Ion Nonna Otescu (15 December 1888 – 25 March 1940) was a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n composer and head of the Bucharest Conservatory (now the National University of Music) from 1918 until 1940. He was born in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

and died there at the age of 51, having played an influential role in the musical life of his native country.

Life and career

Otescu was born in

and studied at the Conservatory there from 1903 to 1907 under

Dumitru Georgescu-Kiriac Dumitru Georgescu Kiriac (18 March 1866 – 8 January 1928) was a Romanian composer, conductor, and ethnomusicologist. He was particularly known for his sacred choral works and art songs which were based on the Romanian Orthodox tradition and R ...

and

Alfonso Castaldi Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

(1874–1942). He then went to Paris where he stayed until 1911 studying at the Schola Cantorum de Paris with

Vincent d'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the Par ...

and at the Paris Conservatory with Charles-Marie Widor. He began teaching at the Bucharest Conservatory in 1913, and in 1918 he became its head, a position he held until his death in 1940. Otescu played an active role in the musical life of Romania and was instrumental in the founding of the (the precursor of the Romanian National Opera), the Romanian Composers Society, and the music journal ''Muzika''.Randel, Don M. (1996)
"Otescu, Ion Nonna"
''The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music'', p. 657. Harvard University Press In 1913 he won the George Enescu Prize and in 1928 the Romanian National Prize for composition. His works were predominantly dramatic in nature: operas, ballets, and

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ''T ...

s. However, he also composed

art song An art song is a Western vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the collective genre of such songs ...

s and

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

. Like his pupil

Tudor Ciortea Tudor Ciortea (28 November 1903 – 13 October 1982) was a Romanian composer, musicologist, and music educator. Life and career Ciortea was born in Brașov and began his music studies under Gheorghe Dima in Cluj. He went on to study at the Buchar ...

, Otescu's music was strongly influenced by the French compositional style of the time and by Romanian folk music traditions. Slonimsky, Nicolas (1965)
"Modern Composition in Rumania"
p.240. '' The Musical Quarterly'', Vol. 51, No. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2013 .

Principal works

Stage *'' Bubi'', musical comedy (1903) *''Ileana Cosânzeana'', ballet based on the mythical princess

Ileana Cosânzeana Ileana Cosânzeana is a figure in Romanian mythology. She is represented as a beautiful good-natured princess or daughter of an Emperor,Queen Marie of Romania Marie (born Princess Marie Alexandra Victoria of Edinburgh; 29 October 1875 – 18 July 1938) was the last Queen of Romania as the wife of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I. Marie was born into the British royal family. Her parent ...

(1918) *''Rubinul Miraculos'' (The Miraculous Ruby), ballet (1919) *''Ilderim'', opera to a libretto by

Victor Eftimiu Victor Eftimiu (; 24 January 1889 – 27 November 1972) was a Romanian poet and playwright. He was a contributor to ''Sburătorul'', a Romanian literary magazine. His works have been performed in the State Jewish Theater of Romania. Eftim ...

(1920) *''De la Matei Cetire'',

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

based on

Matei Basarab Matei Basarab (; 1588, Brâncoveni, Olt – 9 April 1654, Bucharest) was a Wallachian Voivode (Prince) between 1632 and 1654. Reign Much of Matei's reign was spent fighting off incursions from Moldavia, which he successfully accomplished in 1637 ...

(composed between 1926–38). It premiered posthumously in

Cluj ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

on 27 December 1966, completed and revised by

Aurel Stroe Aurel Stroe (5 May 1932, in Bucharest – 3 October 2008, in Mannheim) was a Romanian composer, philosopher and linguist. In 2002 he was awarded the Herder Prize from the University of Vienna; and in 2006 he was awarded the Promaetheus Prize by the ...

. Orchestral *''La Légende de la Rose Rouge'' (The Legend of the Red Rose), symphonic poem (1910)'' Enciclopedia Italiana''
"Otescu, Jon Nonna"
Treccani. Online version retrieved 25 April 2013 *''Narcisse'', (

Narcissus Narcissus may refer to: Biology * ''Narcissus'' (plant), a genus containing daffodils and others People * Narcissus (mythology), Greek mythological character * Narcissus (wrestler) (2nd century), assassin of the Roman emperor Commodus * Tiberiu ...

), symphonic poem (1912) *''Din Bătrâni'' (From the Past), symphonic sketch (1913) *''Le Temple de Gnide'' (The Temple of

Cnidus Knidos or Cnidus (; grc-gre, Κνίδος, , , Knídos) was a Greek city in ancient Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side o ...

), symphonic poem (1914) *''Impresiuni de Iarnã'' (Impressions of Winter), symphonic tableau (1914) *''Vrãjile Armidei'' (The Enchantments of

Armida Armida is the fictional character of a Saracen sorceress, created by the Italian late Renaissance poet Torquato Tasso. Description In Tasso's epic ''Jerusalem Delivered'' ( it, Gerusalemme liberata, link=no), Rinaldo is a fierce and determ ...

), symphonic poem for violin and orchestra (1922)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otescu, Nonna 1888 births 1940 deaths Musicians from Bucharest Romanian classical composers Academic staff of the National University of Music Bucharest National University of Music Bucharest alumni Schola Cantorum de Paris alumni Conservatoire de Paris alumni Pupils of Vincent d'Indy Pupils of Charles-Marie Widor Male classical composers 20th-century classical composers Romanian opera composers Ballet composers Enescu Prize winners 20th-century male musicians