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ROMANIA
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Introduction
20th-century Romanian classical music has meant, to all intents and
purposes, a single figure, the violinist and composer George Enescu (1881-1955), one of the major
composers of the twilight of Romanticism, who evolved in his later works an
individual, complex, and leaner style with elements of folk music. The very
attractive music of this undervalued composer deserves a resurgence of
general interest.
Enescu, out of necessity, spent much of his working life outside Romania,
and no other major Romanian composer emerged in the first half of the
century. Paul Constantinescu (1909-1963) produced mainly late-Romantic
concertos, of which the Violin Concerto (1957) is
pleasant but unremarkable. The second half was dominated by the excessively
repressive Communist regime, and the paucity of musical quality scarcely
deserves comment. Composers such as Doru Popovici (born 1932) and Sigismund
Toduta (born 1908) seem to have retreated into a soft regurgitation of
early Romanian musics, while the Symphony No.4 `From West to East'
by Serban Nichifor (born 1954) has to rank among the worst ever written, a
set of musical postcards of all that is most kitsch in American music,
popular and serious. There is also a Symphony No.3 `From East to West'. As Romania develops after the
liberation from communism and more of its music becomes disseminated, a
clearer picture of the music of such composers as Stefan Niculescu (born
1927) may emerge to revise this otherwise gloomy picture.
Two composers of Romanian origin who left their native country deserve
mention. Roman Vlad (1919) moved to Italy in 1938, becoming an Italian
citizen in 1951. Marius Constant (born 1925) settled in Paris following his
studies there (1945-1949). He has pursued an unconventional path using
conventional means, drawing on an eclectic range of styles, often with a
touch of humour, regularly with jazz elements. He came to prominence with
the Twenty-Four Preludes (1958) for orchestra, and his subsequent
orchestral works include Turner (1961), a reaction to three Turner
paintings. In Les chants de Maldoror (1962) a reciter's words
prompt reaction from the conductor, and consequently from the orchestra of
twenty-three instrumentalists in aleatoric fashion, while ten cellos have
pre-determined material. His concertos are entertaining and sometimes
startling: the Barrel Organ Concerto includes reworkings of music
by Mozart and Beethoven written for mechanical organ, and an astonishing
range of sonorities from the solo instrument; it is recommended. Chorus and Interludes for horn and orchestra is almost pure jazz,
with improvisatory tenor saxophone, double bass, piano and drums, the
colours of the first two neatly matching those of the solo instrument. He
collaborated with Peter Brook in the famous reworking of Bizet's Carmen (1981), and he has written a number of ballets and
music theatre works with Roland Petit, while Candide
(1970, concert version 1971 for harpsichord and orchestra) was written for
the famous mime artist Marcel Marceau. His activities as a conductor of new
music have been considerable, and he founded the celebrated ensemble Ars
Nova in 1963.
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ENESCU
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ENESCU
George (also spelt ENESCO, Georges)
born 19th August 1881 at Liveni-Virnar
died 4th May 1955 at Paris
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George Enescu, acknowledged as the father of modern Romanian music, was
also one of the greatest violinists of the century, an infant prodigy who
entered the Vienna Conservatory at the age of 7, as well as a pianist,
organist, and cellist, a distinguished teacher (the violinists Menuhin and
Grumiaux, and the pianist Lipatti were among his pupils), and, to a lesser
extent a conductor, who always claimed that composition was for him the
most important of his activities, although his output was necessarily
limited.
He studied in Paris (1893-1897), and spent much of his life in France (with
regular visits to his estate in Romania), reflected in such works as the Sept chansons de Clément Marot (1908), with their
delicate French romantic charm. French sensibilities remained a factor in
his music, but it was with music of a strong Romanian folk flavour that he
first came to fame, in particular the two Romanian Rhapsodies for
orchestra of 1901. These, in particular the stunningly exciting No.1 -
perhaps the most convincing fusion of folk (here Romany) rhythms and
orchestral forces yet written - have threatened to eclipse the rest of his
compositional achievement outside his native country.
His music is one of the last flowerings of the Romantic age, and is tinged
throughout with the suggestions of Romanian folk music, but only rarely
brings an overt folk idiom to the fore. He is in many respects the Romanian
equivalent of such composers as the Pole Sz ymanowski and the Czech Suk, and like the
latter, his own personal language only achieved full fruition in his last
works.
The opulent, thick late Romantic textures of his symphonies have dissuaded
many, but would probably attract as many more were they better known. In
the Symphony No.1 in E flat (1905) the strong echoes are those of
Brahms, but the work has an effective, rather sensuous slow movement, and a
rousing ending. The Symphony No.2 in A major op.17 (1912-1914) is
a less obviously earnest, more complex work, with sensual echoes ofStrauss and Szy manowski, combined with a suggestion of folk influence and
with cyclic construction. It is a mixed work, at times demanding emotional
attention, at others long-winded, but those who respond to the last flush
of the twilight of Romanticism may find it rewarding. The opulence of the
polyphony of the closing music, ending in a kind of Edwardian
disintegration, is as rich as anything of the period. The rhapsodic Symphony No.3 in C op.21 (1916-1918, written while the composer
was looking after wounded troops on his estate in Romania) uses piano,
organ and wordless chorus as well as orchestra, not for the massed effect
one might expect from the previous works, but for an intense and still rich
and lyrical, sometimes almost introverted, expression of colour effects
(with a lovely delicate and Impressionist close), in a work that is more a
triptych of symphonic poems than a symphony. A fourth (started 1934) and
fifth symphonies were left incomplete on his death.
Of his other orchestral music, the three orchestral Suites are in
many ways more rewarding than the symphonies, as the narrower ambition of
scale seems better to suit Enescu's language. The Suite No.1 in C,
op.9 (1903) has a remarkable opening for strings and timpani, while the
very attractive Suite No.2, op. 20 (1915, also in C) is one of the
earliest works with a strong neo-classical flavour, with extended
polyphonic writing in the first movement (prefiguring Ro ussel and Martinu,
complete with piano in the orchestra), recalling Enescu's encyclopedic
knowledge of the music of Bach. This is combined with touches of Enescu's
typically sensuous and heady colours and with Romanian folk-music, in a
work that deserves wider appreciation, standing as it does at the
crossroads between two musical epochs. The Suite No.3 in D major
op.27 (1937), is subtitled Suite villageoise ( Village Suite), and is different in tone and intent, describing
his childhood village with beautiful late-Romantic detail and
contemplation, full of lovely transformations of folk material in the
process, as well as a more complex and more dissonant harmonic language.
Enescu's chamber music includes three works for larger chamber forces, the Deux intermèdes op.12 (Two Intermezzi, 1902-1903) for
strings, the Dixtuor op.14 (1906) for wind instruments,
gentle and sonorous in spite of its symphonic scale, with a touch of the
exotic in its middle movement, and the very assured Octet
op.7 (1900) for strings, in which the whole piece is one sonata form, the
four movements providing exposition, the development of the first and then
the second subjects, and the recapitulation in addition to their
traditional contrasts. Of the two string quartets, the String Quartet No.1 in E flat major op.22 (1920) is over-long,
while the String Quartet No. 2 in G (1950-1953) is full of French
colour effects. Of his violin sonatas, the third (op.25, 1926, with strong
Romanian influences) is the best known, while the second (op.6, 1899)
exemplifies the twin influences of the French and of Brahms.
But (the youthful Octet apart) Enescu's masterpieces are
to be found among his last works, as he changed the polyphonic flow into a
more complex and more personal harmonic style, and converted the thick
orchestral textures into a more luminous use of colour. Chief among these
is his only opera, Oedipus, based on Sophocles' tragedy,
which he started in 1921 (though it had been conceived earlier) and
finished in 1936. Again paralleling the sensual Mediterranean colours of Szymanowski (including at one point a
nightingale), its individuality is founded on its echoes of Romanian folk
music sublimated into the general style, and the extensive use of chorus.
The libretto, by Edmond Fleg, distils the complete Oedipus trilogy into one
opera. The two longer central acts of the four-act form provide the drama;
the first act is a prologue, the last an epilogue. The ending (unlike the
Greek models) is one of reconciliation and peace, with Oedipus retiring
peacefully, his eye-sight restored, to die as an old man. The score, with
its subtly shifting rhythms, its beautiful details of orchestration, and
extensive use of chorus, has a strong French influence entwined with the
Mediterranean atmosphere. Oedipus is Enescu's finest
work, and given the immediacy of the plot, it is surprising that this opera
is not central to the modern repertoire. More likely to be encountered is
the marvellous Vox Maris op.31, a symphonic poem describing a
storm overtaking a small craft, the lifeboat being launched, and the sea
swallowing up the small craft to the sound of the Sirens. The sea then
subsides, satiated. It briefly uses soprano, tenor and chorus to create the
effect of a human drama overcome by the power of the sea. The shifting
rhythms of the sea (including the broken effect of turbulent storm-waves)
and the drama are beautifully evoked, and Enescu produces vivid colour
effects (including a wind-machine) within the largely Impressionist sound.
It was begun in 1929 but not finished until 1951, and long thought to be
unfinished.
Enescu taught at the École Normale (Paris), at the American Conservatory in
Romania, and later in New York (1946-1950). He founded his own string
quartet (1904), and the George Enescu Symphony Orchestra (now the George
Enescu State Philharmonic Orchestra) in Bucharest in 1917, and was notable
for his partnerships with Thibaud and Cortot.
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works include: (33 acknowledged works)
- 3 symphonies (No.3 with organ and chorus) and Chamber Symphony
- Sinfonia Concertante for cello and orch.
- Concert Overture, 2 Romanian Rhapsodies, 3Suites (No.3 Suite villageoise) and Voix de la nature for orch.; symphonic poem Vox Maris for
tenor, chorus and orch.
- 3 violin sonatas; string octet; Dixtuor for winds
- 3 piano sonatas (the second never written down)
- opera Oedipus
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recommended works:
Chamber Symphony
op.33 (1954)
Octet
op.7 (1900) for strings
opera Oedipus (1921-1936)
Romanian Rhapsody No.1
(1901) for orchestra
Romanian Rhapsody No.2
(1901) for orchestra
Suite No.2 in C
op.20 (1915) for orchestra
Suite No.3
(Suite villageoise) op.27 (1937) for orchestra
Symphony No.3 in C op.21 (1919)
Vox Maris
op.31 (1950) for tenor, chorus & orchestra
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bibliography:
N.Malcolm George Enescu - His life and Music, 1990
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