In March 2005, Geisler Library formally accepted an extraordinary gift that initiated the establishment of what may become the richest collection of Romanian music outside of Romania itself. When Central College alums presented Dr. David Williams, Professor of Music at Central College, with funds to enrich the library's music collection, he decided to focus on the rich cultural tradition of Romanian music. The Romanian musical community responded with pledges of gifts from individual composers, members of the Union of Romanian Composers and Musicologists, the faculty of the National University of Music in Bucharest, Editura Musicala publishing house, Romanian National Television and the Enescu Museum.
The collection is named in honor of Romania's greatest musician George Enescu. Enescu was of the utmost importance as an inspiration to his contemporaries and to his successors who are represented in the collection. Shortly before his death in 1955, he wrote to a New York friend, "I am proud to think that Americans take an interest in my work, and I have a profound fellow-feeling and enormous admiration for the United States."
The collection promotes and makes available music to scholars, students and performers who can bring new audiences to the Romanian artistic genius.
The collection contains works from symphonies to chamber music and includes full scores, performance parts, books, recordings and photographs. Although the vast majority of the scores and recordings cataloged thus far are works of living Romanian musicians, the collection represents various generations and musical trends from Enescu and Dinu Lipatti to Pascal Bentoiu, Mihail Jora, Cornel Taranu, Felicia Donceanu, Dan Dediu, Irina Odgescu, Livia Teodorescu-Ciocanea and George Balint and more.
A
search of WorldCat revealed that nearly fifty percent of works and
editions in the collection are not represented at all in this
comprehensive database. This suggests that our collection will bring to
light a large number of Romanian musical works heretofore unknown to
scholars in the US and abroad.
Materials are housed in the Geisler Library Archives are available for use onsite. Works are searchable from the library catalog by composer or performer name, title, musical form (concertos, songs, symphonies) and format (scores, books, audios, videos). A title search using the collection's name, George Enescu Collection of Romanian Music at Central College, yields a complete list of titles owned.
The George Enescu Collection of Romanian Music will be a living and growing collection that will be a resource for generations to come.
Selected Romanian Cultural Resources
- British Museum Romanian Collections
- Library of Congress Portals to the World: Romania
- Central University Library of Bucharest Biblioteca Centrala Universitara din Bucuresti
- National Library of Romania Biblioteca Nationala a Romaniei
- National Museum of Art of Romania Muzeul National de Arta al Romaniei
- Museum of the Romanian Peasant Muzeul Taranului Roman
- Romanian Academy Library Biblioteca Academiei Romane
For more information, contact:
Robin E. Martin
Geisler Library Director
Central College
Pella, IA
martinr@central.edu