@ & Béla Bartók Country Hungary/USA Birth Mar 25, 1881 in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary Death Sep 26, 1945 in New York, NY Period Modern Composition Types All Works (801) Keyboard Music (428) Vocal Music (149) Chamber Music (82) Choral Music (75) Orchestral Music (37) Concerto (18) Ballet Music (2) Opera (1) Symphony (1) Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicologist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now part of Romania), on 25 March 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies from the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works -- most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) -- Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály , he traveled throughout Hungary, Romania, and elsewhere, collecting thousands of authentic folksongs; one of the iconic images of Bartók is a photo of the composer and some Transylvanian peasants surrounding a gramophone, the main tool of his research. His studies eventually came to encompass folk music of Slovak, Romanian, Bulgarian, and even Turkish origin. Bartók 's immersion in this music lasted for decades, and the intricacies he discovered therein, from plangent modality to fiercely aggressive rhythms, exerted a potent influence on his own musical language. In addition to his compositional activities and folk music research, Bartók maintained a busy schedule of teaching and performing. The great success he enjoyed as a concert artist in the 1920s was offset somewhat by difficulties, sometimes exacerbated by the composer's frank manner, stemming from the tenuous political atmosphere in Hungary. Much of Bartók 's ambivalence toward native country grew from the circumstances surrounding the premiere of his
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@ & Béla Bartók
Country Hungary/USABirth Mar 25, 1881 in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary
Death Sep 26, 1945 in New York, NYPeriod Modern
Composition Types
All Works (801) Keyboard Music (428) Vocal Music (149) Chamber Music (82) Choral Music (75) Orchestral Music (37) Concerto (18) Ballet Music (2) Opera (1) Symphony (1)
Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educa-tor, and ethnomusicologist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now part of Romania), on 25 March 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies from the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works -- most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) -- Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hun-gary, Romania, and elsewhere, collecting thousands of authentic folk-songs; one of the iconic images of Bartók is a photo of the composer and some Transylvanian peasants surrounding a gramophone, the main tool of his research. His studies eventually came to encompass
folk music of Slovak, Romanian, Bulgarian, and even Turkish origin. Bartók's immersion in this music lasted for decades, and the intricacies he discovered therein, from plangent modality to fiercely aggressive rhythms, exerted a potent influence on his own musical language. In addition to his compositional activities and folk music research, Bartók maintained a busy schedule of teaching and performing. The great success he enjoyed as a concert artist in the 1920s was offset somewhat by difficulties, sometimes exacerbated by the composer's frank man-ner, stemming from the tenuous political atmosphere in Hungary. Much of Bartók's ambivalence toward native country grew from the circumstances surrounding the premiere of his opera Blue-beard's Castle (1911). The opera was rejected for a prize by the Hungarian Fine Arts Commission, which deemed it "unplayable," and it remained unheard for seven years. When it was finally pre-miered at the Royal Hungarian Opera in Budapest in 1918, Bartók was pressured to remove the name of librettist Béla Balázs, whose political views were deemed unacceptable by the govern-ment. After refusing to suppress Balász' name at subsequent performances, Bartók finally with-drew the work. Twenty years passed before the opera was again staged in the city. Such circum-stances, including later charges of "lack of patriotism," led the composer to virtually cease per-forming in Budapest. As the specter of fascism in Europe in the 1930s grew ever more powerful, he refused to play in Germany and banned radio broadcasts of his music there and in Italy. A concert in Budapest on 8 October 1940 was the composer's farewell to the country which had provided him so much inspiration and yet caused him so much grief. Days later, Bartók and his wife set sail for America.
In his final years Bartók was tormented by poor health. Though the privation he endured was somewhat less severe than has often been suggested, his time in America was marked by a con-stantly precarious financial situation. He supplemented his reduced performing income with uni-versity-sponsored ethnomusicological research; further assistance came from the music licens-ing organization ASCAP (which subsidized his medical treatment) and from a commission for his final orchestral masterpiece, the Concerto for Orchestra (1943). Though Bartók's prospects seemed sunnier in the final year of his life, his last great hope -- to return to Hungary -- was dashed in the aftermath of World War II. He died of leukemia in New York on 26 September 1945. The composer's legacy included a number of ambitious but unrealized projects, including a Sev-enth String Quartet; two major works, the Viola Concerto and the Piano Concerto No. 3, were completed from Bartók's in-progress scores and sketches by his pupil, Tibor Serly. From its roots in the music he performed as a pianist -- Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms -- Bartók's own style evolved through several stages into one of the most distinctive and influential musical idioms of the first half of the twentieth century. The complete assimilation of elements from varied sources -- the Classical masters, contemporaries such as Debussy, folksongs -- is one of the signal traits of Bartók's music. The polychromatic orchestral textures of Richard Strauss had an immediate and long-lasting effect upon Bartók's own instrumental sense; his in-dividual mastery of instrumentation is evident not only in works like Music for Strings, Percus-sion, and Celesta (1936) and the Concerto for Orchestra, but also in his chamber music (espe-cially the six string quartets), concerti, and stage works like Bluebeard's Castle and the ballet The Miraculous Mandarin (1918-19). The former work is especially characteristic in its explo-ration of expanded harmonic possibilities, from astringent dissonances generated from the mi-nor-second "blood" motive to sonorous parallel major chords in the manner of Debussy. Bartók demonstrated an especial concern with form in his exploitation and refinement of devices like palindromes, arches, and proportions based on the "golden section." Perhaps above all other el-ements, though, it is the application of rhythm that gives Bartók's music its keen edge. Inspired by the folk music he loved, Bartók infused his works with asymmetrical, sometimes driving, of-ten savage, rhythms, which supply violent propulsion to works like Allegro barbaro (1911) and the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (1937). If a single example from Bartók's catalogue can be regarded as representative, it is certainly the piano collection Mikrokosmos (1926-39), originally intended as a progressive keyboard primer for the composer's son, Peter. These six volumes, comprising 153 pieces, remain valuable not only as a pedagogical tool but as an ex-haustive glossary of the techniques -- melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, formal -- that provided a ves-sel for Bartók's extraordinary musical personality. -- Michael Rodman
Keyboard Music
1926 -1939Accents, Mikrokosmos for piano Vol. 2/57, Sz. 107/2/57, BB 105/57
Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Un-classified Title
1926 -1939Accompaniment in Broken Triads, Mikrokosmos for piano Vol.2/42, Sz. 107/2/42, BB 105/42
Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Un-classified Title
1926Air, Nine Little Piano Pieces for piano No. 6 (Dal), Sz. 82/6, BB 90/6
Air for Keyboard
1908 - 1910Allegramente, For Children for piano Vol. 2/27, Sz. 42/2/27, BB 53/27
Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Un-classified Title
1911 Allegro barbaro, for piano, Sz. 49, BB 63 Allegro for Keyboard
1908 - 1910Allegro robusto, For Children for piano Vol. 1/21, Sz. 42/21, BB 53/21
Allegro for Keyboard
1926 -1939Alternating Thirds, Mikrokosmos for piano Vol.5/129, Sz. 107/5/129, BB 105/129
Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Un-classified Title
1926 -1939And the Sounds Clash and Clang..., Mikrokosmos for piano Vol. 4/110, Sz. 107/4/110, BB 105/110
Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Un-classified Title
1908 -1909Winter Solstice Song, For Children for piano Vol. 2/40, Sz. 42/40, BB 53/40
Music for Keyboard
1908 - 1910Winter Solstice Song: "May the Lord", For Children for piano Vol. 2/40, Sz. 42/2/40, BB 53/40
Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Un-classified Title
1926 -1939With Alternate Hands, Mikrokosmos for piano Vol. 1/10, Sz.107/1/10, BB 105/10
Contrapuntal/Improvisatory Keyboard Music
1926With Drums and Pipes, Out of Doors for piano No. 1 (Síppal, dobbal), Sz. 81/1, BB 89/1
Dance-Based Keyboard Music
1890 - 1945 Work(s) for piano Music for Keyboard
1926 -1939Wrestling, Mikrokosmos for piano Vol. 4/108, Sz. 107/4/108, BB 105/107
Keyboard Work with Descriptive or Un-classified Title
1929 Zipoli: Suite, arranged by Bartók for 2 pianos Music for Two Keyboards
Chamber1902
Albumblatt, for violin & piano in A Major, (Andante), DD 70, BB 26b
Violin with Keyboard
1931Arabian Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 4/42 (Arab dal), Sz. 98/42, BB 104/42
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931The Bride's Farewell, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.2/23 (Menyasszony-búcsúztató), Sz. 98/23, BB 104/23
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Burlesque, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 2/16 (Burleszk), Sz. 98/16, BB 104/16
Duo for Two String Instruments
1938Contrasts, three pieces for clarinet, violin, & piano, Sz. 111, BB 116
Mixed Chamber Ensemble with Keyboard
1931Counting Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 3/34 (Számláló nóta), Sz. 98/34, BB 104/34
Duo for Two String Instruments
1894The Course of the Danube, for violin & piano (A Duna folyâsa), DD 20b, Sz. 1/20b
Single String Instrument with Keyboard/Continuo
1931Cushion Dance, Forty-four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 1/14 (Párnás-tánc), Sz. 98/14, BB 104/14
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Dance from Máramaros, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 3/32 (Máramarosi tánc), Sz. 98/32, BB 104/32
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Dance, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 1/2 (Kalamajkó), Sz. 98/2, BB 104/2
Duo for Two String Instruments
1902 Duo (Canon), for 2 violins, DD 69, BB 26a Duo for Two String Instruments 1931 Duos (44), for 2 violins, Volumes 1-4, Sz. 98, BB 104 Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Fairy Tale, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vo. 2/19 (Mese), Sz. 98/19, BB 104/19
Duo for Two String Instruments
1907 From Gyergó, for recorder & piano (Gyergyóból), Sz. 35, BB 45a Recorder Solo/Sonata
1931A Funny Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.2/24 (Tréfás nóta), Sz. 98/24, BB 104/24
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Harvest Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 3/33 (Aratáskor), Sz. 98/33, BB 104/33
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Hay-Harvesting Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins, Vol. 1/12 (Szénagyujtéskor) Sz. 98/12, BB 104/11
Duo for Two String Instruments
1926Hungarian Folk Tunes, for violin & piano, arranged by Joseph Szigeti and Bela Bartók from "For Children"
Violin with Keyboard
1908 - 1909
Hungarian Folksongs, for violin & piano (transcribed from "For Children" by Tivadar Országh & Béla Bartók)
Violin with Keyboard
1931Hungarian Song 1, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.1/6 (Magyar nóta I), Sz. 98/6, BB 104/6
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931 Hungarian Song 2, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 2/25 (Mag- Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Limping Dance, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 3/27 (Sánta-tánc), Sz. 98/27, BB 104/27
Duo for Two String Instruments
1926Little Suite of Four Pieces, for Two Guitars (arranged from Bartók's Nine Little Pieces for Piano by Tilman Hoppstock)
Multiple String Instruments without Keyboard
1931Lullaby, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins, Vol. 1/11 (Gyer-mekrengetéskor), Sz. 98/11 BB 104/11
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Marching Song 1, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins (Menetelo nóta I), Sz. 98/2/17, BB 104/17
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Marching Song 2, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 2/18 (Menetelo nóta II), Sz. 98/2/18, BB 104/18
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Menuetto, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 1/3, Sz. 98/3, BB 104/3
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Midsummer night song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 1/4 (Szentivánéji), No.4, Sz. 98/4, BB 104/4
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Mosquito dance, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 2/22 (Szúnyo-gtánc), Sz. 98/22, BB 104/22
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931New Year's Greeting 1, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 2/21 (Újévköszönto I), Sz. 98/2/21, BB 104/21,
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931New Year's Greeting 2, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 2/29 (Újévköszönto II), Sz. 98/3/29, BB 104/29
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931New Year's Greeting 3, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 3/30 (Újévköszönto III), Sz. 98/3/30, BB 104/30
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931New Year's Greeting 4, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 3/31 (Újévköszönto IV), Sz. 98/3/31, BB 104/31
Duo for Two String Instruments
1898 Piano Quartet, for string trio and piano in C Minor, DD 52, BB 13Quartet for Keyboard and Three String Instruments
1903 - 1904
Piano Quintet, for piano & strings, BB 33, DD 77Quintet for Keyboard and Four String Instruments
1941 - 1942
Pieces from Mikroskosmos (5), for string quartet (arranged by Ti-bor Serly)
Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1931Pizzicato, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 4/43, Sz. 98/43, BB 104/43
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Play, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 1/9 (Játék), Sz. 98/9, BB 104/9
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Prelude & Canon, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 4/37 (Pre-ludium és kánon), Sz. 98/37, BB 104/37
Duo for Two String Instruments
1928 Rhapsodies 1 & 2, for violin & piano Violin with Keyboard 1928 Rhapsody for cello & piano, Sz. 88, BB 94c Cello with Keyboard 1928 Rhapsody, for violin & piano No.1, Sz. 86, BB 94a Chamber Music 1928 Rhapsody, for violin & piano No.2, Sz. 89, BB 96a Chamber Music
1926Romanian Folk Dances, arranged for violin & piano by Zoltan Székely and Béla Bartók
Chamber Music
1915 Romanian Folk Dances, arranged for flute & harp (not by Bartók)Duo for Mixed Instruments with-out Keyboard
1926Romanian Folk Dances, for violin & piano (arranged by Zoltán Szekely from piano version), Sz. 56, BB 68
Chamber Music
1931Romanian Whirling Dance, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol 4/38 (Forgatós), Sz. 98/38, BB 104/38
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Romanian Dance, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.4/40 (Oláh tánc), Sz. 98/40, BB 104/40
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Romanian Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.1/7 (Oláh nóta), Sz. 98/7, BB 104/7
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931 Ruthenian 'kolomejka', Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 3/35 Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Ruthenian Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 1/10 (Rutén nóta), Sz. 98/10, BB 104/10
Duo for Two String Instruments
1900Scherzo in Sonata Form, for string quartet in F Minor, DD 58, BB 19/1
Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1931Scherzo, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.4/41, Sz. 98/41, BB 104/41
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Serbian Dance, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.4/39 (Szerb tánc), Sz. 98/39, BB 104/39
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Slovak Song 1, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.1/5 (Tót nóta), Sz. 98/5, BB 104/5
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Slovak Song 2, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol.1/8, (Tót nóta II), Sz. 98/8, BB 104/8
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Soldier's Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 2/15 (Kato-nanóta), Sz. 98/15, BB 104/15
Duo for Two String Instruments
1937 Sonata, for 2 pianos & 2 percussion, Sz. 110, BB 15 Percussion Chamber Music 1895 Sonata, for violin & piano in C minor, DD 37, BB 6 Violin with Keyboard
1921Sonata, for violin & piano, No. 1 in C sharp Minor, Sz. 75, BB 84 (Op. 21)
Violin with Keyboard
1922 Sonata, for violin & piano, No. 2 in C major, Sz. 76, BB 85 Violin with Keyboard 1903 Sonata, for violin & piano, in E minor, BB 28, DD 72 Violin with Keyboard
1944Sonata, for violin solo ("quarter-tone variant" version, published in 1994), Sz. 117, BB 124
Music For Solo Strings Without Keyboard
1944Sonata, for violin solo (edited by Yehudi Menhuin), Sz. 117, BB 124
Violin Solo
1903 - 1922
Sonatas, for violin & piano Violin with Keyboard
1930Sonatina, for violin & piano (arranged from piano work by Endré Gertler with Bartok's approval) Sz. 55, BB 102a
Violin with Keyboard
1931Song, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 2/20 (Dal), Sz. 98/20, BB 104/20
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931Sorrow, Forty-Four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 3/28 (Bánkódás), Sz. 98/28, BB 104/28
Duo for Two String Instruments
1898 String Quartet, In F major, DD 56, BB 17Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1908 String Quartet, No. 1 in A Minor, Sz. 40, BB 52 (Op. 7)Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1915 -1917
String Quartet, No. 2 in A minor, Sz. 67, BB 75 (Op. 17)Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1927 String Quartet, No. 3 in C sharp Major, Sz. 85, BB 93Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1928 String Quartet, No. 4 in C Major, Sz. 91, BB 93Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1934 String Quartet, No. 5 in B flat Major, Sz. 102, BB 110Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1939 String Quartet, No. 6 in D Major, Sz. 114, BB 119Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1945 String Quartet, No. 7 (unfinished)Quartet for Four String Instru-ments
1908 - 1910
String Quartets, Nos 1-6, completeQuartet for Four String Instru-ments
1931Teasing Song, Forty-four Duos for 2 violins Vol. 1/1, Sz98/1, BB 104/1
Duo for Two String Instruments
1931 Teasing Song: "Now, Now My Dear Godmother...", Forty-four Duo for Two String Instruments