Carmen Petra Basacopol

“Carmen Petra Basacopol, a very sensible composer of symphony, concerto, and especially of chamber music, brought about an important stylistic diversification of the post Enescu Romanian music. She valued the harp, which she competently brought back into focus. This interest resulted in high appreciation abroad, for she has actually contributed to expansion of expression rendered by the instrument through very original timbre combinations. Her creative personality is also evidenced by her original ideas in musicology and in Romanian spirituality.

Basacopol studied at the Academy of Music of Bucharest and took specializing courses in Darmstadt in 1968. She was a graduate of the faculty of philosophy of Bucharest and became a doctor of musicology at Sorbonne in 1976. Her diploma paper is entitled “Originality of the Romanian music as seen in the musical works of Enescu, Jora, and Paul Constantinescu.” In 1962, she was appointed to the teaching staff of the Academy of Music of Bucharest where she taught harmony, counterpoint, and musical forms.

Also a prominent figure at contests, Basacopol was a member of the jury at the international harp contest of Jerusalem in 1979, and at the “Valentino Bucchi” composition contest of Rome in 1986. She has also been awarded many prizes. She won awards at the World Youth and Student Festival of Berlin in 1951, in Bucharest in 1953, and in Warsaw in 1955. She received the prize of the Union of the Composers and Musicologists of Romania in 1974, 1979, 1981, 1985, and 1987. In 1980, she won the George Enescu prize of the Romanian Academy.

Basacopol has composed music for ballet performances, opera, symphonic vocal music, symphonic music, chamber music, lieds, and choral music. She has also written works on musicology.” (Irina Odagescu)