Caudella, Eduard (EN)

Caudella Eduard, *3 June (22 May) 1841 Iași, †15 April 1924 Iași, Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. The grandson of Filip Caudelli and son of Francisc Caudelli, he came from a family with a musical tradition. He began his musical training with his father, Francisco Caudelli (1812–1868), a cellist, composer and director of the Conservatoire in Iași; he then studied the violin under H. Riess in Berlin (in 1853–1857 and 1859–1860), with L.J. Massart and D. Allard in Paris (1857–58), and finally with H. Vieuxtemps in Frankfurt am Main in 1857 and 1860–1861. Between 1855 and 1861, he gave concerts in Paris, Berlin and Frankfurt. After returning to his homeland, he settled in Iași, initially working as a violinist at the court of Prince Ioan Cuza (1861–64); between 1861 and 1901 he was violin professor, and between 1893 and 1901 also director of the Conservatoire in Iași; at the same time, he served there as conductor of the Teatrul National (1861–1875), a German theatre company (1868–1870) and the Italian opera (1870–74), where he conducted works by, among others, G. Verdi, G. Donizetti, G. Rossini and V. Bellini, as well as pieces by Romanian composers – E. Wachmann and A. Flechtenmacher. In 1875, he initiated and, until 1877, delivered lectures on musical aesthetics at the University of Iași. He also published reviews and articles in numerous Romanian periodicals. 

Romantic in its aesthetic and compositional-technical means, Caudella’s work also reveals strong links to Romanian musical folklore, evident particularly in the way he adapts the conventional musical language by incorporating certain modal characteristics of Romanian folk music. These features are most evident in Caudella’s symphonic works and in the opera Petru Rares, one of the first Romanian operas of national character. Today, Caudella is regarded as one of the classics of the 19th-century Romanian national school. Among his pupils was G. Enescu, on whom Caudella had a decisive influence. He persuaded him to study at the Vienna Conservatory, and subsequently followed his development, remaining on friendly terms with him until the end of his life.

Literature: G. Georgescu Theologu Eduard Caudella: 60 de ani de activitate artisticăI, Bukareszt 1916; I. Staicovici George Enescu in lumina cronicilor lui Eduard Caudella (“G. Enescu in the light of Eduard Caudella’s reviews”), “Studi di cercetǎri de istoria artei” XX, 1973; I. Maftei Personalităti ieșene Chișinău 1992, vol. 1, pp. 168–169; V. Cosma Interpreți din România. Dirijori – cântăreți – instrumentiști – regizori, Bucharest 1996, pp. 120–121.