Fervent supporter and promoter of Romanian musical folklore and of Byzantine chant, famous figure in inter-war musical Romania, Paul Constantinescu was born on June 30, 1909 in Ploiești. In 1928 he entered the Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art Bucharest (today the National University of Music), training with Alfonso Castaldi, Constantin Brăiloiu, George Breazul, and Dimitrie Cuclin, as well as with his great mentor Mihail Jora. He pursued further studies in composition, Byzantine palaeography and Byzantinology in Vienna, where he also began working on his first opera, O noapte furtunoasă [A Stormy Night], whose libretto after I. L. Caragiale’s comedy he wrote himself and whose premiere in Bucharest in 1935, with celebrated Ionel Perlea conducting, established him as a composer.

In addition to his musical career, Mihail Jora served as Music Advisor with the Romanian Radio, was associate member of the Romanian Academy, and taught at the Academy of Sacred Music Bucharest (1937-41) and at the Conservatory (from 1941 until his premature death in 1963). As a side note, he was also a cartoonist, drew, and wrote poetry.

Accused, in 1940, of being Jewish, Paul Constantinescu was targeted by both the communist authorities and the press. After World War 2 he was also charged with legionary sympathies, and renewed attacks at the beginning of the 1960s led to his being kept under surveillance. Throughout such hardships he would however retain his place, then as now, in the gallery of great Romanian composers.

Selected works: O noapte furtunoasă (1935, revised 1950), opera; Nuntă în Carpați [Carpathian Wedding] (1938), choreographic poem; Patimile și Învierea Domnului [The Passion and Resurrection of Our Lord] (1943, revised 1948), Byzantine Easter oratorio on a series mediaeval texts translated and organised by Father I. D Petrescu; Nașterea Domnului [The Nativity] (1947), Byzantine Christmas oratorio; Symphony no. 1 (1944, revised 1955), Joc, Cântec, Toccata [Dance, Song, Toccata] for piano (1951); Concerto for piano and orchestra (1952), a synthesis between the Classical spirit and the traditional Romanian music first performed by famous Valentin Gheorghiu under the equally renowned Constantin Silvestri; Concerto for violin and orchestra (1957); Miorița [The Little Ewe] for SATB choir (1952); Triple Concerto for violin, cello, piano and orchestra (1960), first performed at the Romanian Athenaeum on December 28, 1963, just days after the composer’s death, by an exceptional team of soloists – Ştefan Gheorghiu, Radu Aldulescu, and Valentin Gheorghiu, under eminent conductor Mircea Basarab.

Andreea Kiseleff