George Enescu: Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major, Op. 11 | Orchestre National de France & Cristian Măcelaru | George Enescu Festival | 22.09.2023 | Palace Hall

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The Rhapsody No. 1 in A major is dedicated to the composer and pedagogue Bernard Crocé-Spinelli (a fellow student with Enescu in André Gedalge's counterpoint class at the Conservatoire), and is the better known of the two rhapsodies. The essence of this rhapsody is the dance. Enescu claimed that it was "just a few tunes thrown together without thinking about it", but his surviving sketches show that he carefully worked out the order in which the melodies should appear, and the best instrumental setting for each one. It was completed on 14 August 1901, when Enescu was still only 19 years old.

According to the published score, the instrumentation is: 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in A, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets in C, 2 cornets in A, 3 trombones, tuba, 3 timpani, triangle, snare drum, cymbals, 2 harps, violins I & II, violas, violoncellos, contrabasses.

The First Rhapsody is ebullient and outgoing. It begins by quoting the folk song "Am un leu şi vreau să-l beau" (variously translated as "I want to spend my money on drink", "I have a coin, and I want a drink", "I want to spend my shilling on drink", or, more literally, "I have a leu and I want to drink it"), which is played by oboes and clarinets. The tune was played by the Romani violinist Lae Chioru (Nicolae Filip), from whom Enescu had his first violin lessons at the age of 4, but there is some doubt whether Enescu actually remembered it from Chioru, since the tune had been in circulation in various collections printed as early as 1848 (alternative spelling: "Am un leu şi vreau să-l beu"), which Enescu could have consulted. This is soon replaced with a slower melody first introduced in the violins. As the work progresses, this tune grows faster and livelier to climax in a vibrant whirling folk dance.

Enescu conducted the First Rhapsody at what proved to be his New York farewell concert with members of the New York Philharmonic on 21 January 1950. The concert was billed as a commemoration of his 60th year as an artist, and in it he appeared as violinist together with Yehudi Menuhin in Bach's Concerto for Two Violins, as pianist in his own Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano (also with Menuhin), and as conductor of his Suite No. 2 for Orchestra, Op. 20, and the Rhapsody, which concluded the programme. (Wikipedia)

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