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Serban Nichifor

Composer, Cellist and Prof. Dr. Habilitatus at the National University of Music Bucharest

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About

According to musicologist Octavian Cosma, Nichifor's eclectic style is based on neoromanticism but has included elements of jazz (in his Third and Fourth Symphonies) and the use of tape recordings as in his opera Domnişoara Cristina. In the 1990s, he "developed a simplified style employing themes reminiscent of Byzantine chant."Opera, symphonic, vocal-symphonic and visual music

"Constellations" for Orchestra (1977) Symphony I "Shadows" (1980) Cantata "Sources" (1977) Cantata "Gloria Heroum Holocausti" (1978) Opera "Miss Christina" (libretto by Mircea ELIADE,1981) Symphony II "Via Lucis" (1985) Symphony III "American Symphony – I" (1986) Symphony IV "American Symphony – II" (1987) Symphony V "Pro Patria" (1987) Symphony VI "Time Archways" (1988) Cantata "Remember" (1988) "Missa da Requiem" (1990) Chamber-Opera "Talaria" (libretto by Etienne DE SADELEER, 1994) Cantata "Per Christum" (1997) "Concerto GRIEGoriano" for Piano and Orchestra (1997) Chamber-Opera "Le Martyre de Saint Claude Debussy" (libretto after Claude Debussy and E.A.Poe, 1999) Symphony VII "Cello Memoirs" (2001–2003)[12] "Cries from Earth to Heaven" – to the Holocaust martyrs (2007)[13] "Tribute to Joseph Smith, The American Prophet" – visual music (2005–2007)[14] Shoah – music dedicated to the Holocaust martyrs (2010–2013)[15] Pentagon – visual music (2010)[16] God Bless America! – visual music (2010) [17] Symphony VIII "Tom & Huck" (2011–2012) [18] Symphony IX "God Bless Romania" (2016) [19] Piano Concerto No.2 (2016) [20] Homage to my Mother (dedicated to Dr. Livia Balint-Nichifor) (2017)[2]

Chamber, choral, and vocal music

"Postludium" per Organo (1975) "Sorcova" per Coro Misto a capella (1995) Quartetto per Archi I – "Anamorphose" (1976) "Carols" per Trombone e Percussione (1978) "Invocatio" per Flauto e Celesta (1979) "Canto di Speranza" per Flauto, Violino, Viola, Cello e Pianoforte (1981) "Onirophonie" per Fl., Vn.e Pf. (1982) "Chanson d'Antan" per Vn.e Pf.(1983) "Carnyx" per Clarinetto (1984) "Tango for Yvar" per Pf.(1984) Quartetto per Archi II – "Vallons de l'Oubli" (1984) "Aprite le porte di questo castel" per Coro Maschile (1984) "Morendo" per Cb. e Pianoforte (1985) "6 Melodies Irlandaises d'Amerique" per 2 Ob.,C.i. e 2 Fg. (1985) "Czarna Rosa" per Mezzo-Soprano e Pf. (1986) "7 Canti Rumeni di Natale" per 4 Trombe, 4 Tromboni ed Organo (1986) "Horn Call Rag" per Corno e Pf. (1986) "Ave Maria" per Soprano ed Organo (1987) "Isola di Euthanasios" – Sonata "sopra acqua e pietra" per Pianoforte (1988) "Transgressio" per Fl.,Ob. e Fg. (1989) "Battuta" per Percussione (1989) "Il nome della rosa" for violoncello and piano 4 hands (1989)[21] "Lacrimosa" per Tenore e Pf. (1989) "Meditatio"per Organo (1990) Missa "Actio Gratiarum Oecumenica" per Coro Misto a capella (1991) "Natalis Domini" per Coro Misto a capella (1992) "Isihia" per Cello (1992) "Epiphania" per Cello e Pianoforte (1993) "Rorate Caeli" per Soprano ed Orchestra da Camera (1994) "Medium per Arpa" (1995) "Medium per Flauto" (1995) "3 Christmas German Chorals" for Organ (1997) "Hommage a Debussy" per 2 Pf. – ossia Pf. e Nastro Magnetico (1998) "La Nuit Obscure" per Orchestra da Camera (1998) "Invocation a Themis" per Sax. Alto (2001) "Isihia" for violoncello and tape (2002) Tu es Sacerdos (To my Mother Dr. Livia Nichifor) (2017)[

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Interview

What does music mean to you personally?

The reason to exist.

Do you agree that music is all about fantasy?

Yes

If you hadn't been a professional musician, what would you have been?

Doctor.

The classical music audience is getting older, are you worried about the future?

No, because classical music is constantly evolving.

What do you think will be the role of music in the 21st century? Do you see a transformation of this role?

Music will always have a vital meaning. Music means God, life, communication, love of people. Through music - as a universal, theandric (divine-human) language we rise in sacred space and time.

Do you think today's musician needs to be more creative? What is the role of creativity in the musical process for you?

Creativity is the essence of music - and it comes from God the Pantocrator, the Creator of the universe, which has a musical configuration: "panarmonios kosmou sintaxis", (according to Saint Athanasius the Great, along the lines of Pythagoras).

Do you think we as musicians can do something to attract the younger generation to music concerts? How would you do that?

Let's be more open, more communicative, let's get out of the "ivory tower" that isolates us in our own pride, in the satanic vanity of a sterile elitism.

Tell us about your creative process. What is your favorite song (written by you) and how did you start working on it?

There are several pieces that I care about. I would mention the Requiem, which I started composing on December 24, 1989, with Lacrimosa - while on the streets of Bucharest many innocent Romanians were being killed by Ceausescu's criminals... https://youtu.be/KgCqAa8C6Os

Can you give some advice to young people who want to discover classical music for themselves?

To go to classical music concerts, to listen to the anthological interpretations of great musicians on YouTube, to study music theory, to learn to play an instrument...

Do you think about the audience when you compose?

Yes, I compose for the public - with the essential help of the performers who give life to my scores. Being a cellist myself, I know the fundamental role of interpretive creativity.

What projects are coming up? Do you experiment in your projects?

I don't know... It depends on what I will dream about - because I compose while dreaming. In the morning, when I get up, I write down my dream music.