Orchestral Suite No. 3 | |
---|---|
"Villageoise" | |
Orchestral music by George Enescu | |
![]() Georges Enesco in 1930 | |
Key | D major |
Opus | 27 |
Composed | 1937 | –38
Dedication |
|
Performed | 2 February 1939 Carnegie Hall |
Movements | 5 |
The Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, Op. 27, subtitled "Villageoise" in French ("Săteasca" in Romanian), is an orchestral composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1937–38.
In 1936, Enescu received a commission from the New York Philharmonic-Symphony orchestra for an orchestral composition to be premiered in January 1938. He began work in April 1937, though he incorporated into the new work sketches that had been made earlier. Although the score of the "Village" Suite was virtually completed in late 1937 or early 1938, Enescu was not yet satisfied that the score was quite yet ready, and postponed the performance. [1] The final touches were put to the suite, according to a note in the manuscript, on 4 October 1938, at the composer's villa, Luminiș, in Sinaia. [2] The delayed first performance took place on 2 February 1939 at Carnegie Hall in New York by the New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer. [3] Although contemporary reports at the time of the premiere said the score was also dedicated to the New York Philharmonic-Symphony, [4] [3] [1] the score as published in 1965 bears a dedication to the memory of Elena Bibescu. [5]
The suite is in five movements, each bearing a programmatic title in French:
The work follows a programme presenting a day-night-day sequence, as Enescu had done nearly forty years earlier in his Op. 1, Poème roumain, and would do again two years later in the suite Impressions d'enfance for violin and piano, Op. 28. Nevertheless, Enescu transforms his descriptive writing into the realm of absolute music in one of his most sophisticated orchestral compositions ( Malcolm 1990 , 205). Programme music, however, is rare in Enescu's output. Apart from the two works just mentioned, he touched on it in some of the Pièces impromptues for piano (1913–16), and programmatic elements remain concealed in the Third Symphony and the tone poem Vox maris . [6]
There is considerable disagreement about the forms of some of the movements, as well as the larger question of whether Enescu employs cyclic procedures in this work. [7]
George Enescu, known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor, and teacher and is regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history.
Symphony No. 1, Op. 13, in E♭ by the Romanian composer George Enescu reflects the composer's training in both Vienna and Paris. In the former location he studied the Brahmsian tradition with Robert Fuchs, and in the latter the French tradition with Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré.
Vox maris, Op. 31, is a symphonic poem composed between 1929 and 1954 by the Romanian composer George Enescu, dedicated to the memory of the great Romanian pianist Elena Bibescu.
The two Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11, for orchestra, are George Enescu's best-known compositions. They were written in 1901, and first performed together in 1903. The two rhapsodies, and particularly the first, have long held a permanent place in the repertory of every major orchestra. They employ elements of lăutărească music, vivid Romanian rhythms, and an air of spontaneity. They exhibit exotic modal coloring, with some scales having 'mobile' thirds, sixths or sevenths, creating a shifting major/minor atmosphere, one of the characteristics of Romanian music. They also incorporate some material found in the later drafts of Enescu's Poème roumaine, Op. 1.
The Sonata No. 3 in A minor "dans le caractère populaire roumain" for violin and piano, Op. 25, is a chamber music composition written in 1926 by the Romanian composer George Enescu. The score, published in 1933, is dedicated to the memory of the violinist Franz Kneisel. It is one of the composer's most popular and at the same time most critically respected works.
The Impressions d'enfance, Op. 28, is a suite for violin and piano written by George Enescu and completed on 10 April 1940. The score is dedicated to the memory of Eduard Caudella, the composer's first violin teacher.
Symphony No. 2, Op. 17, in A major by the Romanian composer George Enescu was written in 1912–14. A performance lasts about 55 minutes.
The Symphony No. 3, Op. 21, in C major is a large-scale orchestral-vocal composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu. While it was first written in 1916–18. the composer revised it numerous times over the following decades.
The Symphony No. 4 in E minor is an orchestral composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, left incomplete at the composer's death, but finished in 1996 by Pascal Bentoiu.
The Symphony No. 5 in D major is a large-scale composition for orchestra, tenor soloist, and female choir by the Romanian composer George Enescu, using a text by the Romanian poet Mihai Eminescu. Drafted in 1941 and partially orchestrated at some later date, the symphony was left unfinished at Enescu's death, but has been completed posthumously, first partially by Cornel Țăranu in 1970–72 and 1990, then in complete form by Pascal Bentoiu in 1995.
The Chamber Symphony, Op. 33, in E major, is a symphony written for twelve instruments, and the last work finished by the Romanian composer George Enescu.
Piano Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 30, is a chamber-music composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1943–44.
The Piano Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 16, is a chamber music composition by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1909 and first performed in Paris the same year.
The Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 29, is a chamber music work by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1940.
The String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 22, No. 2, is a chamber music work by the Romanian composer George Enescu, composed mainly between 1950 and 1951, though it has a lengthy pre-history and received a number of revisions in 1952 and possibly early 1953. The score is dedicated to the American pianist, composer, and arts patron, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. A performance of it lasts about 25 minutes.
The Sonata No. 1 for Piano in F-sharp minor, Op. 24, No. 1, is a piano sonata by the Romanian composer George Enescu, completed in 1924.
The Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano in F minor, Op. 6, is the second violin sonata by the Romanian composer George Enescu, completed in 1899.
The Cello Sonata No. 2 in C major, Op. 26, No. 2, is a sonata for cello and piano by the Romanian composer George Enescu, written in 1935. A performance lasts about 30 minutes.
The String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 22, No. 1, is a chamber music work by the Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu, composed between 1916 and 1920. A performance of it lasts about 45 minutes.
Poème roumain is an orchestral work, Op. 1, written by Romanian composer George Enescu in 1897. Composed when he was 16 years old, it is Enescu's first orchestral piece. It premiered in 1898.