Rodica Lucia Sutzu (15 April 1913 - 8 May 1979) was a Romanian composer[1] and pianist[2] who studied with Nadia Boulanger and served as the Romanian Radio piano soloist for almost 20 years.[3]

Sutzu was born in Iași to Elena Jules Cazaban and Rudolf Sutzu.[4] Her father was a publicist and a descendant of the aristocratic Soutzos family. Her mother came from a family of artists and musicians which included the composer Mansi Barberis. Sutzu married Radu Diamandi Demetrescu, who served as the chief of staff for Romanian Deputy Prime Minister Mihai Antonescu.[5]

Sutzu attended the Iasi Conservatory and the Ecole Normale in Paris. Her teachers included Diran Alexanian, Nadia Boulanger, Aspasia Burada, Alfred CortotGeorge Dandelot, Petre Elinescu, Gavriil Galinescu, Blanche Basscouret de Geraldi, Lazare Levy, Sofia Teodoreanu,  and Ginette Waldmeyer.[3]

Sutzu was the Romanian Radio piano soloist from 1937 to 1955, accompanying artists such as Mircea Barsan, George Enesco, and Theodor Lupu, and performing with major orchestras as a soloist. She became a piano professor at the George Enesco Music School in 1959, and lectured at the Bucharest Pedagogic Institute until 1968. She was awarded the George Enesco Composition Prize in 1933, and the Workers’ Medal in 1953.[3]

Her compositions included:

Chamber edit

  • Piece, opus 4 (cello and piano)[3]
  • Prelude, opus 28 (oboe and piano)[3]

Piano edit

  • Ballad in c minor[3]
  • Concert Waltz (two pianos)[3]
  • Etude, opus 12[3]
  • Five Miniatures, opus 27[3]
  • Obsession, opus 1[3]
  • Perpetuum Mobile, opus 11[3]
  • Rondo, opus 13[3]
  • Sonata in C Major, opus 7[3]
  • Suite, opus 25[3]
  • Suite for Children[3]
  • Three Nocturnes, opus 10[3]
  • Toccata, opus 23[3]
  • Two Preludes, opus 5[3]
  • Virtelnita, opus 21[3]

Theatre edit

  • Allons y d’un pas Flaneur (play; based on text by L. Delesco)[3]
  • Ghici-ghici (puppet theatre; based on text by N. Stroescu)[3]
  • Tu Comprendras (play; based on text by E. Peretz)[3]

Vocal edit

  • Ballad (six voices, two pianos, and orchestra)[3]
  • Divertisement, opus 22 (chorus)[3]
  • “Five Love Songs” (based on text by Armenian troubadours)[3]
  • “Imi Sint Ochii Plini de Soare” (two voices)[3]
  • “Prayer, opus 20”[6]
  • “Three Miniatures, opus 16” (text by Cazimir)[3]
  • “Waltz for Voice and Piano, opus 24”[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Stewart-Green, Miriam (1980). Women composers : a checklist of works for the solo voice. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall. ISBN 0-8161-8498-4. OCLC 6815939.
  2. ^ Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Don A. Hennessee (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International encyclopedia of women composers (Second edition, revised and enlarged ed.). New York. ISBN 0-9617485-2-4. OCLC 16714846.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ "Rodica Suțu", Wikipedia (in Romanian), 2020-07-05, retrieved 2021-10-05
  5. ^ Sutzu, Rodica. "Ancestry® | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records". Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  6. ^ Dumitrescu-Bușulenga, Zoe; Sava, Iosif (1989). Eminescu și muzica (in Romanian). Editura Muzicală. ISBN 978-973-42-0010-8.