Octavian Nemescu is one of the most important composers of our days, a distinctive phenomenon of introspective originality.

He has built his career by contributing mainly to the progress of the Avant-garde movement of the first half of the 20^th century, although he did not, as opposed to other artists from that time, deny the tradition, but he has tried to reconfigure the generator sources of the musical universe.

Born in Pașcani, in 1940, he studied composition with Mihail Jora, he participated in master-classes in Darmstadtand he received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree that he prepared under the supervision of Sigismund Toduță. He has been a teacher of the "George Enescu" Music High School in Bucharest for over a decade, and he has been teaching composition at the National University of Music Bucharest after 1990.

Octavian Nemescu tied his name to the apparition of the spectral movement in the Romanian music of the 60s - 70s, whom he theorized, with the help of other generation colleagues of his, and tried to present it to the public in works such as The Illuminati, Combinations in Circles - 1965, Suggestions IV, Memorial - 1968, etc.

The worth of Octavian Nemescu's compositions has already been certificated by the countless awards offered to him by the Union of Romanian Composers and Musicologists, whom he has received during his life, such as the Aaron Copland International Prize for Composition, which was awarded to him in 1970, the Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences Prize in 1980, or the National Order of the 'Star of Romania', in the rank of Grand Officer in 2004.

But composer Octavian Nemescu remains a spirit passionate about myths and ancient legends from various European and Extra-European cultures, whom he retells using personal sonorous combinations, he is a permanent searcher for the archetypes which are present in the natural phenomena , such as the passage of time and the shaping stages of a hypothetic moment from the beginning and to the infinity, these principles are reflected in his works Alpha-Omega - 1988, Finalis Septima - 1989, the PreSymphony No.6 -2000, the PluriSymphony No.1 - 2002, the PostSymphony No. 2 - 2007.

Octavian Nemescu has tried to awaken the music and its relationship with its listeners, using the creative energy of the unconscious and subconscious level of the human psyche to express profound feelings, from joy and sadness to a dilated consciousness, by tying the succession of quotidian moments in a music cycle, which was composed to accompany the listener during the hours of the day, from dawn till late at night.

You will be listening to a few expressive moments from Octavian Nemescu's music, if you listen to this edition of the Contemporary Soundsprogramme on Friday, 27^th January, starting at 23:30, which we dedicated to, as an anniversary gift.