Reflection of the Other in the Byzantinologist Gheorghe C. Ionescu’s Lexicographic Pursuits
Reflection of the Other in the Byzantinologist Gheorghe C. Ionescu’s Lexicographic Pursuits

Author(s): Elena Chircev
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Music
Published by: Editura ARTES
Keywords: dictionary; lexicon; Byzantine music;
Summary/Abstract: Teacher, conductor, Byzantine musicologist, Gheorghe C. Ionescu (1920-1999) devoted the last years of his life to researching the history of Romanian Byzantine music and published in specialized journals several comprehensive papers that address various topics and bring back in focus personalities of the past. Due to his solid musical and theological training, guided by prestigious teachers from the interwar period, the distinguished musician had a rich artistic and cultural contribution to the second half of the previous century. The change of the political regime in Romania allowed him to return to the pursuits of his adolescence and youth and to continue his research of Orthodox church music in Romania. Along with his papers at various scientific events and the published studies, his tireless work materialized, soon after 1989, in the writing of a lexicon dedicated exclusively to those who had researched Romanian Byzantine music, in 1997. It was followed by a chronological dictionary, the foreword of which was written by the academician Virgil Cândea, who appreciated the importance of the book and the quality of Teacher Ionescu’s work. Entitled Muzica bizantină în România [Byzantine Music in Romania], the book appeared posthumously, through the care of his family, in 2003. Although the centenary of his birth passed almost unnoticed, both productions are valuable working tools for all those who will continue to value Orthodox church music in our country. One more reason to evoke this personality who put a lot of passion in illustrating the richness and beauty of music sung in Romanian churches, two decades after the book was printed.

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