cluj (now Cluj-Napoca),[1] and, into his thirties, represented the "Cluj outlook on music", with its blend of neoclassicism, national folklore, andmodernist music.[2] In 1998, Țăranu's colleagueFerenc László praised him as one of the few Transylvanian composers, whether Romanian or Hungarian, who chose not to leave their "rural" region for success abroad: "As a flexible mind, he succeeded in what few Transylvanians manage: while he lives in Cluj, his work travels around the world."[3] He came from a musical family: "My parents were genuine aficionados, they frequented Cluj's musical milieu, my father played the violin and had a great ear for music. I began to study music at a very early age, then, in the most spontaneous way, I started to improvise, to work on my very own tiny essays in composition."[4]
Țăranu studied at the local Conservatoire (later the Gheorghe Dima Academy) from 1951 to 1957—piano withRomeo Ghircoiașiu [ro] and composition withSigismund Toduță.[1][5] The latter is credited as Țăranu's first master by fellow composerDoru Popovici.[6] Fifty years later, Țăranu noted that Toduță, as the son in law of the political prisonerIoan Suciu, was especially fragile and cautious, for being easily blackmailed by the communist authorities. Lacking a "balance between sincerity and diplomacy", he publicly spoke of his teacher as the RomanianBrahms, unaware that such praise of the classics would make Toduță even more exposed to persecution.[4] His other early mentors were professorsMarțian Negrea,Eliza Ciolan, andAntonin Ciolan; the latter, a conductor, nurtured his talent—even though Țăranu did not yet take up conducting as a specialization. He ignored his piano studies and skipped class "whenever I could", mainly because piano and mandatory lessons ofMarxism-Leninism left him little time to work on his musical scores.[4] Popovici was present for Țăranu's debut as a composer, in spring 1955, with theTrio for violin,viola andcello. In a 1962 retrospective, he reports: "Though written down during his years as a student, the work carried the seal of authentic sensibility and had its lyrical content [...] concealed by a concise format, wherein melodies created in the folk style would blend into each other masterfully, evidencing his affinity with thepolyphonic style."[6]
According to Popovici, Țăranu's first works, including his arrangement of anti-war poems byNicolae Labiș, came to be deeply influenced by Enescu andBéla Bartók.[6] His and Toduță's works of the period, like Labiș's poems, were also indebted to Socialist Realism, as "songs for the masses"—including a "programmatic and descriptive" piece that Țăranu wrote forLiberation Day 1959.[7] In 2006, Țăranu spoke of his non-publicized clashes with theRomanian Workers' Party (PMR) and its cultural dogma. As he notes, the troubles started in April 1957, when, as part of his academic assignments, he composed a piece based onCetini negre, by the poet-philosopher Blaga. It was performed by theTransylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra just days before Blaga was officially blacklisted bycommunist censors as a "mystical" poet, with Țăranu himself being kept under close watch, for alleged political deviation, until 1959.[8] Țăranu, who was still on friendly terms with former members of the anti-communistSibiu Literary Circle, also kept contacting Blaga.[8] He offered to write an opera based on Blaga'sÎnvierea, being unaware that the poem had already been scored by Blaga's own brother-in-law,Tiberiu Brediceanu. His faux-pas caused a conflict between Blaga and his wife Cornelia, both of whom shunned Țăranu.[8]
Țăranu began teaching at his alma mater in 1957,[5] originally as a lecturer in Toduță's class.[6] Late 1962 saw the premiere of hisSinfonia brevis, a 12-minute-long symphony andpastiche of Enescu'sFirst. It was positively reviewed by musicologistGeorge Bălan: "Striving to connect with Enescu's thought, Țăranu views life the same way Enescu would have, had he still been alive today."[9] In 1963,Tîrgu Mureș State Orchestra recorded his hymn for the PMR, with lyrics by Miron Scorobete.[10] That year, music critic Iván Kováts wrote about Țăranu's own activity as a music journalist, praising him for covering the "most up-to-date musical creations"; according to Kováts, Țăranu and Bălan were the leading musicologists active in postwar Romania.[11] In 2023, Alex Vasiliu, himself a music journalist, looked back on Țăranu's contribution as a critic under communism: "Even when ideological avatars have more or less altered the objectivity of many a chronicler, the value of commentary from these past decades endures as almost unblemished, or even intact, when these have been written by musicologists and composers with immaculate training, educated and committed to the truth. Cornel Țăranu a was an indelible portion of that latter category."[12]
The young composer was at the time performing his music in both Romania and theHungarian People's Republic, generally in collaboration with conductor Mircea Cristescu; one such piece was the musical version of a poem byAttila József.[11] Also in 1963, Țăranu providedtheater music for Anatol Constantin's production ofHamlet, taken up by theNational Theater Cluj.[13] He then provided the film score to József Somogyi'sÍtélet, aGyörgy Dózsa biopic co-produced by studios in Hungary, Romania, andSlovakia in 1969.[14] In mid-1966, with letters of recommendation from art criticPetru Comarnescu, Țăranu joined the first group of students that the Romanian communist regime had vetted for travel beyond theIron Curtain—as he recalls, the group also included filmmakerLucian Pintilie, theater directorAndrei Șerban, and actressIrina Petrescu. Comarnescu's credentials allowed him to visit with some leading Romanian exiles, including scholarIonel Jianu, who took him on an impromptu tour of French artists' studios.[4] As he explained in old age, France was "an extremely rich learning experience."[8]
Țăranu studied music theory at theConservatoire de Paris withNadia Boulanger andOlivier Messiaen. The two figures disliked each other, but they also mutually resented Țăranu: among theEastern Bloc students, Boulanger only appreciated thePoles, while Messiaen dismissed all Eastern Europeans were assets of theKGB. Țăranu eventually managed to obtain Messiaen's affection by showing him that he had learnedTurangalîla-Symphonie by heart.[4] Țăranu also attended theDarmstädter Ferienkurse in 1968, 1969 and 1972, studying analysis withGyörgy Ligeti, conducting withBruno Maderna and percussion withChristoph Caskel.[1] He completed his studies with adoctorate in 1969; his thesis about "Enescu in the consciousness of the present" was published in Romanian that year, and in French in 1981.[5] According to László, the contribution also functions as "an excellent stylistic textbook".[3]
Țăranu soon returned to his passion for literature. As noted in 2008 byApostrof magazine, he "knows contemporary poetry as good as any literary historian, and loves it the way poets do".[15] He still identified Blaga, alongside the modernist doyenTristan Tzara (whose love poetry was adapted by Țăranu into five pieces of music) and 1960s poetNichita Stănescu, as his most treasured mentor. He credited Stănescu,Ana Blandiana,Marin Sorescu andCezar Baltag as his dear friends, who provided him with a sense that "something was moving" in Romanian art.[8] Around that time, he translated Blaga's poemÎntoarcere into French, which was republished in 2008 (according to the staff writers atVatra, his version was "admirable").[16] His work as a composer focused on bridging music and literature, for instance with a series oflieds inspired by Blandiana's verse, first performed for the public in February 1969.[17] In tandem, he contributed several interpretations of novels by his more senior friend,Camil Petrescu.[18] He also scored lyrical fragments from Petrescu'sPatul lui Procust, which fascinated him as "strange poems",[8] and which were taken up by theGulbenkian Orchestra at theRoyan Festival of 1972.[18]
On 20 June 1968, taking his inspiration from France'sDomaine musical,[19] Țăranu founded the Ars Nova chamber orchestra, that he directed and conducted—including during their first appearance atToamna Muzicală Clujeană (TMC) festival in October of that year.[20] In a 1969 conversation withIosif Sava, he mentioned "the widespread echos that the youthful ensemble has stirred among the composers in both Cluj andBucharest, who have stated their wish to provide a permanent stream of new works for [its] repertoire."[17] As Vasiliu writes, the new institution carried significance for "the entirety of Romania's musical realm, given that Cluj's instrumentalists were frequently featured on the country's stages, recorded albums, distributed works of national provenance by means of international tours."[12] Already in 1970, the group spent a week performing in London, including atQueen Elizabeth Hall. It was during this tour that their star singer, HungarianÁgnes Kriza, was discovered byGennady Rozhdestvensky, who helped her build an international career.[21] Ars Nova and its conductor reportedly enjoyed resounding success at theWarsaw Autumn of 1973.[22] In June 1981, Țăranu himself noted that Ars Nova's live performances had been recorded in London, Paris, Brussels,Mannheim,Zagreb, andBudapest.[19]
Advocating a permanent dialogue between the modernists and the traditionalists, by 1973 Țăranu had built up a unique repertoire, which moved betweenJohann Sebastian Bach (as orchestrated byAnton Webern),Vasile Herman,Mihai Moldovan, andPeter Maxwell Davies.[2] As noted that year byJanusz Ekiert ofPolskie Radio, the general (and best-liked) trait of such selections, and of Țăranu's own pieces, was a "diaphanous" quality.[22] The orchestra had its first LP issued nationally, byElectrecord, in mid-1975; it included compositions by Țăranu, Moldovan,Tiberiu Olah, Dan Constantinescu, and George Draga.[23] Over the following decade, Ars Nova had expanded intoperformance art, through collaborations with Contemp dance troupe (managed by Adina Cezar). At the 1982 TMC, Contemp danced to music by Țăranu,Aurel Stroe, andJanine Charbonnier. The show was poorly reviewed by conductor Casiu Barbu, who suggested that Ars Nova was too obvious and "pedagogical" in its experimentation.[24]
Țăranu completed hishabilitation in 1974, having been an assistant professor from 1970, and becoming a full professor in 1990.[1] Fellow musicologist Ana-Stanca Tabarasi-Hoffmann notes that, by 2021, he was "one of the leading experts on Enescu's work".[25] Țăranu's musicological research was focused on contemporary Romanian music including Enescu, Moldovan, Liviu Glodeanu, and Toduță, and on works by Messiaen,Karlheinz Stockhausen andIannis Xenakis.[5] One of his contributions in the field was in reconstructing and orchestrating unfinished scores by Enescu: parts of theCaprice Roumain pour violon et orchestre, as well asStrigoii (which was originally Enescu's attempt at scoring a poem byMihai Eminescu), and, withPascal Bentoiu, theFifth Symphony[26] (specifically, he worked on the Symphony's Parts I and IV).[12] Music journalist Luminița Vartolomei commented on this project being "controversial, because it goes against a wish that Enescu himself has adamantly expressed", namely: "I never published works that I didn't view as relatively completed" (N-am publicat niciodată ceva ce nu consideram ca relativ terminat).[27]
In its piano-only version,Strigoii was performed by Țăranu himself at the 1972 TMC,[28] but, as Tabarasi-Hoffmann recalls, it was "insufficiently covered" by the musical press.[25] Among the music critics who took it into consideration, Radu Gheciu argued that Țăranu's reconstructionist project was questionable, sinceStrigoii could hardly be regarded as Enescu's composition—it was "the work of another composer, with Enescu's motifs and style."[28] Țăranu continued to refine the piece and presented it for limited auditions in February–March 1981, at a Bucharest gala organized byScînteia, and then at theRomanian National Opera. As argued by Vartolomei, this second version ofStrigoii, though not yet fully polished, was a "confirmation of value".[27] In 1989, László noted that Țăranu's "great skill and love" in rendering bothStrigoii and theFifth Symphony (which is also partly based on Eminescu) gave the public an idea of the intellectual relationship that existed between Enescu and Eminescu.[29]
As Kováts notes, Țăranu's music had come to reject traditionalism during the early 1960s: like Olah andAnatol Vieru, "Cornel Țăranu completely renounced the old, tested—and quickly successful—creative methods. We have to say that his new work is neither catchy nor attractive, as much as it is modern and contemporary."[11] As time progressed, he embracedpostmodernism, for both score and philosophical themes. Experimentation was central to his 1970 opera,Secretul lui Don Giovanni ("Secret ofDon Giovanni"), done from alibretto by Ilie Balea (withTamás Deák credited as the intellectual source), and choreographed by Éva Maksay. The composition was subtitled "three lyrical sarcasms"; it ignored operatic conventions, usingjazz anddance music as its standards.[30] In a 1975 piece, done from Eminescu's "Ode in Ancient Meter" and recorded withbaritone Ion Budoiu, Țăranu closely adhered to Enescu's standards—as argued by critic Radu Stancu, he was in succession toŒdipe.[23] Similarly, the 1981 pieceProlegomenes II is written for the Enescu centennial, and is strongly influenced by his music.[31]
Also in 1975, Ars Nova recorded hisTombeau de Verlaine, to a text byStéphane Mallarmé, during a series of "debate-concerts" hosted by theRomanian Television; it was done for piano, percussion, and two female voices—Kriza and Edita Simion. According to Stan, it marked a peak in that collection: "very singable, very Latin, very well put together."[32] The 1983Cîntece nomade ("Nomad Songs"), which put to music Baltag's poetic work (and, through it, the staples ofRomani folklore),[33] is regarded by criticVirgil Mihaiu as stylistically undefined, an "open work" of "cultural synthesis". Mihaiu argued that it contained "ancestral echoes" filtered through Blaga's philosophy, but also hints toJames Joyce'sFinnegans Wake.[34] Musicologist Zoltán Farkas sees Țăranu and Baltag as having created a new narrative genre (the "Gypsy opera"), but also notes thatCîntece nomade is at core a belated contribution toexpressionist music.[33]
Țăranu received the prize of the Romanian Composers' Union several times (1972, 1978, 1981, 1982 and 2001).[5] HisGhirlande ("Garlands"), a work ofchildren's music,[35] was issued as an LP by Electrecord. It won him theKoussevitzky Prize for 1982; jury president Alfred Hoffman offered praise to Țăranu's "vigorous style" of "firm conviction, expressed in a lapidary, contemporary and yet specific manner".[36] In 1984, art critic Oliv Mircea noted that Țăranu had moved away from the classical line with its "strong inserts from folk songs", and was one of the composers embracing "serialism, post-serialism, andaleatoricism", veering intoelectroacoustic music. Other Romanian innovators, cited by Mircea, included Glodeanu, Moldovan, Nicolae Brînduș,Adrian Enescu,Adrian Iorgulescu,Myriam Marbé, andFred Popovici.[37] In the four symphonies that he authored over three decades, and which were only published together in 2002, Țăranu adhered more strictly to the neoclassical canon, with subdued national influences.[38] In a 1985 retrospective forScînteia,Doru Popovici assessed that, like Olah, Vieru,Remus Georgescu and others, Țăranu had introduced "new means of expression" to the "songs for the masses"; these were positive examples, fitting the ideological mold of "Socialist Romania": "We require that songs for the masses have a lyrical content, that highlights the country's beauties, the spiritual bliss one gets from harmony with all of Earth's lovely creatures, the generosity of decent men, namely those who do not live merely for their personal satisfaction, but, first and foremost, for the advancement of society".[39]
As the author of music for films, Țăranu returned in 1976 withRed Apples, a project byAlexandru Tatos andIon Băieșu.[40] He and directorNicolae Mărgineanu Jr worked on the 1979 filmUn om în loden, which earned them both awards at the 1980 film festival inCostinești.[41] In 1983, he composed the score to Mărgineanu'sReturn from Hell, done from a short story byIon Agârbiceanu. His contribution earned praise from film critics atCinema, who spoke of Țăranu's music as being in "perfect unity" with Mărgineanu's direction,[42] as well as a top prize from theRomanian Filmmakers' Association.[43] The composer was by then married to Mărgineanu's sister Dana, a teacher of English. This made him the son-in-law of psychologist and former political prisonerNicolae Mărgineanu (1905–1980);[44] his mother-in-law, Eufrosina, was the daughter of Konstantinos Arvanitis, a merchant and published diarist ofGraeco-Bulgarian descent.[45][46] The director and composer embarked on another, similarly celebrated collaboration on the 1987Pădureanca, which earned Țăranu another award at the Costinești film gala.[47]
Late in 1987, Țăranu's Symphony No. 4 "Ritornele", which functioned as his "essay on form", was a centerpiece of the TMC.[48] During the TMC's 1989 edition, Țăranu premiered several new works, all of which garnered praise from critics such as Casiu Barbu: atoccata for saxophone, percussion and piano; a vocal symphony based on texts byPaul Celan; and the especially successfulTestament, usingByzantine music andTeodora Cantacuzino's last will as its two sources of inspiration.[49] This formed part of a series ofhistoricist works, which focused on prosaic texts with poetic nuances—also including pieces based on theSupplex Libellus Valachorum, an 1872Latinate obituary to the national heroAvram Iancu, and an inscription fromRoman Dacia.[8] According to Țăranu's own recollections,Testament was performed by the prestigiousMadrigal Choir in 1988, but immediately after banned by the communist regime.[8]
After theDecember 1989 Revolution toppled Romanian communism, and before theethnic turmoil in Transylvania, Țăranu spoke out in support of peace with the Hungarian community—his January 1990 article inSzabadság called for a restoration of theBolyai University as a regional Hungarian center of learning.[50] He was receiving accolades for his work as an educator, and specifically for his contribution to fostering intercultural understanding. As noted by László, Țăranu was fluent in Hungarian (as well as English, French, German and Russian), and could establish permanent links with his students. These "did not have to suppress their Hungarianness in the class of a Romanian teacher, and Țăranu even support[ed] their affirmation."[3] Reportedly, Țăranu was also the first person to advocate for the erection of a Christian cross onCetățuia Hill—a previous such symbol had been destroyed by the communists in 1948.[51] He wrote the music to another Mărgineanu film,Somewhere in the East, which premiered in 1991; based on a novel byAugustin Buzura, it told the story of communist crimes during thecollectivization of agriculture.[52] His wife Dana became involved with the effort to recover information about the communist imprisonment of civilians such as her father, joining the Cluj branch ofMemoria Cultural Institute.[44]
On 31 January 1990, the Union of Romanian Composers, affiliated with theNational Salvation Front, elected Bentoiu as its leader, with Țăranu and Iorgulescu as his two vice presidents.[53] Țăranu continued to serve as such for more than two decades.[5] In May 1993, he and Ars Nova appeared at theRomanian Atheneum in Bucharest for the International Music Week. This concert was described as "fascinating" by composer Sorin Vulcu, who was impressed by the "consummate refinement" of Țăranu and his pupils in performing complex works by Herman andOctavian Nemescu.[54] HisCîntece nomade was showcased by Ars Nova at the 1991 Contemporary Music Festival in Budapest—featuring performances byAnton Tauf, Geta Orlovschi, and Călin Forlea.[33] In the mid-1990s, his works, including hisProlegomenes and his homages to Bartók, appeared on Hungarian–Romanian anthology CDs (one put out by the Cluj Academy, the other byMagyar Rádió).[31] Also in 1993, Țăranu became a corresponding member of theRomanian Academy, and a full member in 2012.[5] In 1995, he created a new festival in Cluj-Napoca, asCluj Modern, thereafter serving as its art director.[12] In 2002, Țăranu was named a Chevalier of theOrdre des Arts et des Lettres.[1][5]
Alongside French poet Olivier Apert, Țăranu wrote an opera about theOrestes andOedipus myths, titledOreste-Oedipe and first performed by the Cluj Conservatory in January 2001; Țăranu was also the conductor, and Ars Nova the performing orchestra on its premiere.[55] Scholar Ion Pop reviewsOreste-Oedipe as a postmodern work with a "difficult score", noting that it borrowed motifs from Enescu and fromGreek musical folklore.[55] Țăranu and Tauf reunited for a 2005 production of Blaga'sIvanca, by director Anca Bradu.[56] From 2000, Țăranu's work onStrigoii was continued bySabin Pautza, who provided an orchestral arrangement and published the completed piece in 2018.[25] Țăranu himself continued to perform into his seventies and eighties. In 2008, Ars Nova celebrated itsruby jubilee with a concert at the Cluj Academy—described inApostrof as the 40th year of Țăranu's "avant-garde music", or "extreme-contemporary music".[15] In 2013, Țăranu completed theoratorioLăutarul, which is based on parts of Camil Petrescu'sUn om între oameni.[18] In 2015, he appeared at events marking Petrescu's 120th birthday—on 9 April, he directed Petrescu-themed Ars Nova performance at theArt Museum of Cluj.[18] In early October,Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated Țăranu by premieringLăutarul; actor Cristian Hodrea appeared asCezar Bolliac. Also featured werea capella pieces based on poems by Eminescu andMatei Călinescu.[18]
The composer's final projects included a film score to another Mărgineanu project, the 2019Cardinalul. Both he and Mărgineanu were shortlisted for the Filmmakers' Union prize in their respective category.[57] Țăranu died in Cluj-Napoca on 18 June 2023, two days before his 89th birthday.[58][59][60] A religious funeral ceremony was scheduled for 22 June at the auditorium maximum of the Cluj Academy.[5] Fellow musicologistViorel Cosma described him as "guided by fantasy, irony, nobility, but above all by intelligence and unexpected sparkles". The Romanian Academy remembers him as "a complex personality of contemporary Romanian cultural life, an illustrious creator and teacher".[5] In addition to his writing and arranging music, he had been an art collector, who owned paintings byNicolae Grigorescu,Gheorghe Petrașcu, andNicolae Tonitza.[11]
Alongside orchestral work, film scores,chamber music, and his two operas, Țăranu composed vocal works for soloists and choirs.[5][61] In addition to Baltag, Blaga, Blandiana, Celan, Eminescu, Labiș and Tzara, his compositions used poems by, among others,Nichita Stănescu andVladimir Streinu.[5]
His compositions include:[62]
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