1881, LIVENI – 1955, PARIS

ROMANIAN COMPOSER, VIOLINIST, PIANIST, CONDUCTOR AND TEACHER

GEORGE ENESCU

Motto

‘This story begins far away, on the hills of Moldavia and ends here, in the heart of Paris. In order to struggle from the small village I was born in to the big city, where my life comes to an end, I had to walk a dark and bumpy road. The journey was long, of course. However, it seemed so short…’(George Enescu)

Many of Enescu's works were influenced by

Romanian folk music, his most popular compositions

being the two Romanian Rhapsodies (1901), the

opera Œdipe (1936), and the suites for orchestra. He also wrote five symphonies (two

of them unfinished), a symphonic poem Vox maris, and much chamber music.

In 1939 he married Maria Rosetti (known as the Princess Cantacuzino), a good friend of the future Queen Marie of Romania. While staying in Bucharest, Enescu lived in the Cantacuzino Palace on Calea Victoriei (known as George Enescu National Museum, dedicated to his work).

He lived in Paris and in Romania, but after World War II and the Soviet occupation of Romania, he remained in Paris.He was also a noted violin teacher. Yehudi Menuhin, Christian Ferras, Ivry Gitlis, Arthur Grumiaux, and Ida Haendel were among his pupils. He promoted contemporary Romanian music, playing works of Constantin Silvestri, Mihail Jora, Ionel Perlea and Marţian Negrea.

He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.

On his death in 1955, George Enescu was interred 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—founded by his friend, musical advocate, and sometime collaborator, the conductor George Georgescu—are

named and held in his honor. Recently, Bacau International Airport was named George Enescu International Airport.

His whole career and contribution to Romania’s music gave birth to the International Music Festival ‘George Enescu’ where important artists worldwide present their works and perform chamber and classical music.

The International Enescu Society is a non-profit organization fostering research, study, performance, and promotion related to all aspects of George Enescu's both works and life.Fields of activity include academic conventions, concerts, publications, recordings, and exhibitions. The society encourages an open exchange of ideas on the composer's oeuvre, and welcomes all private initiatives meant to further broaden the knowledge of all aspects of George Enescu‘s

artistical and cultural contribution.

Slowly but unavoidably the composer George Enescu has starting to make his way up to his rightful place as one of the greatest authors of his time. 56 years after the death of this great musician he is finally not longer measured by his potential to be used as a propaganda tool, but by the number of enthusiastic listeners touched by his music. Their community is constantly

becoming more and more numerous.