This piano nocturne was initially composed by Călin-Andrei Burloiu during university exams in 2007. Then, in 2020, during pandemic lockdown was rearranged with microtones in 72-EDO.

Its Romanian name is "Cireșar. Sesiune de examene" which is roughly translated as "June. During exams". But the word "cireșar" (roughly read "chireshar") is actually an old name for the month of June, one that tells that it's the season of cherries. Note that the word "cireșar" is sometimes wrongly spelled "ciresar" when a Romanian keyboard is not used.

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThdH39F2gxk

Cireșar (June)

Roughly composed around 2008, "Memories" is a piano solo waltz composed by Călin-Andrei Burloiu and dedicated to his mother.

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcbHbDtqoD8

Memories

“La Cornu” is a microtonal composition composed and played on all instruments by Călin-Andrei Burloiu. It reflects the melting pot of Eastern Europe where near east influences are mixed with western influences. The composition has an Eastern modal foundation, which conforms with the Makam system, with a Western harmony roof that features chords, polyphony and occasional tonal bricks.

The composition features more musical notes than are available in the standard tuning popular today. The keyboard used for playing the piano, organ and synth changes the tuning in real-time when the left and center pedals are pressed by using a software developed by the author. On one hand, the keyboards and the piano reflect the West, but on the other hand, the tuning used, 72-EDO, supports the East feeling, which is further emphasized by the usage of the buzuk (buzuq), a Lebanese stringed instrument, and the bendir, a frame drum typically found in Ottoman classical music. To support higher frequencies, the percussion also features a maraca, an instrument found further West in Latin America, reflecting the globalization that also spread to Eastern Europe.

The name of the composition references Cornu, a village in Romania where the author was preparing to travel when he first started working on the composition. However, this is by no means a music typical to that area of Romania, but it can bring up sounds from the bigger geographical region, spreading from Romania to the Balkans and the whole former Ottoman territories.

For a Western ear, the work sounds like a fight between major and minor, but for a Eastern ear, it clearly sketches Ottoman Makam Segah.The usage of the makam explains the tuning. The character of Segah is shown as both a folky major and a mysterious Phrygian. Makam Segah is used in a lot of areas from Eastern Europe and is typically harmonized as a major with the finalis on the third. Eastern Orthodox church mode Legetos is similar, but has a more minor/Phrygian feeling. The problem is that today, the intonation of Segah lost its microtones in Eastern Europe, but gained Western harmony. This work is an attempt to recover the microtonal inflections without sacrificing harmony by approximating 7-limit just intonation intervals in a 72-EDO tuning.

YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF6a-wSxjP4

La Cornu

Viburnum Opulus is a musical project created by Călin-Andrei Burloiu for his compositions which represent a melting pot of Western and Near Eastern influences, as reflected by his birth place, Bucharest, Romania, which was historically pressed by empires from different directions and was tickled by various migrations.

From Western harmony and polyphony to Eastern melodies infused with modes and makam structures, the project challenges a revival of the past sounds which were microtonal in nature. The newer Western and modern influences from the Eastern Europe geographical area added harmony to the music while sacrificing microtones. The project tries to prove that microtones are possible with harmony by integrating modern concepts of just intonation and tuning theory.

The composer's first name, Călin, is a flower name in Romanian which has the scientific Latin name Viburnum Opulus.

Viburnum Opulus

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