George

Enescu
1881-1955
 George Enescu (known in France as Georges
Enesco) was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist,
conductor and teacher.
Enescu was born in the village of Liveni (later
renamed "George Enescu" in his honor). He showed
musical talent from early in his childhood. A child
prodigy, Enescu created his first musical composition
at the age of five.
Shortly thereafter, his father presented him to the
professor and composer Eduard Caudella. At the age of
seven, he entered the Vienna Conservatory, where he
studied with Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr., Robert Fuchs,
and Sigismund Bachrich.
Enescu at 5 years old

Enescu, eight years old,

student at the conservatory

Costache
and Maria
Enescu
 He graduated before his 13th birthday, earning the silver medal. In
his Viennese concerts young Enescu played works by Brahms, Sarasate,
Mendelssohn and Vieuxtemps
Vienna Conservatory awarded him on 15 iulie 1893.
 In 1895 he went to Paris to continue his
studies. He studied violin with Martin
Pierre Marsick, harmony with André
Gedalge, and composition with Jules
Massenet and Gabriel Fauré. His class
colleague was Maurice Ravel.
 On February 6 1898 he made his debut as a
composer in the Concerts Colonne in Paris with
firsth opus, Poema Romana.
In the same year he began to conduct
concerts in Bucharest and started giving violin
recitals.
Admired by Queen Elizabeth of Romania
(Carmen Sylva famous art lover) he was often
invited to perform songs for violin at Peles
Castle in Sinaia.
George Enescu
in 1895
Paris Conservatory awarded him on 2 august 1899.
 From the early years of the twentieth
century date his best known compositions,
such as the two Romanian Rhapsodies
(1901-1902), Suite no. 1 for orchestra
(1903), Symphony no. 1(1905), Seven
Songs on lyrics by Clément Marot (1908).
 Many of Enescu's works were influenced by
Romanian folk music, his most popular
compositions being the two Romanian
Rhapsodies (1901–1902), Œdipe (1936), and
the suites for orchestra. He also wrote five
symphonies (two of them unfinished), a
symphonic poem Vox maris, and many chamber
music songs (three sonatas for violin and piano,
two for cello and piano, a piano trio, two string
quartets and two piano quartets, "dixtuor", one
octet for strings, a piano quintet, and a chamber
symphony for twelve solo instruments).
 His musical activity alternates between
Bucharest and Paris, taking tours in
several European countries, with
prestigious partners as Alfredo Casella,
Pablo Casals, Louis Fournier, Richard
Strauss.
Since 10 April 1902 he is a
member of the French
Composers Society.
 During World War I he remained in
Bucharest, directed the Ninth Symphony
of Ludwig von Beethoven, Hector Berlioz
compositions, Claude Debussy, Richard
Wagner and their creations.
During that time the first contest of
composition "George Enescu“ was
organised.
Enescu at 25 years old.
 After the war he continues his work, divided
between Romania and France. He remained
unforgettable for the interpretations of Bach and
Chausson’s works.
On 8 January 1923 he made his American
debut as a conductor in a concert given by the
Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New
York City, and he subsequently made frequent
returns to the United States.
 It was in America, in the 1920s, that
Enescu was first persuaded to make
recordings as a violinist. He also appeared
as a conductor with many American
orchestras, and in 1936 he was one of the
candidates considered to replace Arturo
Toscanini as permanent conductor of the
New York Philharmonic.
 His work as a teacher also become of
considerable importance. Among his
students are violinists Christian Ferras,
Ivry Gitlis, Arthur Grumiaux and Yehudi
Menuhin.
 From 1921 to 1931 he worked on the
opera Oedipus, the monumental dramatic
and musical creation, which only in recent
years began to impose on the world opera
theaters.
This opera is dedicated to his wife
Maria Rosetti Tescanu (Maruca), whom he
married on December 4, 1937.
 The Oedipus opera was composed in a
mansion in Sinaia built on an artificial hill in the
middle of the woods.
This opera is based on two pieces of
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colon and Oedipus,
King. Opera librettist was Edmond FLEG.
The premiere of the opera took place in Paris
on March 13, 1936 and enjoyed immediate
success.
 Once the communist dictatorship started, he
was exiled to Paris, where he died in the night of
3 to 4 May 1955.
George Enescu was buried in the Père
Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Today, Bucharest houses a museum in his
memory; likewise, the Symphony Orchestra of
Bucharest and the George Enescu Festival are
named and held in his honor.
George Enescu – National Museum in Bucharest
Enescu’s house in Liveni
The presentation was made by:

Vacariu Malin
Suhan Diana
Rohozneanu Loredana
Teacher: Oana Vasilache