Revitalizing Melodies from the „Caioni Codex” through Musical Arrangement: A Study of „Suite from Codex Caioni” by Dan Voiculescu

Abstract

The current conditions generated by a globalized society require the reconsideration and reinterpretation of folkloric materials. In this context, the semantic richness of the Codex Caioni—which reflects both the specific character of the musical culture crystallized in seventeenth-century Transylvania and the musical, stylistic, and aesthetic concerns of its author, in harmony with the evolution of musical life and the European trends of the era—acquires particular relevance. This paper aims to highlight how Codex Caioni, one of the most important collection of different genres of musical pieces of the 17th century, notated in tablature, was reflected in the Suite for string orchestra (1996) by Dan Voiculescu (1940-2009). We will describe the selected pieces from the Codex Caioni and discuss the elaboration, regarding the form, the intonational material, the harmony and polyphony, stressing the personal style of Dan Voiculescu, one of the most important representatives of Romanian Neoclassicism. A scholar of polyphony, Voiculescu not only restores the music of the Codex within a contemporary context, but also explores the relationship between Baroque art music and Transylvanian folk music, bringing to life a sound world situated at the intersection of local tradition and the European Baroque style.