Profile of Georges Enesco on Famous Like Me

George Enescu (known in France as Georges Enesco) (August 19, 1881, Liveni – May 4, 1955, Paris) was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher, preeminent musician of the 20th century, one of the greatest interpreters of his time.

Biography

He was born in the village of Liveni, Dorohoi County at the time, nowadays Botosani County , Romania, and showed musical talent from early in his childhood. His father presented him to the professor and composer Eduard Caudella, who admitted him at the Conservatoire from Iaşi. At the age of seven, he was guided to follow his studies at the Vienna Conservatory. Here he studied with great professors such as Joseph Hellmesberger, Robert Fuchs, and Sigismond Bachrich, and graduated before his 13th birthday, earning the silver medal. In his Viennese concerts young Enescu played Brahms, Sarasate and Mendelssohn Bartholdy. In 1895 he went to Paris to continue his studies. He studied violin with Armand Marsick, harmony with André Gédalge, and composition with Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré.

Many of Enescu's works were influenced by Romanian folk music, his most popular compositions being the Romanian Rhapsodies (1901–1902), the opera Oédipe (1936), and the suites for orchestra. He also wrote five symphonies, a symphonic poem Vox maris, and much chamber music (three sonatas for violin and piano and two for cello and piano, a piano trio, quartets with and without piano, a dixtuor, an octet for strings, a piano quintet, a chamber symphony for twelve solo instruments). Some of his creations were composed in Sinaia, at his villa in Luminiş.

In 1923 he made his debut as a conductor in a concert given by the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York. He also conducted the New York Philharmonic between 1937 and 1938.

He lived in Paris and in Romania, but after World War II and the communist occupation of Romania, he remained in Paris.

He was also a noted violin teacher. Yehudi Menuhin, Christian Ferras, Ivry Gitlis and Arthur Grumiaux were amongst his pupils. He promoted the contemporary Romanian music, playing works of Constantin Silvestri, Mihail Jora, Ionel Perlea and Marţian Negrea.

On his passing in 1955, George Enescu was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

The symphony orchestra of Bucharest is named in his honor; that city also houses a museum in his memory.

Works

Operas

• Oédipe. Lyric tragedy op. 23 (1921-31; UA 1936)

Symphonies

• 4 early simphonies (D minor, 1894, F major, 1895, F major, 1896, E-flat major, 1898)
• Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major op. 13 (1905)
• Symphony No. 2 in A major op. 17 (1912-14)
• Symphony No. 3 in C major op. 21 for piano, choir and orchestra (1916-18, rev. 1921)
• Symphony No. 4 in E minor (1934; unfinished, performing edition made by Pascal Bentoiu)
• Symphony No. 5 in D major for tenor, female choir and orchestra (1941; unfinished, also prepared by Pascal Bentoiu)
• Chamber symphony in E major for 12 instruments op. 33 (1954)

Other orchestral works

• 3 Overtures (1891-94)
• Tragic Overture (1895)
• Triumphant Overture (1896)
• Violin concerto in A minor (1896)
• Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra (1896)
• Piano concerto (1897; unfinished)
• Romanian suite No. 1 (1896; unfinished)
• Romanian suite No. 2 (1897)
• Romanian poème op. 1 with Male choir (1897)
• Sinfonia concertante B minor for Violoncello and Orchestra op. 8 (1901)
• Suite No. 1 in C major op. 9 (1903)
• Suite No. 2 op. 20 (1915)
• Suite No. 3 villageoise in D major op. 27 (1937-38)
• 2 Romanian rhapsodies op. 11 (1901)
• 2 Intermezzi for Strings op. 12 (1902-03)
• Suite châtelaine (1911; Fragment)
• Concert overture sur des thèmes dans le caractère populaire roumain A major op. 32 (1948)
• Isis (symphonic poem, left incomplete, prepared by Pascal Bentoiu)

Chamber works

String quartets

• String quartet no. 1 in E-flat op. 22 no. 1 (1916-20)
• String quartet no. 2 in G op. 22 no. 2 (1950-53)

Sonatas

• Violin sonata no. 1 in D major op. 2 (1897)
• Violin sonata no. 2 in F minor op. 6 (1899, premiered 1900)
• Violin sonata no. 3 in A minor op. 25 dans le caractère populaire roumain (1926)
• Violoncello sonata no. 1 in F-sharp minor op. 26 no. 1 (1898)
• Violoncello sonata no. 2 in C major op. 26 no. 2 (1935)

Other chamber works

• String octet in C major op. 7 (1900)
• Decet in D major for 2 flutes, oboe, english horn, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and 2 horns op. 14 (1906)
• Piano trio (1897)
• Piano trio in A minor (1916)
• Piano quartet no. 1 in D minor op. 16 (1909)
• Piano quartet no. 2 in D major op. 30 (1943-44)
• Piano quintet (1895)
• Piano quintet in A minor op. 29 (1940)
• Cantabile e presto for flute and piano (1904)
• Aubade for String trio (1899)
• Andante religioso for 2 cellos and organ (1900)
• Impressions d'enfance for violin and piano op. 28 (1940)
• Concertpiece for viola and piano (premiered 1943)

Piano music

• Includes: three piano sonatas (op. 24 #1 (F-sharp minor, 1924), 2, 3 (D major, 1935); #2 either lost or improvised), three piano solo suites (op. 3, 10, 18; #2 basically the same in content as suite #2 for orchestra)
• Variations sur un thème original for two pianos (op. 5, 1899)

Other

• Allegro de concert for Harp (1904)

Songs

• Trois Melodies op. 4 (1898)
• Sept Chansons sur le vers de Clement Marot , op. 15 (1908)

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