4/10/20

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Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Hungarian composer Béla Bartók is one of the most influential composers of the first half of the 20th century, not just for his output of compositions, but also for work cataloging and studying folk music in a field that would later become ethnomusicology. His own compositions often included these folk themes, while also combining western influence, nationalism, and the breakdown of diatonic music by avoiding clear chords and tonal scales (and instead using nontraditional modes and artificial scales). The chaos and dissonance of his music is often supported very well by melodic ideas that give clarity and direction. The unity of eastern European influence and western influence can be seen throughout his music, with some of his most important works being his six string quartets, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (which was an important piece in the curriculum of my modern music history course), his collection of works for young piano students titled Mikrokosmos, and the piece which I’ll be talking about today - Concerto for Orchestra.

Early in his life, Bartók was very influenced by the classical and romantic styles of composing, and many of his very early works reflect this influence. It was only around the beginning of the 20th century that Bartók moved away from influences like Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms and towards the works of Richard Strauss and Claude Debussy. Around this time also marked the beginning of his exploration into the world of folk music. Bartók would travel around eastern Europe and record folk song, as to preserve them with the most accuracy and objectivity that he could. Before he was forced to stop with the beginning of World War I, he was able to record and notate Hungarian, Slovakian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Algerian, and Moldavian folk music. As I mentioned earlier, this project of Bartók’s would be continued later in history by musicologists and ethnomusicologists all over the world in an effort to record (with as little bias as possible) the original and native sounds of the music of countless global cultures. For Bartók, these melodies and themes would also be sampled in his own music and other eastern European nationalist composers like Zoltán Kodály and Ernő Dohnányi. Later, following the war, Bartók also traveled to Turkey to continue his work, collaborating with the Turkish composer Ahmet Adnan Saygun. Bartók’s work is not to be understated, as with the western styles of romantic and classical music prevailing as the dominant form of music to be perpetuated by history, the rigorous cataloging of less recognized musical styles gave countless cultural groups voice and a place in the historical study of music. While the work of musicologists and ethnomusicologists has had an immeasurable impact on the field of music, even just a small part of that can be seen in the works of Béla Bartók with his unique, fresh, and distinctly Hungarian sounds.

This brings me back to Concerto for Orchestra, which is probably one of Bartók’s most famous (and approachable) works. It was written towards the end of his life in 1943 when Bartók’s health was deteriorating quickly, and then revised the year of his death in 1945. The piece is written in five movements, totaling 35-40 minutes, and showcases an arch-like form where the first and fifth movements are related, just as the second and fourth are, with the third being unrelated from the others. The piece as a whole is remarkably mature and refined, combining several musical influences from throughout Bartók’s life. The influence of folk music can be heard in the frequent droning notes and the light, rhythmic, and conjunct melodies throughout. The use of sonata form in movements I and V show clear reference to the western canon of music, and the quote from Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 in movement IV even shows some of Bartók’s specific influences. With all these elements together, the piece would have likely seemed incoherent if it were not for the supreme logic and genius of Béla Bartók.

Finally, I believe it is important to address the name of this piece. There are actually several composers who have written a piece with the title “Concerto for Orchestra” (although Bartók may have been the most famous to do so). This piece, however, does not follow a conventional concerto form, and instead more closely resembles symphonic form. The title is instead given to draw attention to the soloistic and difficult writing for all of the orchestra’s instrumental groups. With the triumphant brass in the final movement, the duets of woodwinds in the second movement, and the technical and fast string writing throughout, the piece has not only earned its name but also its place as one of the more difficult pieces in the standard orchestral repertoire. Bartók’s writing is certainly a different flavor from the late romantics or any of the other composers I’ve talked about so far, but approaching Concerto for Orchestra like you would any other orchestral piece will probably show you just how carefully integrated all of Bartók’s influences are in it - and thus, how well it works. For as difficult it is for the orchestra to execute well, the piece comes across to me as fun and distinctly captivating. Below I have linked one of my favorite recordings of the piece done by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which to me perfectly encapsulates the "soloist sound” in a full orchestra.