History

Union of Composers and Musicologists from Romania (Uniunea Compozitorilor și Muzicologilor din România, UCMR) is a professional association of Romanian composers and musicologists. It was founded in 1920 as the Society of Romanian Composers (SRC) and its main purpose is to support Romanian music. The objectives that it has pursued ever since have been to encourage native composition, to promote it through concerts and the publishing of scores, and to defend the interests of Romanian musicians both at home and abroad. Among the musicians who established the SRC were Ion Nonna Otescu, Alfred Alessandrescu, Constantin Brăiloiu, Tiberiu Brediceanu, George Dima, Dumitru Kiriac, Mihail Jora, Filip Lazăr, Dimitrie Cuclin, Constantin Nottara, Mihail Andricu, Theodor Rogalski, and Ion Vidu.

Its first elected president, George Enescu, served this role for 28 years. In over a hundred years of existence, the institution has known highs and lows, always in close connection to the social and political events that have shaped Romania. In its first phase (1920–44), the SRC honourably fulfilled its mission, including for the duration of World War II, largely due to the efforts of Brăiloiu, Alessandrescu, Jora, and Enescu. It entered into decline after the war, as Romania became part of the Soviet sphere of influence. The forced politicisation of institutions, through state-imposed communist ideology, also affected the SRC.

After Enescu left the country permanently (in 1946), and despite (then vice-president) Jora’s efforts to maintain the integrity of the SRC, it was reorganized according to the Soviet model and renamed the Union of Composers (UC) of the Romanian Popular Republic (in 1949). Besides excluding distinguished personalities (including Enescu, Brăiloiu, Perlea, Mihalovici, and Lipatti, who were living abroad, and Jora and Cuclin, who opposed the regime) the main objective of the new Union, first led by Matei Socor (1949–54), was to impose socialist realism as sole creative ‘formula’. The totalitarian atmosphere continued unabated during Ion Dumitrescu’s presidency (1954–76), with some improvements in the 1960s and 70s. For example, after 1965, two distinct aesthetic trends took shape, each with clear ideological implications. One was conservative, employing a traditional folkloric style; the other was open to the stylistic innovations of Western music, which was then officially banned in Romania. The modicum of freedom possible with Dumitrescu’s complicity did not remain unsanctioned by the Romanian Communist Party, and the president was abruptly removed from office. Until 1989, the Union was led by Petre Brâncuși (1976–82) and Nicolae Călinoiu (1982–9), tireless champions of communist propaganda music and, in particular, of the type of music that fuelled Nicolae Ceaușescu’s cult of personality.

Shortly after the December 1989 Revolution, the UC held its first free elections, followed by the drafting of a new charter and of new organizational regulations. The association’s present name, the UCMR, was also chosen at this time. The presidents elected after 1990 were Pascal Bentoiu (1990–92), Adrian Iorgulescu (1992–2005; 2010 to the present), Octavian Lazăr Cosma (2005–10), and Dan Dediu (since 2022). With over 400 members from all over the country, the UCMR is currently organized into four sections and two sub-sections (instrumental music and multimedia section, vocal music section, musicology section, jazz/pop music section, fanfare sub-section and the didactic sub-section), and has, in addition to its base organisation in Bucharest, five other territorial organisations.

Despite legislative changes and financial difficulties in recent years, UCMR strives to preserve the benchmarks of professionalism in Romanian music today. UCMR supports composition and musicology through commissions of works, through acquisitions and publications, by organising concerts and festivals (International Week of New Music; International Festival Meridian), as well as through traditional partnerships with the most important concert and educational institutions in Romania (Radio Romania, National University of Music in Bucharest, “George Enescu” National Museum, “George Enescu” Philharmonic in Bucharest, “Gheorghe Dima” National Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca, “George Enescu” National University of Arts in Iași, etc.).

conf. univ. dr. Florinela Popa

Bibliography

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