Sabin Pautza beyond borders and time

Abstract

Being part of the group of Transylvanian and Banat musicians who started their activity in Iasi, Sabin Pautza stood out as a complex, original, spectacular personality. The “engine” of his creativity was innovation – as a teacher at the “George Enescu” Conservatory, conductor and composer. A powerful “engine”, assembled from the “model pieces” of the whole European musical culture and of the young but original North American musical culture. Sabin Pautza has attracted students with his original, direct, integrative way of teaching knowledge in the harmony course, bringing together academic and pop-rock-jazz works; he founded one of the most valuable choral ensembles in the country – Animosi –, he has adapted his culture and inventiveness to an astonishing variety of compositional techniques and genres: the choral piece in classical and modern styles, the light music song, the musical, the quartet, the concerto, the symphony. In his youth, he enjoyed public success, the appreciation of the musical profession (including the Romanian Academy Prize), and had his works published on record. His creative adaptation allowed him to establish himself as composer and conductor of the Plainfield Philharmonic, USA. He acclimatized to the American musical environment also as a teacher, orchestrator, conductor. Sabin Pautza has succeeded in transposing famous poems by Mihai Eminescu into music, and his pieces for choir are among the Romanian masterpieces. His music, regardless of genre, has passed all the tests of time with flying colours and is still listened to today with surprise, interest and delight.