Aspects of piano music performed in the last editions of the Romanian Music Festival

Abstract

The Romanian Music Festival takes place in Iași and is organized by two of the most prominent institutions of culture and artistic education: the “Moldova” Philharmonic and the “George Enescu” National University of Arts. In 2025, at its twenty-seventh edition, the festival continues to bring to Iași’s stages performers from both Romania and abroad, offering audiences music written by classical and contemporary Romanian composers. Each musical genre and each instrument holds its own significance within the vast sonic panorama; however, time has shown that solo piano music is indispensable to a festival of this scope. From the piano recital programs of recent editions, we have selected a number of lesser-known works, with the aim of deepening the understanding of compositional techniques and stylistic features. Our focus began with Nocturne in F-sharp Minor and Nocturne on a Moldavian Theme by Dinu Lipatti. We then explored the innovative style and technical challenges of Constantin Silvestri through his final piano work, Piano Sonata No. IV, Rhapsody in Three Episodes. Finally, we turned our attention to a composer closer to our own time, Tudor Dumitrescu, analyzing four preludes from his oeuvre. Through the analytical perspective developed herein, we highlight lesser-performed works and underscore the importance of recognizing and promoting Romanian composers.