Șerban Nichifor

Şerban Nichifor and his wife Liana Alexandra. The couple performed together as Duo Intermedia.

Şerban Nichifor OCB (born 25 August 1954) is a Romanian composer, cellist and music educator.

Biography

Nichifor was born in Bucharest, Romania. He studied at the National University of Music Bucharest from 1973 to 1977 and took composition courses in 1978, 1980 and 1984 in Darmstadt, Germany. In 1994, he received a Ph.D. in Musicology from National University of Music and from 1990 to 1994, also studied at the Theology Faculty of the University of Bucharest.

He has composed many works dedicated to the victims of The Holocaust. According to musicologist Octavian Cosma, Nichifor's eclectic style is based on neoromanticism but has included elements of jazz (in his Third and Fourth Symphonies) and the use of tape recordings as in his opera Domnişoara Cristina. In the 1990s, he "developed a simplified style employing themes reminiscent of Byzantine chant."

Belgian Ambassador Philippe Roland presenting Serban Nichifor with the Order of the Crown in 2008

Nichifor is a professor at National University of Music. He married the late Romanian musician and composer Liana Alexandra in 1978. They performed together as cellist and pianist in the Duo Intermedia from 1990 and were co-directors of the Nuova Musica Consonante - Living Music Foundation Festival.

Prizes and honors

Among Nichifor's prizes and honors are the 1977 Gaudeamus International Composers Award and the Belgian Order of the Crown (conferred in 2008).

Principal works

Opera, symphonic, and vocal-symphonic music

• "Constellations" for Orchestra (1977)
• Symphony I "Shadows" (1980)
• Cantata "Sources" (1977)
• Cantata "Gloria Heroum Holocausti" (1978)
• Opera "Miss Christina" (libretto by Mircea ELIADE,1981)
• Symphony II "Via Lucis" (1985)
• Symphony III "American Symphony - I" (1986)
• Symphony IV "American Symphony - II" (1987)
• Symphony V "Pro Patria" (1987)
• Symphony VI "Time Archways" (1988)
• Cantata "Remember" (1988)
• "Missa da Requiem" (1990)
• Chamber-Opera "Talaria" (libretto by Etienne DE SADELEER, 1994)
• Cantata "Per Christum" (1997)
• "Concerto GRIEGoriano" for Piano and Orchestra (1997)
• Chamber-Opera "Le Martyre de Saint Claude Debussy" (libretto after Claude Debussy and E.A.Poe, 1999)
• "Un Certain Instant" for Cello and Orchestra (2001)
• "Cries from Earth to Heaven" dedicated to the Holocaust Martyrs (2008)
• SHOAH

Chamber, choral, and vocal music

• "Postludium" per Organo (1975)
• "Sorcova" per Coro Misto a capella (1995)
• Quartetto per Archi I - "Anamorphose" (1976)
• "Carols" per Trombone e Percussione (1978)
• "Invocatio" per Flauto e Celesta (1979)
• "Canto di Speranza" per Flauto, Violino, Viola, Cello e Pianoforte (1981)
• "Onirophonie" per Fl., Vn.e Pf. (1982)
• "Chanson d'Antan" per Vn.e Pf.(1983)
• "Carnyx" per Clarinetto (1984)
• "Tango for Yvar" per Pf.(1984)
• Quartetto per Archi II - "Vallons de l'Oubli" (1984)
• "Aprite le porte di questo castel" per Coro Maschile (1984)
• "Morendo" per Cb. e Pianoforte (1985)
• "6 Melodies Irlandaises d'Amerique" per 2 Ob.,C.i. e 2 Fg. (1985)
• "Czarna Rosa" per Mezzo-Soprano e Pf. (1986)
• "7 Canti Rumeni di Natale" per 4 Trombe, 4 Tromboni ed Organo (1986)
• "Horn Call Rag" per Corno e Pf. (1986)
• "Ave Maria" per Soprano ed Organo (1987)
• "Isola di Euthanasios" - Sonata "sopra acqua e pietra" per Pianoforte (1988)
• "Transgressio" per Fl.,Ob. e Fg. (1989)
• "Battuta" per Percussione (1989)
• "Lacrimosa" per Tenore e Pf. (1989)
• "Meditatio"per Organo (1990)
• Missa "Actio Gratiarum Oecumenica" per Coro Misto a capella (1991)
• "Natalis Domini" per Coro Misto a capella (1992)
• "Isihia" per Cello (1992)
• "Epiphania" per Cello e Pianoforte (1993)
• "Rorate Caeli" per Soprano ed Orchestra da Camera (1994)
• "Medium per Arpa" (1995)
• "Medium per Flauto" (1995)
• "3 Christmas German Chorals" for Organ (1997)
• "Hommage a Debussy" per 2 Pf. - ossia Pf. e Nastro Magnetico (1998)
• "La Nuit Obscure" per Orchestra da Camera (1998)
• "Invocation a Themis" per Sax. Alto (2001)
• "Isihia" for violoncello and tape (2002)

Discography

• Șerban Nichifor, Liana Alexandra, Anton Șuteu, Anamorphose, Incantații II, Culori, - Cvartetul Gaudeamus, Formația Musica Nova, LP, Electrecord ST-ECE 01694
• "Olympia Romanian Concert" - "Four Tablatures for Lute by Valentin Greff Bakfark" by Sigismund Toduță, "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra" by Paul Constantinescu, "American Symphony No.4 - From West to East" by Șerban Nichifor, Audio CD, Olympia, London, OCD 417
• Video Music Cyberart - Liana Alexandra, Șerban Nichifor - 12 Variations, Infinite Song, Sticky Dances, Video DVD, Electrecord EDVD 001, Licență Nr. RO8AV20500382
• Music from Romania and Belgium: Cesar Franck, Jacques Leduc, Raoul De Smet, Boudewijn Buckinx, Liana Alexandra, Șerban Nichifor - Duo Intermedia, Șerban Nichifor (cello) and Liana Alexandra (piano), Editura Muzicală, Poziție catalog 038, Licență U.C.M.R.-A.D.A. 5AF081508184
• Luxembourg Sinfonietta - World Premiere Recordings, “La Nuit Obscure”, Audio CD, Editions LGNM, No. 401, BP 828, L-2018 Luxembourg
• 60x60 (2004-2005) Vox Novus VN-001
• 60x60 (2006-2007) Vox Novus VN-002

References

Further reading

• Tartler, Grete (1984). Melopoetica. Editura Eminescu (Romanian)
• Tyrrell, John and Sadie, Stanley (eds.) (2001). "Nichifor, Şerban", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Second Edition, Volume 17, pp. 865–866. Macmillan Publishers Limited ISBN 1-56159-239-0

External links

• Centrul de Informare Muzicală din România – CIMRO. Şerban Nichifor
• National University of Music Bucharest. Serban Nichifor
• Romania-on-line, Who's Who. Serban Nichifor