Raţiu, Adrian

Raţiu, Adrian , Romanian composer and musicologist; b. Bucharest, July 28, 1928. He studied at the Bucharest Cons. (1950–56) with Constantinescu (harmony), Negrea (counterpoint), Rogalski (Orch.estration), and Klepper (composition), and later attended the summer courses in new music in Darmstadt (1969). In 1962 he became a prof. at the Bucharest Cons. From 1968 he also was a member of the executive committee of the Union of Composers and Musicologists in Romania. His various WRITINGS on music appeared in many publications. Among his honors were composition prizes of the Union of Composers and Musicologists (1967, 1972, 1973, 1981, 1990, 1993) and the Enesco Prize of the Romanian Academy (1974). In his music, Ratiu combines accessible atonal writing with euphonious dissonance.

Works

ORCH.: 2 syms.: No. 1 (1961; Timisoara, Oct. 13, 1962) and No. 2 (1976–77; Timisoara, May 12, 1977); Concerto for Oboe, Bassoon, and Orch. (1962–63; Bucharest, Nov. 27, 1969); Diptych (1965; Timisoara, Dec. 10, 1966); Studi for Strings (1968; Bucharest, Dec. 15, 1986); 6 Images (1971; Craiova, Oct. 19, 1974); Piano Concerto (1988; Bucharest, May 30, 1993). CHAMBER : 2 string quartets (1956; Convergences Il, 1988); Noctural Vision for Viola and Piano (1964); Partita for Wind Quintet (1966); Impressions for Chamber Ensemble (1969); Transfigurations, quintet for Piano, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Cello (1974–75); Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Clarinet (1979–80); Sonata a cinque for Brass Quintet (1984); Sonata for Solo Violin (1985); Alternations for Clarinet and Bass Clarinet (1986); Trio for Piano, Clarinet, and Guitar or Vibraphone (1987); Echoes for Vibraphone and Marimba (1989); Convergences III for Flute, Oboe, and Bassoon (1991) and IV for Piano, Clarinet or Saxophone, and Percussion (1994); Violin Sonata (1991); piano pieces. VOCAL : 3 Madrigals for Chorus, after Shakespeare (1964); Fragment of a Triumphal Arch for Beethoven for Soprano, Clarinet, and Piano (1970); Hommage à Erik Satie for Voice and Piano (1994).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire