George Enescu - Orchestral Works Vol. 2 (Cristian Mandeal)

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George Enescu - Orchestral Works Vol. 2 (Cristian Mandeal)

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Enescu's symphony No. 2 was written during years when he was very busy as a leading concert violinist of his times. He was always a careful and slow worker, so like many of his major compositions this symphony took several years to complete. It was first performed in Bucharest on March 28, 1915, an event that could not make a large impression in Western Europe, which was then consumed in World War I. The A major tonality and the bustling, optimistic quality of the opening of the symphony are reminiscent of Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, although the harmonies soon prove to be more enriched, in a style somewhere between the late Romantic and the Impressionistic. The first theme is broad and arching. Before the introduction of a second theme there is an unusual group of short motives, lyrical in nature, all extensions of elements of the first subject. Therefore, in this unusual structure Enescu manages to start the process of symphonic development before he has finished the exposition section of the form. The second theme itself is both lyrical and energetic, and again comprises a group of melodic ideas, which allows itself to slip away from the expected new key of E but into E flat, a distant key which gives an impression of a large, all-embracing structure. After a very rich and imaginative development and recapitulation, the movement ends in A minor.

The slow movement occupies a strange tonal position: It features the clash of the keys of B flat and G sharp. These two notes surround the symphony's home key of A, and their conflict tends to pull both tonalities towards that note, reaffirming the central tonality of the symphony without really using it much. The orchestration is breathtakingly beautiful, the music is passionate, and the musical effect (due to the unusual use of tonality and other factors) is remarkably original. The final movement begins in E flat, which is as remote from A major as possible. This again evokes a sense of mysterious spaces, of distances. The slow, ominously martial introduction uses a descending phrase which reappears later in Enescu's great opera Oedipus as a motive of Fate. The orchestra bursts out into a unison phrase, launching the Allegro body of the movement proper, and banishing the Fate motive. The vigorous and heroically martial rhythms propel the symphony toward a conclusion. Suddenly the Fate motive reappears, but the opening themes of the symphony recur in a thrilling coda. Worthy as it is, this symphony is not frequently played. Its 55-minute length makes it a risky choice for the major spot on a symphony concert.

Joseph Stevenson @ AllMusic.com