THEODOR GRIGORIU (b.1926): Trinity Concerto - Byzantium after Byzantium I for Violin and Orchestra, The Great Passage - Byzantium after Byzantium II for Solo Violin, The Eternal Return - Byzantium after Byzantium III for Violin and Piano.

Description: These three works form a cycle in which the composer explores ideas related to the ideals of Byzantine religious music and thought. The composer's vocabulary makes ample use of the modes and melodies of Byzantine church music, both authentic and as the basis for his own melodic material. Rumanian folk music also contributes to his æsthetic, setting an unmistakably nationalistic stamp on the music. The violin concerto is a substantial half-hour piece in three movements, the first intensely melodic and intricate, the second powerfully tragic, and the finale restlessly in motion throughout. Not surprisingly the shade of Enescu is never far in the background of all these works, though Grigoriu's translucent and original orchestral palette is very much his own. The four-movement solo sonata also strongly recalls Enescu, and in fact one movement is based on a quotation from his Third violin and piano Sonata, while also making use of the melodic shapes and modes of Byzantine psalms. The violin and piano sonata is more classically conceived in a richly eloquent romantic style, again with echoes of Enescu and inflections of traditional Rumanian musics. Sherban Lupu (violin), Andrei Tanasescu (piano), Sinfonia da Camera; Ian Hobson.