Studii si Cercetari de Istoria Artei : Teatru, Muzică, Cinematografie (Dec 2015)
Preotul Gheorghe I. Cotenescu (1886-1965), protopsalt, profesor, compozitor, dirijor, publicist şi om politic
Abstract
The intellectual portrait of Father Gheorghe I. Cotenescu sketched out in this essay performs a dual function. While paying tribute to the work and fate of a neglected, but fascinating inter-war scholar, it serves as a tool which allows us to focus on the reasons leading to his rather minor contribution to the proper music composition process. He used most of his remarkable energy in his generation’s fight for the nation-state building (Greater Romania), and later on in the benefit of the church, seminary schools, politics, adult education lecturing, and local community, thus practically wasting his considerable gifts for music composing. For many years, he was one of the leading teachers, conductors and musicologists, preparing lots of talented students for careers in their chosen fields. When finally forced out to abandon his music teaching career by the far-right militarist regime and the impending second world war, there was nothing left for him, and the coming to power of the totalitarian communist regime completed his downfall. As a prisoner of conscience, treated as a pariah and avoided even by his closest friends, Cotenescu simply disappeared from the memory of the music specialists. However, his many-sided and time-consuming activities are strong valid reasons for re-valuation of how we measure his “successful” musical career.
