The Distant Mountain – 7 poems on lyrics by Ion Codrescu
Interests: music, painting, haiku
The 7 poems based on lyrics by the painter-poet Ion Codrescu have been written by the composer Daniela Cojocaru at the beginning of 2016. The Haiku poems hold a special resonance for those shaped in the western culture, and understanding their hidden meaning and translating them into music make up an ambitious and original endeavour. The composition technique is determined by the structure of each verse and the archetypal elements hold a central position within the overall modern musical language.
The lyrics relieve a distinct sensibility and a skill for observation and detail; these splendid characteristics of the Haiku poetry of this distinguished poet have been the source of inspiration for a type of music that follows the miniature message, extremely rich in meaning. The images projected are the artwork of Ion Codrescu which represents the Haiku art.
Ion Codrescu lives in Constanţa, Romania. He teaches graphic arts in an art school and history of art at Ovidius University of Constanţa, as an associate professor. Art and poetry are two paths of his life. In 1992 he founded the Constanţa Haiku Society and the Albatross haiku journal, which he published as its editor for a decade. In 1992 and 1994 he organised the Constanţa International Haiku Festival. Between 2004 and 2007 he edited and published the international haiku journal Hermitage. In 2007 he received his Ph.D. in Visual Arts from the National University of Arts in Bucharest with a thesis on Image and Text in Japanese and Western Haiga Painting. He is the author of sixteen books of poetry, haiga, and essays published in Romania, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Germany, the USA, and Japan. His poems, poetic prose and essays have received many prizes in Great Britain, Japan, Serbia and Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, France, and the USA, and have been published in 19 other countries.
As an artist he has illustrated more than 120 books, magazines and journals. He has made more than 50 exhibitions all over the world. His paintings are housed in private and state collections from many countries including Setagaya Art Museum, Gunma Prefectural Museum, Hikaru Museum - Japan and Union College Collections - the USA.
