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The Armenian calendar is the traditional calendar of Armenia. It was used in Old Armenia at the time before arrival of Christianity. It is a solar calendar based on the same system as the ancient Egyptian model, having an invariant 365-day year with no leap year rule. As a result, the correspondence between it and the Julian calendar slowly changes over time (such as year 769 on AD 1320 January 1, year 770 on AD 1320 December 31, and year 1032 on AD 1582 October 27 = Gregorian November 6). Some references report that the first month of the year, Navasard, corresponds to the start of Spring in the northern hemisphere, but that was only true from the 9th through 10th centuries. The current year, 1461, is the last of the great Armenian cycle of 1,461 wandering years which equal 1,460 Julian years. (See Sothic cycle). Next year, 1462, begins on 24 July 2012 (Gregorian), 11 July (Julian). Year 1 began on 11 July AD 552 (Julian).

The year consists of twelve months of 30 days each, plus five extra days (epagomenê) that belong to no month.

Years are given in the Armenian alphabet by the letters ԹՎ t’v, a siglum for t’vin "in the year" followed by one to four letters of the Armenian alphabet, each of which stands for an Armenian numeral. For example, "in the year 1455 [AD 2006]" would be written ԹՎ ՌՆԾԵ.

The Armenian month names show influence of the Zoroastrian calendar, and, as noted by Antoine Meillet, Kartvelian influence in two cases. There are different systems for transliterating the names; the forms below are transliterated according to Hübschmann-Meillet-Benveniste system:

The Armenian calendar names the days of the month instead of numbering them, a peculiarity also found in the Avestan calendars. Zoroastrian influence is evident in at least five names. The names are 1. Areg "sun", 2. Hrand, 3. Aram, 4. Margar "prophet", 5. Ahrank’ "half-burned", 6. Mazdeł, 7. Astłik "Venus", 8. Mihr (Mithra), 9. Jopaber, 10. Murç "triumph", 11. Erezhan "hermit", 12. Ani, 13. Parxar, 14. Vanat, 15. Aramazd (Ahura Mazda), 16. Mani "beginning", 17. Asak "beginningless", 18. Masis (Mount Ararat), 19. Anahit (Anahita), 20. Aragac, 21. Gorgor, 22. Kordi (a district of Ancient Armenia considered the homeland of the Kurds), 23. Cmak "east wind", 24. Lusnak "half-moon", 25. C̣rōn "dispersion", 26.Npat (Apam Napat), 27. Vahagn (Zoroastrian Vahrām from Avestan Verethragna, name of the 20th day), 28. Sēin "mountain", 29. Varag, 30. Gišeravar "evening star". The five epagomenal days are called Aveleacʿ "superfluous".

Correlation with Egyptian calendar[link]

The Armenian calendar is a derivative of Zoroastrian changes to Egyptian dates. The first month Navasard is equivalent to the month Choiak (Koyak), however its first day falls on Koyak 4 so that the first of the five epagum days falls on Egyptian Hatyr 27. This is in contrast to the Zoroastrian calendar where the first month Furvurdeen begins on Koyak 6 because its epagum (Gatha days) begin on Egyptian Koyak 1 as of 388 BC. The month Tir is equal to Egyptian Phamenoth (7th month) as Egyptian midyear; but it is of biblical interest that Armenian midyear (Mareri /Deh) is Egyptian new year month Thoth as if to imply it was at one time the 7th month, in regard of the computation of the Jubilee, and the biblical explanation of how to begin the novel age following the entering into the promised land. Two cycles of 1460 years goes back to August 11, 2369 BC.

Prior to borrowing the Egyptian calendar, the ancient Armenians had a lunar calendar based on a lunation of 28 days.

Together with these alien Zoroastrian, Egyptian, Julian, Gregorian, and ecclesiastical dating schemes, some Armenians still retain the old native calendar usage in which the new year begins at the spring equinox. In the numbering scheme of this solar calendar, the year 1 reckons out to 5818-5817 BCE. Hence March 20, 2012 CE marks the start of the Armenian year 7830.^[1]

See also[link]

• Armenian numerals
• Calendar of Saints (Armenian Apostolic Church)
• Zoroastrian calendar
• Iranian calendar

References[link]

1. ^ Sarkis Shmavonian (UCLA). Archaic Armenian Perfects: Archaic Armenian Statics

External links[link]

The Wikibook Armenian has a page on the topic of Calendar

• Website dedicated to Armenian calendar
• Armenian calendar - Navasard August 11th (Hayk calendar)

Literature[link]

• V. Bănăţeanu, “Le calendrier arménien et les anciens noms des mois”, in: Studia et Acta Orientalia 10, 1980, pp. 33–46
• Edouard Dulaurier, Recherches sur la chronologie arménienne technique et historique (1859), 2001 reprint ISBN 978-0-543-96647-6.
• Jost Gippert, Old Armenian and Caucasian Calendar Systems in The Annual of The Society for The Study of Caucasia“, 1, 1989, 3-12.[1][2]
• Louis H. Gray, On Certain Persian and Armenian Month-Names as Influenced by the Avesta Calendar, Journal of the American Oriental Society (1907)
• P'. Ingoroq'va, “Jvel-kartuli c'armartuli k'alendari” (“The Old Georgian pagan calendar”), in: Sakartvelos muzeumis moambe (“Messenger of the Museum of Georgia”), 6, 1929–30, pp. 373–446 and 7, 1931–32, pp. 260–336
• K'. K'ek'elije, “Jveli kartuli c'elic'adi” (“The Old Georgian year”), in: St'alinis saxelobis Tbilisis Saxelmc'ipo Universit'et'is šromebi (“Working papers of the Tbilisi State University by the name of Stalin”) 18, 1941, reprinted in the author's “Et'iudebi jveli kartuli lit'erat'uris ist'oriidan” (“Studies in the history of Old Georgian literature”) 1, 1956, pp. 99–124.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

George Enescu

George Enescu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈd͡ʒe̯ord͡ʒe eˈnesku]; known in France as Georges Enesco; 19 August 1881, Liveni – 4 May 1955, Paris) was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.

Biography[link]

Young George Enescu

Enescu was born in the village of Liveni (later renamed "George Enescu" in his honor), Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County. He showed musical talent from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first musical composition at the age of five.^[1] Shortly thereafter, his father presented him to the professor and composer Eduard Caudella. At the age of seven, he entered the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied with Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr., Robert Fuchs, and Sigismund Bachrich. He graduated before his 13th birthday, earning the silver medal. In his Viennese concerts young Enescu played works by Brahms, Sarasate and Mendelssohn. In 1895 he went to Paris to continue his studies. He studied violin with Martin Pierre Marsick, harmony with André Gedalge, and composition with Jules Massenet and Gabriel Fauré.

Many of Enescu's works were influenced by Romanian folk music, his most popular compositions being the two Romanian Rhapsodies (1901–2), the opera Œdipe (1936), and the suites for orchestra.^{[citation needed]} He also wrote five symphonies (two of them unfinished), a symphonic poem Vox maris, and much chamber music (three sonatas for violin and piano, two for cello and piano, a piano trio, two string quartets and two piano quartets, a wind decet (French, "dixtuor"), an octet for strings, a piano quintet, and a chamber symphony for twelve solo instruments). A young Ravi Shankar recalled in the 1960s how Enescu, who had developed a deep interest in Oriental music, rehearsed with Shankar's brother Uday Shankar and his musicians. Around the same time, Enescu took the young Yehudi Menuhin to the Colonial Exhibition in Paris, where he introduced him to the Gamelan Orchestra from Indonesia.^[2]

George Enescu Museum (Cantacuzino Palace), Bucharest

On 8 January 1923 he made his American debut as a conductor in a concert given by the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and he subsequently made frequent returns to the United States. It was in America, in the 1920s, that Enescu was first persuaded to make recordings as a violinist. He also appeared as a conductor with many American orchestras, and in 1936 he was one of the candidates considered to replace Arturo Toscanini as permanent conductor of the New York Philharmonic.^[3] In 1935, he conducted the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris and Yehudi Menuhin (who had been his pupil for several years starting in 1927) in Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major. He also conducted the New York Philharmonic between 1937 and 1938. In 1939 he married Maria Rosetti (known as the Princess Cantacuzino through her first husband Mihail Cantacuzino), a good friend of the future Queen Marie of Romania. While staying in Bucharest, Enescu lived in the Cantacuzino Palace on Calea Victoriei (now the George Enescu Museum, dedicated to his work).

He lived in Paris and in Romania, but after World War II and the Soviet occupation of Romania, he remained in Paris.

He was also a noted violin teacher. Yehudi Menuhin, Christian Ferras, Ivry Gitlis, Arthur Grumiaux, Ida Haendel and Joan Field were among his pupils. He promoted contemporary Romanian music, playing works of Constantin Silvestri, Mihail Jora, Ionel Perlea and Marţian Negrea.

He was a National Patron of Delta Omicron, an international professional music fraternity.^{[4][not in citation given]}

On his death in 1955, George Enescu was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

Today, Bucharest houses a museum in his memory; likewise, the Symphony Orchestra of Bucharest and the George Enescu Festival—founded by his friend, musical advocate, and sometime collaborator, the conductor George Georgescu^[5]—are named and held in his honor. Recently, Bacau International Airport was named George Enescu International Airport.

Eugène Ysaÿe's Solo Violin Sonata No. 3 "Ballade" was dedicated to Enescu.

Works[link]

Filarmonica "George Enescu"- Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest

Queen Elisabeth of Romania with George Enescu and Dimitrie Dinicu
at Peleș Castle.

Selected works[link]

For a complete list, see List of compositions by George Enescu.

Operas[link]

• Œdipe, tragédie lyrique in four acts, libretto by Edmond Fleg, Op. 23 (1910–31)

Symphonies[link]

• Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 13 (1905)
• Symphony No. 2 in A major, Op. 17 (1912–14)
• Symphony No. 3 in C major, with chorus, Op. 21 (1916–18)

Other orchestral works[link]

• Poème Roumain, symphonic suite for orchestra, Op. 1 (1897)
• Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major, Op. 11 (1901)
• Romanian Rhapsody No. 2 in D major, Op. 11 (1902)
• Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C major, Op. 9 (1903)
• Orchestral Suite No. 2 in C major, Op. 20 (1915)
• Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major Suite Villageoise, Op. 27 (1937–38)

Chamber works[link]

String Quartets[link]

• String Quartet No. 1 in E♭ major, Op. 22, No. 1 (1920)
• String Quartet No. 2 in G major, Op. 22, No. 2 (1950–52)

Sonatas[link]

• Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major, Op. 2 (1897)
• Violin Sonata No. 2 in F minor Op. 6 (1899)
• Violin Sonata No. 3 in A minor dans le caractère populaire roumain, Op. 25 (1926)
• Cello Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 26, No. 1 (1898)
• Cello Sonata No. 2 in C major, Op. 26, No. 2 (1935)

Other chamber works[link]

• Octet for Strings in C major, Op. 7 (1900)
• Dixtuor in D major, for wind instruments, Op. 14 (1906)
• Piano Quartet No. 1 in D major, Op. 16 (1909)
• Impressions d'Enfance in D major, for violin and piano, Op. 28 (1940)
• Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 29 (1940)
• Piano Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 30 (1943–44)
• Chamber Symphony, for 12 instruments, Op. 33 (1954)
• Concertstück, for viola and piano (1906)
• Légende, for trumpet and piano (1906)
• Cantabile et Presto, for flute and piano (1904)

Piano music[link]

• Piano Suite No. 1 in G minor, Dans le style ancien Op. 3 (1897)
• Piano Suite No. 2 in D major, Op. 10 (1901/1903)
• Piano Suite No. 3, Pieces impromptues Op. 18 (1913–16)
• Piano Sonata No. 1 in F♯ minor, op 24, No. 1 (1924)
• Piano Sonata No. 3 in D major, op 24, No. 3 (1933–35)

Songs[link]

Three songs setting Lemaitre and Prudhomme Four songs setting Fernand Gregh In German: Various settings of Carmen Silva (Queen Elisabeth of Romania) In Romanian - 3 songs

• Trois Mélodies, Op. 4 (1898)
• Sept Chansons de Clement Marot, for tenor and piano, Op. 15 (1907–08)
• Trois Mélodies, Op. 19 (1916)

Media[link]

	Cantabile and Presto Performed by Albert Tipton (flute) and Mary Norris (piano) Cantabile and Presto Performed by Alex Murray (flute) and Martha Goldstein (piano)
Problems listening to these files? See media help.

See also[link]

• Category:Compositions by George Enescu
• George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra
• List of 20th century classical composers

References[link]

• Axente, Colette, and Ileana Ratiu. 1998. George Enescu: Biografie documentara, tineretea si afirmarea: 1901-1920. Bucharest: Editura muzicala a U.C.M.R.
• Bentoiu, Pascal. 1984. Capodopere enesciene. Bucharest: Editura muzicala a U.C.M.R.
• Brediceanu, M. et al. 1997. Celebrating George Enescu: A Symposium. Washington, D.C.:^{[citation needed]}.
• Gheorghiu, V. 1944. Un Muzician Genial: George Enescu^{[citation needed]}.
• Cophignon, Alain. 2006. Georges Enesco. Bibliothèque des grands compositeurs. Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard. ISBN 978-2-213-62321-4
• Cosma, Viorel. 2000. George Enescu: A Tragic Life in Pictures. Bucharest: The Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing House.
• Malcolm, Noel. 1990. George Enescu: His Life and Music, with a preface by Sir Yehudi Menuhin. London: Toccata Press. ISBN 0-907689-32-9 (cloth); ISBN 0-907689-33-7 (pbk)
• Malcolm, Noel. 2001. "Enescu, George." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Roth, Henry. 1997. Violin Virtuosos (from Paganini to the 21st Century).^{[citation needed]} ISBN 18879395150
• Slonimsky, Nicolas (ed.). 2001. "Georges Enesco." Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Centennial Edition. New York: Schirmer Books.
• Voicana, Mircea, Clemansa Firca, Alfred Hoffman, Elena Zottoviceanu, in collaboration with Myriam Marbe, Stefan Niculescu, and Adrian Ratiu. 1971. George Enescu: Monografie. 2 vols. Bucharest: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România.
• Voicana, Mircea (ed.) 1976. Enesciana, I.^{[citation needed]}. (in Fr., Ger., and Eng.)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: George Enescu

• Legendary Violinists
• International Enescu Society
• Georges Enesco's Profile at The Remington Site: his Continental Bach Recordings and Remington Recordings plus a survey of Sonatas & Partitas in the 1950s
• International Festival and Competition "George Enescu"
• Free scores by Enescu at the International Music Score Library Project
• Free scores by George Enescu in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
• A page on the closely linked lives of Enescu and Chailley
• Another site, with a helpful timeline
• Pascal Bentoiu: George Enescu, the composer
• Reissue of the complete Bach clavier concertos conducted by Enesco on 4 CDs
• Review on Musicweb-International by Evan Dickerson of available recordings featuring Enescu's compositions (updated May 2005)
• Review on Musicweb-International by Evan Dickerson of Enescu's recordings as a performer (violinist, conductor & pianist)(updated July 2005)
• Romanian Rhapsody No.1
• Georges Enescu Octet in C, Op.7 sound-bites and short bio