Composer, artist, & music critic Iancu Dumitrescu was born in 1944 in Sibiu, Romania. He studied composition with Alfred Mendelsohn, Aurel Stroe, Stefan Niculescu, & Sergiu Celibidache.
His compositions are intuitive & his magical musick making are inspired by the ancient sages that revolve around the idea of the Socratic term "acousmatique". In his compositions the most distant harmonies of the sound spectrum are used & explored. It is noteworthy that the resulting sound is created with simple complexity, "natural" means, without application of extensive technical resources. Dumitrescu was deeply inspired by the direction of spectral music of Giacinto Scelsi.
In 1976 Iancu Dumitrescu founded the "Hyperion Ensemble" in which a series of extraordinary interpreters display works of the Romanian avant-garde.
The 1980s young generation of Romanian composers headed by Iancu Dumitrescu had a unique position through their development of the "spectral sound" music, using almost only acoustical instruments. Dumitrescu & his colleague Horatio Radulescu have awakened new attention to this until now almost unknown Romanian music.
The music of Iancu Dumitrescu explores the ultimate sense of sound, guiding the listener through new spheres of sonic adventure, a kind of cryptic music. Based on the idea of "acousmatique", a Socratic term meaning exploration of sonic phenomenon, his music takes it's formal models from the very structure of sound with a perfect relationship between micro / 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.
"Medium II" is the mysterious reverse of "Cogito". The two sides of the record can be heard consecutively or simultaneously on two turntables. The ideal listening situation is to hear the two structures in sync. The simultaneous experience is free to anyone, anytime & can be repeated as it challenges the creativity of the listener.
Enjoy this unique experience & thank Richard...
"Medium II" composed 1978-1979 for double-bass solo (Hyperion Publishing House, Bucharest);
"Cogito (Trompe-L'œil)" composed 1981 for two double basses, prepared piano, Javanese gong, crystals & metal objects (Éditions Salabert, Paris).
Side 1 -
Side 2 -
Cogito (Trompe-L'œil)
Look what the spice dragged in,
NØ