Eugen Coca (1893-1954)

[Christopher]

It's only a 2-minute-long lollipop but I thought I would share this piece I came across by a very unsung composer from Moldova, as I enjoyed it very much. I enjoy finding randoms such as this online.

Moldovan dance "Joc" (pronounced zhok, means 'game') for piano and clarinet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_1AV5Lx3zc

From wikipedia:

Eugen Coca was born on April 15, 1893 in Cureșnița of Soroca district – died on January 9, 1954 in Chișinău. He was a violinist and composer from the Republic of Moldova.

He composed stage, symphonic, instrumental, chamber, choral, vocal and film music; elaborated folk songs. There are two symphonies and two symphonic poems, which became well known. One being the opera "Firebird" (Pasarea Măiastră) which is based on a popular legend.

There was a ten-year music school that took its name, which was later divided into two musical high schools: "Ciprian Porumbescu" high school and "Serghei Rahmaninov" high school.

Biography
Eugen Coca, violinist, conductor and composer, was born on 3 April 1893 (old style) in Cureșnița, Soroca District. From the early childhood, he was taught to play violin with his father, Costache Coca, a well-known musician (lăutar) from Soroca.

He became a violinist in the orchestra of the Drama Theater and in the folk music orchestra led by A. Poleacov (Chișinău, 1905–1908), while studying the violin with T. Grama and I. Finkel.

He was then a violinist in the Symphonic Orchestra of Eupatoria (1912–1913), in the orchestra of the Sibiriakov Opera Theater in Kostroma (1913–1914) and S. Zimin in Moscow (1914–1915).

From 1915 to 1917, he studied the violin under the guidance of professors Tall in Moscow and Malishevski in Odessa. He was a violist in the George Enescu Orchestra in Iași (1919–1925). He took the lessons of violin from I. Finkel (1924–1926) and of composition form Gheorghi Iaţentkovski (1932) at Unirea Conservatoire in Chișinău.

Eugen Coca was a professor of harmony, theory and composition and conductor at the Music School in Cetatea Albă; a violinist at the Bucharest Radio Orchestra (1934–1940); a conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of the Philharmonic in Chișinău (1944) and of the Radio Orchestra in Chișinău (1944).

Member of the Romanian Composers Society (1935); member of the Union of the Composers of the Republic of Moldova, the branch of the Union of the Composers of the USSR (1940). He was awarded with the second honorable mention for the symphonic painting (1936) and with the first honorable mention for the Romanian Capricious (1937) and with the Award for the "George Enescu" composition. He had pupils like B. Podgurschi (violinist). He collaborated with: I. Dailis, N. Cerenesa, T. Iaţkovski, J. Bobescu, G. Enescu, L. Feldman, V. Jianu, Gh. Manole, C. Ţurcan, A. Theodorescu, N. Propişcean, V. Boz, M. Duda, P. Bacinin, etc.

[TerraEpon]

Nice little piece, though sounds like something that'd be in an pedagogical book -- not that this is bad mind you, as there's plenty of very tuneful 'academic' clarinet music of this nature of which this reminds me of.

[Christopher]

Two other pieces I found on youtube by Coca, though they don't do anything for me...

Flueraşul (for clarinet and piano) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1A1_XIDd1E
Doina (for soprano, choir and accordion) - https://youtu.be/ZH_J58Zczyk

[semloh]

Yes, a little lollipop. It sounds as if it was based on a local folk tune.
Thanks, Christopher.

[TerraEpon]

Two other pieces I found on youtube by Coca, though they don't do anything for me...

Flueraşul (for clarinet and piano) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1A1_XIDd1E

....that's an oboe.

I like the first piece much better, though the end bit of this one is nice....does sound a bit like a folk tune.

[Christopher]

Two other pieces I found on youtube by Coca, though they don't do anything for me...

Flueraşul (for clarinet and piano) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1A1_XIDd1E

....that's an oboe. 

Oh, the shame  - I am so sorry!!  Esp as I did the oboe for 3 years at school...