Description on Youtube:
- Composer: George Enescu (19 August 1881 -- 4 May 1955)
- Performers: Sherban Lupu (violin), Valentin Gheorghiu (piano)
- Year of recording: 2004 (?)
Impressions d'enfance [Childhood Impressions], for violin & piano in D major, Op. 28, written in 1940.
00:00 - 01. Ménétrier [Minstrel]
03:01 - 02. Vieux mendiant [Old beggar]
06:04 - 03. Ruisselet au fond du jardin [Stream at the bottom of the garden]
08:32 - 04. L'Oiseau en cage et le coucou au mur [The bird in the cage and the cuckoo on the wall]
10:24 - 05. Chanson pour bercer [Lullaby]
12:23 - 06. Grillon [Cricket]
12:51 - 07. Lune à travers les vitres [Moonlight through the windows]
15:10 - 08. Vent dans la cheminée [Wind in the chimney]
15:32 - 09. Tempête au dehors, dans la nuit [Storm outside, at night]
17:26 - 10. Lever de soleil [Sunrise]
The first major work to fall from Enescu's pen during the war years, Impressions d'enfance is a partly autobiographical suite of ten evocative miniatures stemming from the composer's earliest memories. As such it is among the more obviously programmatic of his works and in this respect bears broad similarities to the Third Orchestral Suite. It is a Romantic and sweeping piece reminiscent in places of the works of Eugène Ysaÿe and of Karol Szymanowski's Mythes. Enormously expressive in a reflective sort of way, it is not as overtly Romanian as some of the works written at the same period but nonetheless has unmistakably national roots.
This is a technically demanding piece, since the structure and the flow of the music build over time to a sophisticated view of the world, albeit through the wide eyed innocence of youth. Huge demands are placed on the violinist since Enescu requires mimicry and imitative playing of the highest order, ranging from wind and storm noises through birdsong and cuckoo clock sounds!
The piece is but little known today, which is a shame, since we have thus lost what should be a popular, musically inspired showcase for violin virtuosi.
The piece is dedicated "à la mémoire d'Edouard Caudella", a Romanian composer and violin virtuoso.
