Biography
Ulpiu Vlad (b. January 27, 1945, Zărneşti) is a Romanian composer of orchestral, chamber, choral, and vocal works that have been performed throughout Europe.
His music is not atonal, but neither is it obviously tonal in a traditional sense. In Poetica Viselor for soprano, small orchestra and tape (2003), temporary tonal centers are established by long-held notes as other lines weave various intervals around them, and there is frequent tonal ambiguity as one tonal center passes away and another asserts itself. Just enough dissonance is produced through the interweaving of lines and competing tonal centers to achieve a truly delicious sound texture. The exploration of shifting tonal centers is reminiscent on the one hand of an alap movement in a North Indian raga performance, or the adagio movement that begins Beethoven's C-sharp minor string quartet.
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Vlad served as director of the music department at the Romanian Ministry of Culture in Bucharest in 1992–93 and has taught as a professor at the National University of Music in Bucharest since 1993. He has also worked as a researcher in Romanian folk music at the Bucharest National University of Music and at the Ethnology and Dialectology Research Institute, as well as editing and managing Editura Muzicală.
His honors include four prizes from the Romanian Composers Union (1990, 1995, 2000, 2003); in 2004, he was made an Officer of the Order of Cultural Merit by the government of Romania
DISCOGRAPHY:
Winter Landscape; The Scales of Light. Steliana Calos, mezzo-soprano; Matei Corvin, piccolo; Virgil Frâncu, flute; Radu Chișu, oboe; Valeriu Bărbuceanu, clarinet; Mihai Tănăsilă, bassoon; Ion Rațiu, French horn; Iancu Văduva, trumpet; Marin Soare, trombone; Ion Ivan Roncea, harp; Mircea Opreanu, Octavian Rațiu, violins; Mihai Sofonea, viola; Vasile Țugui, cello; Ștefan Tomasz, double bass; Șerban Soreanu, piano; Costin Petrescu, percussion (Electrecord: ST-ECE 01980) (LP)
Dreams I. Paul Staicu/Orchestra Camerata (Electrecord: ST-ECE 03516) (LP)
Beyond Dreams V. Partita Radicale (Edition Pro Viva: ISPV 193, 2004)
The Legend of Dreams. Pro Contemporania (Editura Muzicală/Star Media Music: 037, 2005)
Mosaic (1974–78). Valeriu Bărbuceanu, clarinet; Iancu Văduva, trumpet; Mircea Opreanu, violin; Mihai Sofonea, viola; Paul Rogojină, piano (Nova Musica: A003, 2007)
Flowers and Resonances – Trio for Saxophones, Viola and Piano. Daniel Kientzy, saxophones; Cornelia Petroiu, viola; Mihai Vârtosu, piano (Nova Musica: NMCD 5121, 2007)
Beyond Dreams III. Partita Radicale (Edition Pro Viva: ISPV 186)
Suddenly, Dreams. Dorel Pașcu Rădulescu/Concordia, Concerto (Editura Muzicală: EM 006)
The Joy of Achievement – Wedding Songs. Constantin Marin/Madrigal (Electrecord: ST-EXE 03475)
The Joy of Achievement – Wedding Songs. Dorel Pașcu Rădulescu/Madrigal (Uniunea Compozitorilor și Muzicologilor din România: ROSAF125012655)
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.