Informationen zu "Michael Cretu Romanian Echoes Double Bass Solo"
Verlag: Recital Music
Verlagsnummer: RM1042
EAN: 9990093814282
Beschreibung
Hommage a Joseph Prunner Michael Cretu writes: 'In 1999, during a visit to
Professor Ion Cheptea in Bucharest, he informed me that the Music Academy
were to organise an international double bass competition in 2002. We were
both very excited about the event and Professor Cheptea asked me to write a
work for unaccompanied double bass for the competition, to be played by the
Romanian students. The piece begins with double stops, inspired by Romanian
folk music, and in the middle section I have tried to echo Prunner's belief
that the 'cantilena' should be played on one string in higher positions.'
Dance and Improvisation Michael Cretu writes: 'This has become one of the
most important pieces in my solo repertoire and was premiered at a concert
organised by Hull Music Society. Since then, I have performed it at the Royal
Northern College of Music (Manchester), Cite des Arts (Paris), Royal Academy
of Music (London), Edinburgh Fringe, Manchester Cathedral, Wakefield
Cathedral and the Romanian Cultural Institutes in Paris and London. I was
inspired by an old Romanian folk tune - Captain of the County performed by
musicians in my family for at least 200 years. The piece explores the vast
solo possibilities of the double bass by using different bow techniques, left
and right hand pizzicato and creating sounds which bring to mind the human
voice and the instruments used in folk music. The timing of the piece is
fluent, not precise but moving in different directions, giving the performer
the possibility of a personal emotional response. The piece is dedicated to
the great Czech Double Bassist Frantisek Posta.' Michael Cretuÿis an
internationally recognised musician and composer, whose family has a long
musical tradition dating back to the 17th Century. Born in Bucharest, Romania
Michael has been playing the double bass since he was 12. At the age of 19,
he joined the Romanian National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Michael studied
music at George Enescu Music School in Bucharest and he won a scholarship to
complete his postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in
Manchester. Michael is an associate and artist in residence at Salford
University. Michael also plays in a contemporary Jazz trio with Ed Barnwell
on piano and Mikey Wilson on drums. In the mid 18th century, during the
Ottoman occupation of the Romanian principalities, Walachia, Moldova and
Transylvania, musicians from Michael?s familyÿ belonged to the monastery of
Bistrita and its land. Around that time, Ipsilante, the new King of Moldova
and Walachia, appointed by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, bought the lands
of the monastery and relocated the Cretu family to the village Odaia
Vizirului, by the Danube river. King Ipsilante and his niece (who had married
the count of Rome) also had an important residence nearby. There is strong
evidence that the Cretu family became musicians and entertainers in residence
to the King and his family. In 1848, Petrea Cretu, a member of the family
band, who became very famous in the region, moved and became a violinist and
singer in Braila. In 1884 he was one of the first folk musicians to talk and
play at the Bucharest Philharmonic. Michael?s uncle, Johnny Raducanu
(Raducan Cretu) - the brother of Michael?s father, pianist Dumitru Cretu, is
considered the father of Romanian jazz. and the annual jazz festival and
competition is held in his name annually in the city of Braila. In his
composition for solo Double Bass, Michael is strongly influenced by Romanian
folk music and its connection with the Byzantine world. Michael believes that
somehow, miraculously, Romanian folk music brought together the two diverse
cultures of the east and west of the Roman Empire, on the one hand the
Romanian language, (a ?gift? from the Romans) and its strong connection with
the folk song, and on the other the vast influences from the Byzantine
empire, through the Orthodox Church and Ottoman empire.
