These three works by the Romanian composer Livia Teodorescu-Ciocanea (b. 1959) show her approach to three of the central genres of the western classical tradition:...

These three works by the Romanian composer Livia Teodorescu-Ciocanea (b. 1959) show her approach to three of the central genres of the western classical tradition: symphony, concerto and cantata. The powerful and programmatic Archimedes Symphony was inspired by the death of Archimedes in the siege of Syracuse in 214 bc; the Rite for Enchanting the Air – a concerto for various flutes and orchestra – is a kind of magical journey into a dizzying world of sound and colour; and the cantata Mysterium tremendum aims to reconcile Byzantine and Catholic liturgical traditions. All three make clear her fascination with orchestral timbre and texture – and have distant roots in Romanian folk-music.