Irina amintiri despre mama ei,doamna Emilia Comisel [english]

Irina amintiri
I acted my whole life, by love for the art of oral tradition(folk music primarily), which led me to make the effort to understand the essence of penetrating mind and exceptional wealth endowment, the poetic and musical level of our people, and the desire of making this art- endless source of inspiration, to a maximum number coming young musicians, who studied at conservatories of music . Therefore, I considered teaching folklore at universities not only, but also in schools at all levels, starting at an early age by raising awareness of youth for the aesthetic value, national and international importance of this art.
I developed the Course folk music( for the achievement of which I traveled for years, the entire country, collecting, analyzing and classifying material, a huge priceless artistic value, in large part unknown), at the time, filling my soul with national treasure, and many collaborations in music textbooks, served this noble goal.
Prof. univ. etnomuzicolog, Emilia Comişel
Emilia Comişel was born on February 28,1913 in Ploieşti. Her parents:
Maria Georgescu(daughter of priests and teacher working households, with specialty flowers) , and George Comişel (from Ogretini- Prahova) violonist, teacher, then(after universitary studies), professor of music and mathematics, choir conductor, leading for years Society of Music Teachers` choir from Prahova county. They offered to their daughter a beautiful spiritual life by appropriation instruments (violin and piano) and a rich repertoire of folkloric and workship music, by participation in church choirs, jointly with the three brothers and two sisters : Ioan- economist; Florin- composer, pianist , conductor for choir and orchestra (he had as pupils Marin Constantin leader of Madrigal-choir, and Ion Baciu orchestra-conductor in Iassi, Ploiesti and Bucarest), collector of folk Roumanian music; Romulus- engineer; Victoria-Viorica- music teacher, violonist-member of the orchestra, singer in choral ensembles in Ploieşti and researcher of children`s folklore; Maria-Marcela another violin-teacher. All family commuted to Bucarest to rejoice attending opera performances and Romanian Athenaeum concerts.
After taking thorough musical initiate in her family, Emilia Comişel continued specialized studies in the Royal Academy of Music where she have had the chance to be guided by the most competent professors (Ioan Chirescu-theory and solfegium; Alfonso Castaldi-harmony; Alfred Alessandrescu-counterpoint; Constantin Brăiloiu-music history and folklore; George Breazul-Wikipedia and teaching music; Dimitrie Cuclin-music aesthetics and forms; Ştefan Popescu-choir conducting; Paul Jelescu-piano. Decisive for choosing future profession (folklorist-ethnomusicolog), was the overwhelming influence wich has had on her the personality, pedagogical competence and scientific work (creation) of the ethnomusicology global-developer and the International Archive of Folk Music(Geneva) designer, Constantin Brăiloiu, totally dedicated to serving Romanian and universal folklore, with a huge power work, „genius of the method” as he was called by André Schaeffner. He managed to gather, to inflation and train a group of young musicians-among which included the Emilia Comişel- his students, then collaborators and friends, over time experts in the field, which followed him and have managed on his work. Other professors, critics, composers: Dumitru Georgescu Kiriac Carmen choir`s creator and conductor, Ion Croitoru and Gheorghe Cucu musiciens of high-grade, high sensivity composers and refinement, and other representatives of the Pleiad of first half of the twentith century, through their dedication and belief work tirelessly, with very exceptional results, they knew to inspire to E.C. love for Romanian folklore.
With a will and ambition ceaselessly, in accordance with the principles appropriated from her parents, Emilia Comisel has continued along the whole life, until the age of 95 when she defeted a stroke momentum. She traveled the country far and wide, first as a student and disciple of Constantin Brailoiu, sometimes together with members of Dimitrie Gusti`s sociological teams , then as experienced folklorist, either alone or with colleagues from Bucarest (Mariana Kahane, Elisabeta Moldoveanu , Elisabeta Suliţeanu, Ovidiu Bârlea, Hari Brauner, Alexandru Tiberiu, Mihai Pop), or from province, with students groups, or daughter Irina, to collect folk music(she recorded and trascribed over 9000 melodies),for to be always present among folk art demonstrations, to enter the artistic genius of the Romanian spirituality. So she managed on to produce anthologies, articles, concerts, lectures, radioshows(Cycle 360 popular songs) about these folk-singers unknown (whom she gradually discovered by movements in the country), scientific communications in the country and abroad ( France, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Albania, Italy, Germany, Canada) and she shown to both nationals and foreigners, this Romanian treasure. She colleted folklore at Romanians from Bulgaria, Albania, Yugoslavia, Canada. She discovered, guided in collecting folk material and promoted, in competitions as Floarea din Grădină,Maria Tănase, Maria Lătăreţu, New Song in Mehedinti, and so on, a number of young talented folk repertoire owners with autentic and beautiful voices: Angelica Stoican (Mehedinţi), Oană Augustin(Hunedoara), Cornel Borza(Bihor), Liviu Vasilică(Teleorman), Anuţa Tite and Gheorghe Turda(Maramureş), Maria Tanasă(Fălticeni) and many others; all have become, over time, loved and appreciated by the public,all have passed on their language repertoire of traditional folk, forming and training groups of young performers. Other performers Prof value, were followed with interest and advised whenever the opportunity arose, or even have become Romanian Folkore Lady’s collaborators: Maria Lătăreţu, Maria Tănase, Ileana Constantinescu, Elena Jurjescu, Maria Tripon, Gavriil Prunoiu(performer, and teacher of singing folk), Valeria Peter-Predescu, Ileana Rus, Lucreţia Ciobanu, Maria Ciobanu, Floarea Calotă, Maria Tănase-Marin, Floarea Tănăsescu and we be forgiven if we don’t remember them all.
Emilia Comişel scientific career has seen an upword trend from quality of field collected and collaborators, since student, the Archive of Folk Romanian Composers’ Society, to the researcher(1949),then senior researcher and music section head in the Folklore Institut Constantin Brăiloiu,Bucarest, where she made thousands of musical transcriptions, resulting numerous studies and articles, and as associate resercher at the Institute of Southeast European Studies(1967). From the beginning she conducted courses of guidance for understanding the folklore of various parts of the country, and to acquire the method of colletion, analysis and classification of material collected on the ground(in situ),together with colleagues: Gheorghe Ciobanu, Paula Carp, Ion T. Florea, Mircea Chiriac, Florin Comişel, Gheorghe Zamfir, with colleagues from Cluj and Iaşi, the young members of The Romanian Composer Union, and for younger aninexperienced musiciens of the Institut. The same for all orchestras, across the country.
Senior level works she did to develop the field of folklore and musicology, some of them published in: Revue des études sud-est européenes(Bucarest), Studii şi cercetări de Istoria artei, Contemporanul, Revue Roumaine, Colocvii, Scânteia, Datini (Bucarest), Demos(Germania), Journa of the International Folkmusic Council(Londra), Akordi(Belgrad), Sud-est Europ(Atena), Les Colloques de Wégimont(Belgia), Sociétées européenes (Paris), Studia memoriae Belae Bartok sacra(Hungary), in noumerous magazines of the profile of Roumania and abroad: (France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia), between which include: Course of Folk music- two editions1967,1969Anthology of CountyFolk Pădureni; Children folklore- Anthology and study; Studies of ethnomusicology-two volumes; numerous studies and articles: On Bela Bartok footsteps in Hunedoara, About architectural form of folk music; Common folk music elements of the southeast Europe; Preliminaries to the scientific study of the ballad; The folklore of the calendaristic customs;Family folklore customs; Calendaristic folklore customs; Carols collections( Dă pă dubă, săraca; Colindăm Domnului bunu); Radu Anghel(with Ovidiu Bârlea); Contributions to the knowledge of the folk epic singing; Eléments archaïques dans les coutumes nuptiales du people roumain; La musique de la ballade roumaine; Mélodic structure of folk dances and many others brought her national and international recognition. So she has won numerous awards at home and abroad: Order Labour-class III, Cultural Merit-class IV, Honorary Professor of Music National University, Honorary Citizen of more cities and towns in Romania, Romanian Academy Awoard, Cultural Merit Officer(2006), Grand Prix UCMR(2007), the Ministry of Culture Award(2007), dozens od honorary diplomas. She became a member of IFMC( London), and IMS( International Musicological Society(Basel), honorary member of Enescu Foundation(Montreal-Canada), a member of administrative functions juries Contests, Festivals and Conferences of Yugoslavia, France, Italy, or just participating, always with scientific(Germany), leading to self Romanian folk, connecting friends and making collaborations with specialists from many countries some of them, the eldest- friends and collaborators of Constantin Brailoiu.
Teaching and pedagogical career was(with some time delay in reaching the maximum level of title and prevent a higher education HCM for his doctorate) by Emilia Comisel, with the same consistency and determinatoin, with the same high level of professional awareness, and research. Home care: Folk Song Course, development was achieved in 1967. The students now had a rich an well documented material by which to learn. In Bucarest Conservatory E.C. now Professor,head of Depatrment of Folklore, has prepared countless young people, most of them- prominent music teachers musicologists or composers. Another set of students have become folk music researchers, or ethnomusicologists, actives participants in the musical life of the country, not only in national juries of folk festivals, and competitions but in their field collections, discoverers and metors of some talented artists coming form various parts of the country to promote its national competitions,many of them holders of universitary titles, Dr.( Cristina Rădulescu, Eliye Stan ,Florin Georgescu, Petre Brâncuşi, Marioara Murărescu, Luminiţa Vartolomei, Steluţa Popa, Gheorghe Oprea, Gruia Stoia, Irina Dragnea) and many other with exemplary lives and exceptional career.All of them become agents of their colleagues and teachers, can be found in all of country music events, often as member of jury of the contests, (first President of jury in Floarea din Gradina was Emilia Comisel, then Mihai Florea), along with other leading musicians: Florin Comişel, Tiberiu Alexandru, Sabin Drăgoi, Simona Patraulea, Gheorghe Ciobanu, Paula Carp, Mircea Chiriac, Hari Brauner, Zeli Suliţeanu, Mariana Kahane, reposible and highly demanding, jury, which pomoted only authentic values, unlike the current situation, when pell-mell promote good and bad.
Starting in 1967, Emilia Comisel made a determined effort to collect and publish the scientific work of Constantin Brailoiu, moving abroad, contacting all his friends, who in one way or another, they data were known Romanian scientist. Resulting six volumes (the first two bilingual): Works- Constantin Brailoiu , that is present, in addition to reviews, articles, essays, throughout his scientific work and two volumes of Corresondance together with Irina Dragnea, her daughter, and a Monograph. Thus, this tireless researcher, she reminded (to the)Romanian musical world, the great world class scientis musician .Also ,due to Emilia Comisel endeavours, who made the necessary official steps, the corpses of Constantin Brailoiu were brought into the country, and the Institue of Ethnography and Folklore in Bucarest bears his name.
We cannot omit a significant aspect, namely, that international relation in the life and work of the folklorist. At a period when there was a strict barrier to the movements of any kind, or professional travel abroad when approvals from Iorga were expected three or more months, E.C. managed to maintain professional relationships and friendships with an incredibly number of people all over the world, to be present (with all weights and miseries which were sometimes), simply as State or organizational functions, festivals, competitions and conferences in France, Yugoslavia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, Albania, USSR, Canada, to depoy and receive specialised literatures by and form a large number of professionals and future professionals, being constantly aware of everything they published. In terms of intrenal and external correspondence we can include thousands of letters,while the number of thouse who loved E.C. amounts to the same level, being on the entire social scale, from simle peasents in different areas, students and teachers, many participants from the Sinaia Sommer Courses by world-renowned scientists, but only those who were connected with artistic and scientific world. If we recall some, we have injustice on others, and yet: Mircea Eliade, Paul Collaer, Gilbert Rouger, Ernest Ansermet, Jean Absil, André Schaeffner, Yvette Grimaud, Jean-Jacques Nattiez, Octavian Bohociu, prof. Vera Pavlović Leposava-peinter(she had a vital contribution in recognition of Romanian language and Romanian ethnicity in Serbian Banat), Dragoslav Antonievć, Dragoslav Dević, Elly Bašić, Milica Ilijin and all the Yugoslav folklorists` pleiad, Ramadan Sokoli, and his wife, Rayna Katzarova , Alexandru Neagu, Yves Lenoir, Suzanne Zigler, Dr. A. Chodowski, Mircea Manole, Nicolas Treatt(from Tretiakov family), Paul Posquin, Benjamin Suchoff, Georgio Nataletti, Ioana Ungureanu, Violeta Dinescu- former Mrs. Comişel`s student, a famous composer and an ardent upholder of the Romanian music abroad, Dagmar Falk, Ion Onciul, Bože Ianučić, an excelent Romanian fiddler from Timoc.
The entire country, but especially the realm of the soul of the Prahova- researcer, where an erudit local propagator, Prof.Alexandru Bădulescu Museum Director Paul Constantinescu, for years, promotes local cultural and artistic values, and Banat with leading people as Dorel Covaci, Augusta Anca, Ion Oltean, Gelu Stan, Ovidiu Papană, Ion Caliman(Emilia Comisel and the Romanian folklore, ed.Nagard, Lugoj, 2003), first counties who celebrated the researcher on the significant moments, then Teleorman, Mehedinţi, Hunedoara, Bihorul, Moldova, Maramureşul, Oaşul will not forget so fruitful collaboration with Emilia Comisel.
An employment relationship coupled with a mutual esteem and sympathy with concrete results conducted over a long period between E.C. and Prof. Francisc Laszlo from Cluj, resulting publications based on material provided by E.C.(Constantin Brailoiu- supporter of the ethnomusicology without borders ed.Eikon, Cluj-Napoca,2006). But we cannot, however to strive so easily, grasp the vastness of such a scholarly work.
Little of stature, buxom, blonde, blue eyes clear, with a bright smile and a wide through excellent sociable, cheerful, open and spontaneous, always ready to give a reply spiritual or tell a joke(which sometimes forgot the gist, to the amusement and high spirits of the assistance) ready to give advice or to pity those in trouble( even when she herself had trouble) and conscientious worker d`arrache pied, with the performance of undeniable truth and mercilessness in full security and the world artistic value, quality exceptional skills due to not allowing anyone to pass before her, was immediately popular and remained unforgettable, going directly to the soul of the collocutors. Everybody wanted her company and belived that one can request help, and rightly so, because my mother does not refuse anyone and she accomplished almost 100% the promises made.
Be proud and happy that we had and still have such people, culture spreader, who put his life in service of nobles ideals, which were and are able to create a world-generations- after their own image.
On April 18, Mrs. Emilia Comişel passed into another dimension where everything is light and spiritual serenity, determination and diligence in full good and well, hence she looks with worry and sympathy the current world in which youth (in great proportion) is confused and has to few ideals.
His memory be eternal!
18.mai 2010 Prof. dr. în muzică, Irina Dragnea.