2nd Romanian Rhapsody op. 11, no. 2 George Enescu / Arr. R. Mark Rogers

The two Romanian Rhapsodies, Op. 11, are Enesco’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 lautareasca 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 folk music. The two Romanian Rhapsodies were composed in Paris, and premiered together in a concert at the Romanian Athanaeum in Bucharest on 8 March 1903 (Gregorian calendar), with the composer conducting. The Second Rhapsody was played first, and Enesco maintained this order of performance throughout his life.
The Second Rhapsody, is more inward and reflective. Its essential character is not dance, but song. It is based on the popular 19th-century ballad “Pe o stînca neagra, într-un vechi castel” (On a dark rock, in an old castle), which, Enesco may have learned from the lautar Chioru, though this is far from certain. Development follows, culminating in a canonic presentation, after which this theme is joined by a dance tune, “Sîrba lui Pompieru” (Sîrba of the Fireman), followed afterward by the second half of a folksong, “Valeu, lupu ma manînca” (Aiee, I'm being devoured by a wolf!), which is treated in canon. Toward the end there is a brief moment of animation, bringing to mind the spirit of country lautari, but the work ends quietly. For all their popularity, the two Romanian Rhapsodies proved to be “an albatross round Enescu's neck: later in his life he bitterly resented the way they had dominated and narrowed his reputation as a composer.” He himself recorded each of the rhapsodies three times, but he viewed requests for yet more recordings as “un [sic] grosse affaire commercial.” Both rhapsodies have received dozens of recordings by other conductors and orchestras.

Transcription for Band,

Georges Enesco’s 2nd Romanian Rhapsody is presented for wind band in a complete transcription which is in no way simplified or truncated. As is the case with many compositions that have made the transition from orchestra to band, the key has been changed – D Major for orchestra becomes C Major for wind band. The process of transposition is to be found very frequently in wind band arrangements, often at the hand or at the suggestion of the composer himself (see Gustav Holst’s “Hammersmith” or any of Percy Grainger’s wind works). The exotic colors of Enesco’s orchestration are preserved, making complete instrumentation important to the successful presentation of this music. In particular, the presence of the English Horn is critically important and the harp highly desirable.
The orchestral score of Enesco’s 2nd Romanian Rhapsody exhibits one of the more curious aspects of notation, the practice of writing slow music in fast (short) note values. This can be seen in music dating back to the Baroque. Among the common examples are many of the slow movements of J.S. Bach’s cantatas, which are written with the pulse going to the 8th note, so that 16th and 32nd notes abound. This is also the case in the orchestra score of Enesco’s 2nd Romanian Rhapsody, written “Lent” in C (common) time, with a metronome marking of quarter note = 40. While orchestral musicians are trained to deal with this practice, the infrequency that this is seen in wind band music makes this archaic style of notation a particular problem for amateur musicians. In order to make Enesco’s 2nd Romanian Rhapsody seem a bit less daunting, the band transcription (through measure 194) has been notated with note values doubled and in 2/2 time; thus one measure of Enesco’s original score in subdivided 4/4 time is now rendered as two measures in 2/2 time. This does not simplify the music in any way – the musical challenges remain the same, but the barrier of the unfamiliar notation has been removed. In many respects, this process resembles reprinting an old text from the 18th or 19th century (originally published using an archaic form of the alphabet and old-fashioned spelling), into an easy-to-read modern edition (using contemporary alphabet and modern spelling); the text has not changed in any significant manner, but a barrier to reading and comprehension has been removed.