(1942–2008)

Born in Bucharest in 1942, he died in 2008 in Paris. He studied violin playing privately with Nina Alexandrescu (a pupil of George Enescu and Jacques Thibaud). He later studied composition at the Ciprian Porumbescu Conservatory in Bucharest (master’s degree in 1969), where his teachers included Ştefan Niculescu, Tiberiu Olah and Aurel Stroe, leading figures of the country’s emerging avant-garde. Having graduated in1969, Rădulescu left Romania for the West and settled in Paris, becoming a French citizen in 1974.

In 1970–80 Rădulescu took part in international courses for composers in Cologne, Darmstadt, and at IRCAM Paris, conducted by Mauricio Kagel, Luc Ferrari, John Cage, Iannis Xenakis, Gyorgy Ligeti, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 1983 he co-founded European Lucero soloists’ ensemble (with Arditti Quartet, Pierre-Yves Artaud, and other outstanding performers). From 1991 onwards, Rădulescu organised the Lucero Festival and its masterclasses. In 1980–90 he lived in Berlin as a DAAD scholarship holder. He also received the French government’s annual scholarship for an artistic residence at Rome’s Villa Medici.

A pioneer of spectral music, Rădulescu developed his own unique composition technique that he called “sound plasma,” based on the harmonic spectrum and microtonality. His music, deeply rooted in the spirituality and philosophy of the East, aims to overcome barriers of perception and form. The composer left behind a highly original output of works that approach sound as a living and evolving organism.

Selected works: Taaroa for orchestra (1969), Clepsydra for tape (1969), Credo for nine cellos (1969), Everlasting Longings for string orchestra (1972), Lamento di Gesu for orchestra and seven dulcimers (1973–75), Wild Incantesimo for nine orchestras (1978), Capricorn’s Nostalgic Crickets for eight natural trumpets (1972–80), Outer Time for 23 flutes or 42 gongs / basso trio / two spectrally tuned concert pianos /eight wind instruments (1980), Inner Time for clarinet (1983), Awakening Infinity for 25 instrumentalists (1983), Dizzy Divinity I for flute(1985), Sensual Sky for chamber ensemble (1985), Intimate Rituals, cycle of solo miniatures (1985), Christe Eleison for organ (1986),Mirabilia Mundi for seven large ensembles (1986), String Quartet no. 4 Infinite to Be Cannot Be Infinite, Infinite anti-Be Could Be Infinite (1976–87), Byzantine Prayer for 40 flutists with 72 flutes (1988), String Quartet no. 6 Practising Eternity (1992), Piano Sonata no. 4 Like a Well... Older than God (1993), Animae morte carent for oboe d’amore and spectrally tuned piano (1992–95), String Quartet no. 5 Before the Universe Was Born (1990–95), Piano Concerto The Quest (1996), Lux Animae for violin and 16 instruments (1996), Piano Sonata no. 5 SettleYour Dust, This is the Primal Identity (2003), Cinerum for four voices and period instruments ensemble (2005), Piano Sonata no. 6 Return to theSource of Light (2007).