Vol. 15 No. 15 (2015): ARTES. JOURNAL OF MUSICOLOGY

Creativity, musical life and cultural crossroads in the area of Moldova

Issue number 15 of the journal Artes – renamed Artes. Journal of musicology – groups together scientific studies and book reviews reflecting preoccupations for the research of works and cultural phenomena born in or defining the area of Moldova, with an extension towards Bessarabia and the Ukraine. The content of ideas seems to further the spirit of the International Musicology Conference, Musical Romania and the neighbouring cultures. Traditions, influences, identities, a conference organised by the “George Enescu” University of Arts in 2013 – an event which has emphasised the existence of multiple musical and cultural links in the area of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, a musicological topic area still under research. The already traditional collaboration through scientific dialogue between the musicology of Iaşi and the research conducted in Chişinău, and the more recent one with the ethnomusicology practiced in Cernăuţi enable a comparative analysis of both folkloric traditions and present-day compositions. Concurrently, the studies in this issue reflect the musicological activity in Iaşi, with some of them originally as scientific papers presented during Musicology symposium Identity and stylistic contextualisation in Romanian musical works, 4th edition, 2014. Other articles present research in the mentioned content area. The musicological approaches vary both at the level of subdomains and of analysis techniques, attempting to observe the same scientific parameters: inclusion in the sphere of research through consistent references, clarity and coherence of content, terminological accuracy and originality within the subject area. A first category of articles illustrates the musical history of Iaşi, with a general profile of historiographic research – Lost or endangered musical edifices in Iaşi, a study drafted by musicologist and professor of music history Carmen Chelaru – or of monographic research – Ella Urmă. A life dedicated to singing in Iaşi, signed Loredana Iaţeşen, also dedicated to historical works in musical Iaşi. This issue also features studies of contemporary Romanian composers with Moldavian origins – an original analysis of vocal miniatures written by Felicia Donceanu (born in Bacău) – A hermeneutic perspective on two songs by Felicia Donceanu: “Cu penetul” and “La mijloc de codru des” offered by young musicologist Mihaela-Georgiana Balan and the monographic study Liviu Dănceanu – Reflection of music vs. Music of reflection, written by Laura Otilia Vasiliu. The traditions and contemporary works in the old Romanian territories of Bucovina and Bessarabia are represented in the study Folk musical creativity in the development of cultural traditions among youth, a Romanian-Ukranian comparison debated on by Yaryna Vyshpinska from the “Yuriy Fedkovych” Chernivtsi National University. At the same time, compositional and musicological aspects in the Republic of Moldova are eloquently revealed in the article Some of Vladimir Axionov’s musicological outlook on Gheorghe Neaga’s compositions by Natalia Chiciuc, a PhD student in musicology with the Academy of Music, Theatre and Fine Arts in Chişinău. This issue is the first one to feature book reviews by selecting significant publications referring to the musical works of Iaşi – Carmen Chelaru (coord.), Studii de muzicologie de & despre Vasile Spătărelu [Musicology studies by & about Vasile Spătărelu], Iași, Editura Artes, 2015 –, volumes of reference launched in Iaşi – Grigore Constantinescu, Patru secole de operă. Istorie şi stiluri, personalităţi creatoare, capodopere, repertorii [Four centuries of opera. History and styles, creative personalities, works of art, repertoires], București, Editura ONB, 2014 – or by representing bibliographic titles, which are also fundamental for current musical research – Manfred F. Bukofzer, Music in the Baroque Era, London, J.M. Dent & Sons LTD, 1948..

Editor-in-chief,
Prof. Laura Vasiliu, PhD