George Enescu19 (August 1881 – 4 May 1955)

GEORGE ENESCU was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist ,conductor, and teacher.

Enescu was born in Romania Dorohoi County, he showed musical talent from early in his
childhood. His father presented him to the professor and composer Eduard Caudella. On
5 October 1888, at the age of seven, he became the youngest student ever admitted to
the Vienna Conservatory.

He graduated before his 13th birthday, earning the silver medal. In his Viennese concerts
,he played works by Brahms, Sarasate and Mendelssohn. 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 .

On 6 February 1898, at the age of only 16, George Enescu presented in Paris his first
mature work, Poema Română, played by the Colonne Orchestra. His most popular
compositions being the two Romanian Rhapsodies. He also wrote five symphonies -two
of them unfinished, a symphonic poem Vox maris, and much chamber music -three
sonatas for violin and piano, two for cello and piano, a piano trio, two string quartets
and two piano quartets, a wind decet ,an octet for strings, a piano quintet, and a
chamber symphony for twelve solo instruments.

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.He 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.

In 1932, Enescu was elected a titular member of the Romanian Academy. In 1935, he
conducted the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris and Yehudi Menuhin , he conducted the
New York Philharmonic between 1937 and 1938.

He lived in Paris and in Romania, but after World War II and the Soviet occupation of
Romania, he remained in Paris.
He visited New York again in 1946 as a teacher. In January 1950, during the 60th
anniversary season of his debut as a violinist, he gave a farewell concert with the New
York Philharmonic Orchestra in the multiple capacity of violinist, pianist, conductor, and
composer.

He then returned to Paris, where his last years were marked by near poverty and poor
health. In July 1954 he suffered a stroke and remained an invalid for his remaining days.

On his death in 1955, George Enescu was interred in Père Lachaise Cemetery in
Paris.Today, Bucharest houses a museum in the Cantacuzino Palace in Bucharest in his
memory and his house in Dorohoi is open to the public.

George Enescu was one of the most prodigiously gifted musicians of the 20th century.He
not only distinguished himself as a violinist, conductor and composer, but was also an
accomplished pianist, able cellist and a famous violin teacher.