Georges Enesco

Octuor in C, Op. 7 (String Octet in One Movement)

The OCTUOR in C, Op. 7, completed in 1900, took Romanian composer Georges Enesco (George Enescu; 1881-1955) one and a half years to write. It carves a different path from the celebrated octet by Mendelssohn in that, instead of favoring the 1st violin, the composer divides the melodic fabric equally between his musicians. The combined forces of the Geloso and Chailley Quartets gave the first performance on December 18, 1909 at the Salle des Agriculteurs in Paris. Speaking of its composition, Enescu declared that he fell into exhaustion from trying to keep the four movements from bursting apart due to their considerable length. Instrumentation: 4 Violins, 2 Violas, 2 Cellos (set as scored).