Turcanu, Dan

Dan Ţurcanu

Seven Easy Pieces for Violin Beginners
(2018)

Emerging amongst the circle of a new generation of artists, Dan Turcanu’s musical identity can be summed up as an ebullient violinist combined with the assiduousness of a composer’. The two sides are evenly balanced in his artistic career and have shaped his personality.

To date, he has arranged over hundreds of pieces and this evoked a great passion in him to create didactic works, constructive books and inspiring educational compositions which led to the creations and publications of Pizzicato –  Violin Lesson Book with Chamber Music Arrangements; Easy Oriental Pieces for Violin Beginners, Learn The UAE Anthem for Violin Beginners Eleven Miniatures for Four Violins – based on music composed by Lucian Beschiuetc..

The seven pieces are dedicated to violin players who are at the critical beginning stage, offering a choice of music that is not too technicallychallenging. Each piece is made with a strong character and mood, in an effort to encourage more focus on sound production and expressiveness at the earliest levels.

In the first piece, Spring Breeze, the student should focus on creating long phrases, with soft dynamics and an overall gentle character.  A Jolly Stroll offers an opportunity to familiarize with the Swing eighth notes on the violin and focuses on the shifting of the first finger on the left hand.  Columbian Checkers challenges the violinist with South-American rhythms and the right hand bouncing techniques. The fourth piece, Forgotten Scent, once again proposes an easier piece that focuses on long phrases and a soft sound while Bouncy Leaps is a movement with energy, speed and focus on the rapid changes of strings is essential. An interesting aspect of this piece is that it requires only the usage of open strings, first and third finger.  The Sad Story, as the name suggests, proposes a very different mood from all the previous pieces, and yet again, it challenges the violinist with long phrases and discrete subtleties of the bow-hand.  The finale, Polka, is a piece with great energy andchallenges the right hand of both articulation and string level control.