Famous Composers - George Enescu

What is important in art is to vibrate oneself and make others vibrate.” George Enescu

The National Company Romanian Post and Romfilatelia introduce into circulation on Wednesday, September 10th this yearthe issue entitled Famous Composers. George Enescu, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the passing into eternity of the Romanian musical genius. The issue consists of a postage stamp with the face value of Lei 25 and First Day Cover.

Composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher, an undisputed personality of Romanian culture, included in the gallery of the great figures of humanity, George Enescu is, without a doubt, a country brand.

Born in 1881 in the village of Liveni-Vârnav, near the Moldavian town of Dorohoi, he began playing the violin at the age of four and the following year he gave his first concert. He studied composition under the guidance of Eduard Caudella, a well-known opera composer, violinist and conductor. At his encouragement, George Enescu enrolled at the Vienna Conservatory before his eighth birthday and studied violin with Joseph Hellmesberger Jr. and composition with Robert Fuchs. In his memoirs he confessed ‘How could I forget that at the age of eight I was in Vienna, not as a tourist, but as a child who had come to study music in the same place where so many famous composers had written their works’.

At barely twelve years of age, Enescu was already part of Vienna’s musical life, his concerts stirring the admiration of both public and press alike, his manner of interpreting the compositions of Johannes Brahms, Felix Mendelssohn and Pablo Sarasate approaching perfection.

At the recommendation of Josef Hellmesberger Jr, violin professor and son of the director of Vienna Conservatoire, George Enescu was sent by his father to study in Paris. Thus, he perfected his craft at the Paris Conservatoire (1895 – 1899) under the guidance of professor José White and Martin-Pierre-Joseph Marsick for violin, Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré for composition, Ambroise Thomas and Théodore Dubois for harmony and André Gédalge for counterpoint.

On February 6th, 1898, in Paris, the first performance of the ‘The Romanian Poem’ Op.1, performed by Édouard Colonne’s ensemble, took place.

He founded and conducted two instrumental music ensembles in Paris: a piano trio (1902) and a string quartet (1904). Throughout his life, as a violinist, conductor and pianist, he gave countless concerts and recitals in Europe and on the American continent, with major orchestras and leading soloists.

The composer’s most beloved work, a lengthy creative process that began in 1910 (the first sketch is dated 1 January 1910), is Oedipe, Op. 23. Completed in 1931, it was dedicated to Maria Rosetti-Tescanu, who would become George Enescu’s wife in 1937. The world première of Enescu’s masterpiece took place at the Opera Garnier in Paris on March 13th, 1936.

Among the distinctions awarded to him as a sign of appreciation and recognition are: the titles of Officer and Chevalier of French Legion of Honour (1913, 1936), Member of Honour (1916) and Active Member (1933) of the Romanian Academy in Bucharest, Corresponding Member of the Académie des Beaux Arts in Paris (1929), Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome (1931), Institut de France in Paris (1936) and Academy of Arts and Sciences in Prague (1937).

George Enescu will go down in history as one of the most outstanding men of culture of the 20th century; he took on the role of ambassador of music both in Romania and around the world, contributing to the international recognition of Romanian composers, conductors and performers.

The postage stamp of the issue reproduces a portrait-photograph of the composer taken at the end of his studies in Paris, associated with the image of the façade of the Romanian Athenaeum, the emblematic monument of the capital, where Enescu often performed and whose organ was purchased with the direct support of the musician.

By scanning the QR code on the mini sheets with stamps, you will discover the story behind the philatelic issue Famous Composers. George Enescu.

Romfilatelia thanks the representatives of the Romanian Academy, the ‘George Enescu’ National Museum and the ‘George Enescu’ Philharmonic for their collaboration in the development of this commemorative postage stamp issue.