There’s always something a little morbid about these casts of famous musicians’ hands. Aren’t the death masks enough?

Oh, wait a minute. They’ve got one of those, too…

These are the hands of George Enescu, on display at the George Enescu National Museum in Bucharest.

Granted, while they were alive, the appendages that served as models were extraordinary, as were the synapses that fired inside the head that yielded the mask. Enescu was Romania’s most celebrated musician – as violinist, pianist, conductor, and composer a quadruple threat – a child prodigy who would also one day excel as a teacher.

At the age of seven, Enescu became the youngest student ever to be admitted to the Vienna Conservatory. He graduated before his 13th birthday. From there, he went to Paris and embarked on a charmed career with too many highlights to detail here. Pablo Casals, described him as “the greatest musical phenomenon since Mozart.”

He composed his biggest hit, the Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 (1901), at the age of 19. So popular did it prove that it became a kind of millstone to Enescu. People didn’t want to hear anything else. They still don’t!

On Enescu’s birthday, I hope you’ll find these links “handy,” and that you’ll take a few minutes to sample some of his other music.

A lovely piece for a summer’s day, the Decet for Winds (1906)

A live performance of Enescu’s first published piece, the “Romanian Poem” (1898), written when he was only 16:

Concert Overture on Popular Romanian Themes (1948)

Enescu plays his own Violin Sonata No. 3 (1926), with legendary Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti:

Lipatti plays Enescu’s Piano Sonata No. 3 (1933-35)

Symphonie Concertante for Cello and Orchestra (1901)

The visionary Symphony No. 3, with choral finale (1916-18; rev. 1921-51)