Petra-Basacopol, Carmen

Petra-Basacopol, Carmen, Romanian composer and teacher; b. Sibiu, Sept. 5,1926. She studied philosophy at the Univ. of Bucharest (1945–49); then took courses with Jora (composition and counterpoint), Ro-galski (orchestration), and Constantinescu (harmony) at the Bucharest Cons. (1949–56); attended courses in new music in Darmstadt (1968); later completed her training at the Sorbonne in Paris (Ph.D., 1976, with the diss. L’Originalité de la musique roumaine à travers les oeuvres d’Enesco, Jora et Constantinesco; publ, in Bucharest, 1979). She taught at the Bucharest Cons, (from 1962). She received the Order of Cultural Merit (1969) and the Georges Enesco composition prize of the Romanian Academy (1980). Her music is lyrical, with colorful and effective instrumentation.

Works

dramatic: Ballet: Fata i masca (The Girl and the Mask; 1970); Ciuleandra (1985–86). orch.: Sym. No. 1 (1956); Tara de piatra (Stone Country; 1959); Piano Concerto (1961); Symphonic Triptych (1962); 2 violin concertos (1963, 1965); Concertino for Harp, Kettledrums, and Strings (1975); Concerto for Strings (1981); Cello Concerto (1982). chamber: Suite for Flute and Piano (1950); Cello Sonata (1952); Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1959); Sonata for Flute and Harp (1961); Divertissement for Harp, Wind Quintet, Double Bass, and Xylophone (1969); Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Bassoon (1974); Quartet for Flute, Violin, Cello, and Piano (1978); Suite for Cello (1981); Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Harp (1987); piano pieces. vocal: Choral music; songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire