Born in 1940, he studied composition with Mihail Jora at the University of Music in Bucharest. He is now a Professor of Composition at the same University. His motto is 'towards the archetype'. One of the most interesting and original Romanian composers, he has dedicated himself almost entirely to rediscovering and exploring fundamental cultural and trans-cultural patterns and symbols.
Irinel Anghel

Selected works: Combinaisons en cercles for viola, cello, percussion and tape (1965), Concentrique for ensemble and tape (1969), Quatre dimmensions en temps for orchestra (1969), Trison, electronic music (1972), Spectacle pour un instant for ensemble and tape (1974), Metabizantinirikon for violin and tape (1985), Finalis for ensemble and tape (1989), Alpha & Omega for orchestra and tape (1989), in par for trombone and tape (1993), Negantidiadua for piano, saxophone, percussion, trombone and voice (1995), Quindeci Mortuorum for orchestral wind instruments (1994), Non-Symphony No. 5 for orchestra (1995), Beitintervallum for piano, clarinet, violin and tape (2002).

Combinaisons en cercles was written in 1965. The piece was originally intended to be performed at night in a park to a background sound of crickets. The work reveals three sound layers of the levels of human existence. On the first level, the surface is shaped by discontinuities and ephemeral and disparate events which suggest the day-time consciousness. The second level is made up of recollections and anticipations of the events on the first level. Finally, on the third and deepest level, one merely hears complex pedal sounds, primarily consisting of the vibrations of a universal whisper, which reveal a hidden Nature. This level is of an imperturbable tranquility, which evokes the nocturnal level of a cosmic subconsciousness.
Octavian Nemescu