Friday, 1st of November 2024, Grafoart publications organized a launching event for music sheets at "Constantin Silvestri" Hall of the National Music University Bucharest, dedicated to Enescu's early creations for piano. Ioana Tintea, our colleague, was also present at the event which offers us more details in her reportage.

George Enescu- Early Piano Works(1896-1907) is the title of the music sheets volume launched on Friday the 1st of November, during a colloquium organized by Grafoart Publications inside Constantin Silvestri Hall of the National Music University Bucharest. This edition is supported and prefaced by the pianist Raluca Stirbat, who, through this collection, managed to underline not only the character and style of Enescu's art, but also the historical and biographical context in which these pieces were created without the great composer's opus numbers.

The book was presented during an editorial colloquium hosted by prof. Univ. dr. Viniciu Moroianu, who highlighted in his presentation the importance of this historical event, just as the musician called it.

To begin, Raluca Știrbăt shared with the audience unique insights into the entire laborious process behind her ongoing project spanning over 10 years: performing all of George Enescu's works dedicated to the piano.

Prof. Dr. Valentina Sandu-Dediu continued the discussion, emphasizing the value of this anthology for the Romanian and international musicological community.

Prof. Dr. Valentina Sandu-Dediu said: "I thought about how Romanian musicology has positioned itself in relation to Enescu, and there are several strands. One includes all the musicologists who, at some point, dared to say or write something about Enescu, or to participate in an Enescu symposium without necessarily being deeply involved in this field. Then, of course, there are those who contributed to the famous monograph, many of whom are composers. Musicology has never been solely the domain of musicologists, strictly speaking. And then, inevitably, we arrive at Pascal Bentoiu and the Enescu masterpieces with which I grew up, which educated me, and which continue to educate me. The performer who undertakes such work, to me, seems essential.

Next, Prof. Dr. Olguța Lupu spoke about the exceptional importance of this revival of Enescu's youthful works for piano, now available in a high-quality editorial format.

Associate Professor Dr. Vlad Văidean continued the discussion, highlighting the perfectionism that George Enescu achieved in notating his creations, noting that this new editorial release upholds the same high standards that the composer set.

Associate Professor Dr. Vlad Văidean said: "I assert that we can all be glad that Raluca Știrbăț's meticulous editorial work finally brings this score up to the true height of Enescu's rigorous notational standards. The precise dimensions of the pedal markings, agogic indications-in short, the devout adherence to all aspects of Enescu's manuscript-make this score not only an exemplary working tool but also a model that I hope will be replicated in the future, ideally within a comprehensive, unified editorial project for all of Enescu's works."

The editorial colloquium concluded with a recital by pianist Daniel-Sebastian Cazan, who performed the Sarabande and Pavane from George Enescu's Suite No. 2, Op. 10 in D major for piano.

The volume George Enescu - Early Piano Works (1896-1907) complements the edition published in 2016, which was dedicated to Enescu's mature works, making the complete collection of Enescu's piano works now accessible to all Romanian and international pianists and musicologists.

At the end of the event on Friday, November 1st, we gathered opinions from those in attendance.

Prof. Dr. Viniciu Moroianu: "Today, we witnessed a major editorial event. The release of the second volume of George Enescu's complete works for piano, printed to the highest European standards, with the precision and expertise of both a musicologist and performer that Raluca Știrbăț brings. Undoubtedly, this edition will have a significant impact on both the Romanian and international music worlds. It largely depends on us to promote this extraordinary effort."

Pianist Daniel-Sebastian Cazan: "It's a very important, historic event, as Professor Viniciu Moroianu said. I would be glad to see more and more people dive deeply into Enescu's music."

Matei Bănică, Director of Grafoart Publishing House: "We began working on this volume ten years ago, when we succeeded in publishing the first volume. This is part of our broader editorial mission to republish many Romanian composers and to create complete volumes of their works. Today's achievement is all the more significant because, as you saw in the presentation, the density of an Enescu score is incomparable and presents greater graphic challenges than those of other composers. That's one reason for the extensive time required. We also had the support of the Minister of Culture, which enabled us to complete this collector's edition. This volume will not be available in bookstores for the time being; it will initially be found only in libraries and, later, will be divided into smaller volumes-the component volumes, in fact-so that pianists can more easily use it."

Prof. Dr. Olguța Lupu: "This is an extraordinary editorial release because, for the first time, musicians worldwide have the opportunity to become acquainted with, work on, and deeply study Enescu's piano works in a remarkable critical edition. Ms. Raluca Știrbăț has achieved this from a dual perspective-as a prodigious pianist who has performed Enescu's complete works, and also as a remarkable musicologist, despite not having formally studied musicology. I would say she is a self-taught musicologist, as she has explored everything there is about Enescu's music, studying it deeply and reaching an extraordinary level of understanding. She has managed to provide musicians worldwide with this critical edition of Enescu's works. Now the second volume has been published, but the first, covering his mature works, came out in 2016. His piano works are now accessible to everyone-and not just in any form, but at a high professional standard. With her in-depth knowledge of Enescu's works, she was able to make certain editorial decisions with complete understanding. We are all very grateful to her, and this is an absolutely remarkable event!"

Pianist Raluca Știrbăț: "Enescu has, in some way, been a constant part of my life for many years now. My long-held dream was to perform and record Enescu's complete works, which naturally and logically led to creating these scores, because I noticed, among other things, that some scores had never been published, while others had been published with more or less unfortunate editing-often with errors. A new, revised, carefully curated, and meticulously polished critical edition was something Enescu's piano works fully deserved. I'm glad this has happened. I want to thank Mr. Matei Bănică from Grafoart Publishing and especially Iuliana Gheorghe, who worked with me on this project. She was the digital typesetter; we spent many days and nights together, directly and indirectly. I also want to thank the Ministry of Culture, particularly Minister Raluca Turcan, who responded promptly to this proposal and made it possible to complete this project. I say complete because this second volume, covering Enescu's early and middle works (up to 1907, so until he was 26), complements the first volume published by Grafoart in 2016, which focused on his mature works (also with previously unpublished pieces). In short, pianists worldwide now have access to Enescu's complete solo works. I made it a priority for the scores to have a clear, transparent layout that helps the pianist and the musician, because Enescu's writing is dense, even in his early pieces. So, a clear, transparent presentation of the scores is a huge help. There's no reason to fear Enescu anymore-approach him confidently, but, of course, with deep respect, as his music requires great patience, love, and perseverance."