The legacy of composer, pianist and educator Béla Bartók transcends his individualistic compositions to include his study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance. As ethnomusicologist, Bartók, with fellow musician Zoltán Kodály, traveled their native Hungary, researching and recording the music of the countryside. From these journeys came arrangements of folk music, a better understanding of its origins, and eventually the incorporation of certain elements into Bartok’s classical repertoire. Like many European composers at the onset of World War II, Bartók grew weary of political turmoil and disillusioned by Hungary’s siding with Nazi Germany. In 1940 he immigrated to America where he made his living through commissions and teaching piano and composition. Composer Jack Beeson was one of his notable students. Commissions included the popular Concerto for Orchestra by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Serge Koussevitsky.
Bartók’s compositions represent such 20th century trends as moving away from the "traditional" and the use of nationalistic elements, such as folk material, as in the music of Antonin Dvorak. Folk elements are at the forefront in the First Rhapsody for Violin and Piano, which opens with the rustic sound of open fifths in the piano as an introduction to the folk-like melody of the violin with its dotted rhythms in combination with colorful harmony and double stops. The opening section of the first movement is contrasted with a softer, legato section. The secondary material is interrupted with outbursts of the violin leading to a restatement of the opening material, which is followed in turn by a brief statement of the secondary material to close the movement. The second movement, marked Alegretto moderato, is a dance movement that combines a lively, scalar melody with elements of virtuosity in the violin. Bartók fills the movement with beautiful moments of pizzicato (plucking) along with virtuosic passages of double stops and triple stops, again highlighting the folk flavor of the work. The composer also brings back tunes from the first movement in the middle section of the second movement.
Program Notes are by Kyle Blaha, a candidate for the Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at The Juilliard School and faculty member in the Juilliard Pre-College and Evening Division.