Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov. Series VIII: Performing Arts

Tara Fagarasului: Istorie, obiceiuri și traditii/ Tara Fagarasului. History, customs, and traditions. – Ion Negrila – 2024

Alexandra Belibou — 2025-01-20

No abstract

RENASTEREA - Epoca de aur a polifoniei corale. Considerații de stilistică dirijorala/ The RENAISSANCE – The Golden Age of Choral Polyphony. Considerations regarding Conducting Stylistics – Ioan Oarcea – 2022

Madalina Dana Rucsanda — 2025-01-20

No abstract

The 1989 Revolution through the eyes of an American composer

Andra Maria Barbul — 2025-01-20

The 1989 Revolution was an important moment in Romania's history. Today, through the testimonies of those who lived through December 89, we can understand the struggle that people fought to gain access to a better life, a life that they won for us, the people of today. The subject has been a source of inspiration for foreigners, including the American composer Aaron Garber, who, being married to a Romanian woman and learning about the life Romanians led at that time and the prohibitions they were under because of the communist regime, decided to compose a work on the 1989 event as it started in Timisoara. It is important to emphasize that the characters in this work include martyrs of the 1989 Revolution, namely sisters Mariana and Margareta Caceu. The names of the two sisters can be found at the Timisoara Revolution Memorial, an association that honors and keeps alive the memory of martyred heroes, offering the general public the truth about the events of December 1989.

Bridging the gap: how university music programs can integrate contemporary music creation into elementary school curriculum

Ana Chifu Tarpagkos — 2025-01-20

In this paper, integration of contemporary classical music creation in elementary school curricula is presented as a key to boosting student engagement and creativity. It identifies a gap between traditional music pedagogy and modern practice whose music pedagogy limits students' engagements with music outside of school. Through the use of university music programs for the development of professional development and collaborative curriculum development, educators become more inclusive in the environment of music education. Among many innovative practices including graphic scores, Sound painting, improvisation, instrument making and body percussion, the study reviews some ways of creating freedom and cultural understanding for the non-music students.

„Cantate Domino canticum novum”, for Choir and Organ by Arvo Pärt. Stylistic and interpretative Analysis: Conductor’s perspective

Dragos-Mihai Cohal — 2025-01-20

Written in 1977, the work by composer Arvo Pärt, Cantate Domino canticum novum (for organ and mixed choir), is based on the text of Psalm 96. The writing is homophonic and isorhythmic, and the tempo is lively, which, along with the piece's major tonality, constitutes exceptions in the landscape of the tintinnabuli style. The organ serves throughout the work as the Tintinnabuli voice, while the choral voices intone the Cantus firmus, taking on the role of the Melodic voice. The harmonic trajectory adheres to the tintinnabuli tradition: the entire work remains on the initially chosen pitch, noting that the organ, fulfilling the role of the T voice, exclusively intones the notes of the arpeggio in B-flat major. The melodic character of the entire work resembles the recitative style of the Catholic liturgical rite. The construction of the piece has an orderly succession based on the logic of accumulation, combined with antiphonal style, allowing the female voices to dialogue with the male voices, which then immediately come together to form a mixed four-voice texture.

The Saxophone, orientations and stylistic directions in French music of the 20th century “Lamento et Ronde” – Pierre Sancan

B. Constantin — 2025-01-20

For some, the tendency to think that the saxophone is an American instrument is very high, due to the fact that it is a true symbol of jazz. For others it is of Belgian origin, as its inventor was born in Dinant – Belgium. However, the saxophone originated and evolved in Paris. With a strong emotional impact, characterized by a tension of substance due to the tonal ambiguity suggested by the evolved chromaticism, “Lamento et Rondo” is the result of an advanced compositional thinking, which subjects the melody to a modulating variational work through thematic development procedures typical of the 20th century.

Musical Rhetoric as basis for an expressiveandmeaningful performance in Baroquerepertoire. Case study: „The Great Mass in B Minor”by Johann Sebastian Bach

Sebastian Felea — 2025-01-20

The article aims to emphasize the role of the musical rhetoric in understanding aesthetic ideals of Baroque period and to reveal how it works as basis for decisions regarding the performance. Previous investigations during the 20th century were largely focused on reconstructing the “authentic” sound. The outcomes were useful in determining how to perform the notes written in the score. This paper is based on a complementary opposite approach that starts from the analysis of the notes written in the score. It will be shown by examples of rhetorical exegesis on extracts from Bach’s Mass in B minor how the musicians are enhanced with tremendous ideas for a meaningful, moving, and enchanting performance.

Considerations on the relationship between vocal performance, repertoire choices, and self confidence

Adriana Festeu — 2025-01-20

This article examines the rapport between repertoire choices and self-confidence which ultimately impacts the quality of vocal performance. This research is based on semi-structured interviews with renowned opera singers that the author undertook during her PhD studies, as well as the author’s own experience as an opera performer and voice teacher in higher education. The conclusion proposes that there is a complex interplay between vocal technique, personal identity and the performer’s sense of artistic fulfilment.

Symphony of Space: Where Architecture meets Melody

Parimah Hakimzadeh — 2025-01-20

This article explores the mathematical link between parametric architecture and music, revealing two key approaches to examining their relationship: conceptual and formal. The conceptual approach emphasizes space and its defining characteristics, while the formal approach delves into the physical forms by analyzing external and internal layers. Externally, it examines the relationship between frequencies, vibrations, and form creation. Internally, it focuses on the shared mathematical proportions in both music and architecture. Utilizing Ernst Chladni's cymatics experiments, which relate sound waves to geometric shapes, the research develops a mathematical formula to transform musical notes into two-dimensional forms. This quantitative approach demonstrates how both disciplines can be interconnected through mathematical language, algorithms, and geometry, offering insights into sound’s structural representation. The study also suggests future directions for research, encouraging further exploration of the intersections between sound and architectural form in parametric design.

Analytical incursions into the first work in section I of the vocal-chamber cycle “Ponti Euxini Clepsydra, Sketches in ink wash painting” for oboe, clarinet, soprano, harp and percussion – “Omnia sunt hominum tenui pedentia filo” by Felicia DONCEANU

Madalina Gabriela Ionescu — 2025-01-20

The love for playfulness, poetry and theatre marked the entire creation of the composer Felicia Donceanu, who tried, through minimal means of achievement, to extract the essence of artistic expression, which any performer or listener could enjoy. The intrinsic link between the two artistic components – the poetic text and the musical text, generated an original compositional style, placed far from the atonal and athematic avant-garde, embracing a modal-chromatic language, sometimes of a romantic nature, at other times with folkloric elements, with neoclassical features, impressionist or expressionist. The ingenuity and diversity of the expressive methods used place Felicia Donceanu in a timeless setting, devoid of a deliberate stylistic affiliation.

History of choir movement in Sfântu Gheorghe from the 19th century onwards

G. Loffi — 2025-01-20

The choral movement in Sfântu Gheorghe has a long and distinguished history, spanning from its early beginnings in the 19th century to the modern day. This article explores the development of the town's musical traditions, highlighting key ensembles, conductors, and events that shaped the cultural landscape. The article delves into the contributions of groups such as the LAUDATE Choir, the Reformed Choir, and the Vox Humana Chamber Choir, as well as examining the socio-cultural and religious contexts that fostered this rich choral tradition. Concluding with insights into contemporary initiatives, this article offers a comprehensive account of the enduring legacy and ongoing vitality of the choral art form in Sfantu Gheorghe.

Stylistic and interpretative particularities of the Chamber Repertory for Viola in the 20th century

O. Maciuca — 2025-01-20

At the beginning of the 20th century, the soloist perspectives for the viola acquired new dimensions after the works composed by Paul Hindemith, Max Reger, Dmitri Shostakovich and Béla Bartók. The viola was increasingly present on the great stages as a soloist instrument. Our study will focus not only on the creation of composers Dmitri Shostakovich and Béla Bartók, but also on the legacy of authentic musical emotions, as well as on the synthesis of language elements, of compositional structures manifest in musical history up to these two famous composers.

Exploring the benefits of Music Therapy in reducing stress and anxiety

Ion Negrila — 2025-01-20

The progress of a minor represents a transition from one age stage to another. The period of adolescence is crucial in the evolution of the individual. Adolescence, in particular, fits the period of students in grades IX - XI. This stage is accompanied by not only physical changes, but also psychological ones. Young people in the higher cycle are preparing for the Baccalaureate exam - a defining moment in their existence, which generates an increased level of anxiety. Currently, there is an increase in the number of anxious students before taking exams. Anxiety is the inclination of an individual to feel a state of restlessness, which is an emotion. This state is characterized by subjective feelings of tension, anxiety, gloomy predictions and, physiologically, by the activation of the autonomic nervous system. The chosen topic is relevant because the number of students in the higher cycle concerned about passing the final exams is increasing, generating anxiety, uncertainty and fear. An increase in the level of anxiety negatively affects the processes of development of a healthy personality, professional self-determination, which faces significant difficulties. The absence of a practical approach to the development of this problem, together with its high importance both personally and socially, determined its selection as a research subject. We believe that music therapy, which involves not only listening to music, but also performing songs that help cultivate a positive attitude in students, can help solve difficulties related to reducing anxiety levels in students.

The Violin Solo from the opera „Ciro in Babilonia” by Gioachino Rossini. Stylistic and interpretative analysis

Francisc-Adrian Pipas — 2025-01-20

Gioachino Rossini is one of the most significant figures of Italian opera during the period known as the “bel canto era”. This article aims to present readers with lesser-known biographical details about the great composer from Pesaro, followed by an analysis of the aria “Deh! per me non v’affliggete”, which, throughout its length, is accompanied by a unique violin solo within Rossini's body of work. The discovery and promotion of arias that include a violin solo, often partially or entirely unknown, represent one of the most important pragmatic aspects of my scientific research endeavours. The purpose of this article is to shed light on this fragment from Ciro in Babilonia and to promote the lesser-performed works of the renowned composer.

Innovative style and construction elements in the creation of folklorist Sabin Vasile Drăgoi. “Divertisment rustic” – Carol 1: “Oh, what wonderful news!”

Lucian Emil Rosca — 2025-01-20

Sabin Vasile Drăgoi, a composer, folklorist and leading Romanian pedagogue, is recognized for his essential contributions to the development of Romanian music, especially through the valorization of folk traditions. He was a prominent representative of the musical nationalist movement of the first half of the 20th century, marking an important stage in the synthesis between traditional elements and those of European musical modernity. The “Divertisment rustic”, entertainment composed in 1928 reflects his constant concern for the valorization of traditional Romanian music, based on folklore elements that he integrated into his classical musical language. The style of the work is full of vitality, and the folk motifs are reinterpreted in a refined and modern manner. Through the way he uses folklore elements – modal melodies, asymmetrical rhythms, tonal harmonies with modal influences – Drăgoi creates a bridge between tradition and modernity, offering an accessible yet profound work.

A Bibliometric Analysis for Enhancing University Collaboration with the Cultural and Creative Industries through Knowledge Management

K. Rumayor Hernandez — 2025-01-20

Universities were the cradle of Musicology. Although collaboration between universities and industry has driven innovation and economic growth, Cultural and Creative Industries have received less attention in these studies. While research on implementing Knowledge Management Models in Higher Education Institutions has grown, its impact on the collaboration between universities and the Cultural and Creative Industries has been less explored. This study uses Bibliometric Analysis to understand scientific productivity in this field, aiming to provide valuable insights for the stakeholders.

The gentle timbre in the tenor voice, an approach to the voices of Giacomo Lauri-Volpi and Beniamino Gigli

Marcos Santos — 2025-01-20

This study is going to debate the gentle timbre in the tenor voice in the beginning of the XX century. The gentle timbre is a characteristic in the tenor voice that is intended to be produced. This article will address the technical components of the gentle timbre in the tenor voice and study, as examples, Lauri-Volpi and Gigli’s voices. Caruso, who was also a tenor star of this epoch, brought a completely different approach to the tenor voice, that evolved in a new tendency of singing, different from the gentle timbre approach.

The Neurocognitive perspective of piano performance: Psychological and Neural implications

Ligia-Claudia Suteu — 2025-01-20

This paper examines the neurocognitive and psychological effects of piano performance, emphasizing its impact on brain plasticity, memory, motor coordination, and emotional regulation. Through an analysis of neuroplasticity, the article demonstrates how consistent piano practice leads to fundamental changes in the brain, including enhanced connectivity between hemispheres via the corpus callosum. Studies using fMRI and PET imaging show that piano performance activates an extensive network involving the motor cortex, auditory cortex, and cerebellum. The psychological effects of playing the piano are equally significant. Research shows that piano practice reduces stress, enhances emotional resilience, and can improve emotional expression by stimulating the brain’s limbic system. Furthermore, the article explores the therapeutic applications of piano playing, particularly in treating anxiety, depression, and PTSD through music therapy. Overall, this paper highlights the transformative power of piano performance on both cognitive and emotional levels, supporting its use not only as a musical endeavour but also as a tool for enhancing mental health and cognitive function across the lifespan.

Stability and flexibility in the transmission of melodic archetypes in Greek Liturgical Chant

Marius Vasile Tofan — 2025-01-20

Research to date reveals that, for over half of Christian history, Christians primarily sang from memory. By comparing notated melodic patterns from the 13th to the 18th centuries, specific trends and developments emerge in the melodic structures that served as foundational models for much of church hymnography. In this paper, we aim to examine, using the same comparative method, the transmission of these model melodies within the Greek language tradition from the 19th to the 21st centuries, while other contributions will explore their evolution in different linguistic traditions.