Bartók, Béla (Viktor János)

Bartók, Béla (Viktor János), great Hungarian composer; b. Nagyszentmiklós, March 25, 1881; d. N.Y., Sept. 26, 1945. His father was a school headmaster; his mother was a proficient pianist, from whom and he received his first piano lessons. He began playing the piano in public at the age of 11. In 1894 the family moved to Pressburg, where he took piano lessons with László Erkel, son of the famous Hungarian opera composer; he also studied harmony with Anton Hyrtl. In 1899 he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest, where he studied piano with Thomán and composition with Koessler; he graduated in 1903. His earliest compositions reveal the combined influence of Liszt, Brahms, and Richard Strauss; however, he soon became interested in exploring the resources of national folk music, which included not only Hungarian melorhythms but also elements of other ethnic strains in his native Transylvania, including Romanian and Slovak. He formed a cultural friendship with Kodály, and together they traveled through the land collecting folk songs, which they publ. in 1906. In 1907 Bartók succeeded Thomán as prof. of piano at the Royal Academy of Music. His interest in folk-song research led him to tour North Africa in 1913. In 1919 he served as a member of the musical directorate of the short-lived Hungarian Democratic Republic with Dohnányi and Kodály; was also deputy director of the Academy of Music. Bartók was a brilliant pianist whose repertoire extended from Scarlatti to Szymanowski, as well as his own works; he also gave concerts playing works for two pianos with his second wife, Ditta Pásztory. In his own compositions, he soon began to feel the fascination of tonal colors and impressionistic harmonies as cultivated by Debussy and other modern French composers. The basic texture of his music remained true to tonality, which he expanded to chromatic polymodal structures and unremittingly dissonant chordal combinations; in his piano works, he exploited the extreme registers of the keyboard, often in the form of tone clusters to simulate pitchless drumbeats. He made use of strong asymmetrical rhythmic figures suggesting the modalities of Slavic folk music, a usage that imparted a somewhat acrid coloring to his music. The melodic line of his works sometimes veered toward atonality in its chromatic involutions; in some instances, he employed melodic figures comprising the 12 different notes of the chromatic scale; however, he never adopted the integral techniques of the 12-tone method.

Bartók toured the U.S. as a pianist from Dec. 1927 to Feb. 1928, and also gave concerts in the Soviet Union in 1929. He resigned his position at the Budapest Academy of Music in 1934, but continued his ethnomusicological research as a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, where he was engaged in the preparation of the monumental Corpus Musicae Popularis Hungari-cae. With the outbreak of World War II, Bartók decided to leave Europe; in the fall of 1940 he went to the U.S., where he remained until his death. In 1940 he received an honorary Ph.D. from Columbia Univ.; he also undertook folk-song research there as a visiting assistant in music (1941–42). His last completed score, the Concerto for Orchestra, commissioned by Koussevitzky, proved to be his most popular work. His Third Piano Concerto was virtually completed at the time of his death, except for the last 17 bars, which were arranged and orchestrated by his pupil Tibor Serly.

Throughout his life, and particularly during his last years in the U.S., Bartók experienced constant financial difficulties, and complained bitterly of his inability to support himself and his family. Actually, he was apt to exaggerate his pecuniary troubles, which were largely due to his uncompromising character. He arrived in America in favorable circumstances; his traveling expenses were paid by the American patroness Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, who also engaged him to play at her festival at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., for a generous fee. Bartók was offered the opportunity to give a summer course in composition at a midwestern college on advantageous terms, when he was still well enough to undertake such a task, but he proposed to teach piano instead, and the deal collapsed. Ironically, performances and recordings of his music increased enormously after his death, and the value of his estate reached a great sum of money. Posthumous honors were not lacking: Hungary issued a series of stamps with Bartók’s image; a street in Budapest was named for him; the centenary of his birth was celebrated throughout the world by concerts and festivals devoted to his works. Forty-three years after his death, his remains were removed from the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, N.Y., and taken to Budapest for a state funeral on July 7, 1988.

Far from being a cerebral purveyor of abstract musical designs, Bartók was an ardent student of folkways, seeking the roots of meters, rhythms, and modalities in the spontaneous songs and dances of the people. Indeed, he regarded his analytical studies of popular melodies as his most important contribution. Even during the last years of his life, already weakened by illness, he applied himself assiduously to the arrangement of Serbo-Croatian folk melodies of Yugoslavia from recordings placed in his possession. He was similarly interested in the natural musical expression of children; he firmly believed that children are capable of absorbing modalities and asymmetrical rhythmic structures with greater ease than adults trained in the rigid disciplines of established music schools. His remarkable collection of piano pieces entitled, significantly, Mikro-kosmos, was intended as a method to initiate beginners into the world of unfamiliar tonal and rhythmic combinations; in this he provided a parallel means of instruction to the Kodály method of schooling.

Works

DRAMATIC: A kékszakallu herceg vará (Duke Bluebeard’s Castle), opera, op.ll (1911; rev. 1912, 1918; Budapest, May 24, 1918, Egisto Tango conducting); A fából faragott királyfi (The Wooden Prince), ballet, op.13 (1914-16; Budapest, May 12, 1917, Egisto Tango conducting; orch. suite, 1924; Budapest, Nov. 23, 1931; rev. 1932); A czodalátos mandarin (The Miraculous Mandarin), pantomime, op.19 (1918-19; Cologne, Nov. 27, 1926; orch. suite, 1924; rev. 1927; Budapest, Oct. 15, 1928, Ernst von Dohnanyi conducting); Caprichos, ballet (N.Y., Jan. 29, 1950; based on Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano, 1938). ORCH.: Scherzo (only scored movement of a projected sym. in E-flat major, 1902; Budapest, Feb. 29, 1904); Kossuth, symphonic poem (1903; Budapest, Jan. 13, 1904); Rhapsody for Piano and Orch., op.l (1904; Paris, Aug. 1905; composer soloist); Scherzo for Piano and Orch., op.2 (1904; Budapest, Sept. 28, 1961); 2 suites: No. 1, op.3 (1905; movements 1, 3-5 perf. in Vienna, Nov. 29, 1905; first complete perf., Budapest, March 1, 1909; rev. 1920) and No. 2 for Small Orch., op.4 (1905-07; first perf. of 2^nd movement, Scherzo, only; Berlin, Jan. 2, 1909; first complete perf., Budapest, Nov. 22, 1909; rev. 1920, 1943; transcribed for 2 Pianos, 1941); 2 Portraits, op.5 (No. 1, 1907-08; No. 2, 1911; No. 1, Budapest, Feb. 12, 1911; first complete perf., Budapest, April 20, 1916); 2 violin concertos: No. 1 (1907-08; Basel, May 30, 1958, Schneeberger soloist, Paul Sacher conducting) and No. 2 (1937-38; Amsterdam, march 23, 1939, Székely soloist, Mengelberg conducting); 2 Pictures (Deux Images), op.10 (1910; Budapest, Feb. 25, 1913); 4 Pieces, op.12 (1912; orchestrated 1921; Budapest, Jan. 9, 1922); Dance Suite (Budapest, Nov. 19, 1923); 3 piano concertos: No. 1 (1926; Frankfurt am Main, July 1, 1927, composer soloist, Furtwängler conducting), No. 2 (1930-31; Frankfurt am Main, Jan. 23, 1933, composer soloist, Rosbaud conducting), and No. 3 (1945; last 17 measures composed by Tibor Serly; Philadelphia, Feb. 8, 1946, Sándor soloist, Ormandy conducting); Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Orch. (1928; also versions for Violin or Cello, and Piano; Königsberg, Nov. 1, 1929, Szigeti soloist, Scherchen conducting) and No. 2 for Violin and Orch. (1928; also for Violin and Piano; Budapest, Nov. 25, 1929, Székely soloist, E. Dohnányi conducting); Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1936; Basel, Jan. 21, 1937, Paul Sacher conducting); Divertimento for Strings (1939; Basel, June 11, 1940); Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orch. (1940; orchestration of Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion; London, Nov. 14, 1942); Concerto for Orchestra (commissioned by Koussevitzky, 1943; perf. under his direction, Boston, Dec. 1, 1944); Viola Concerto (1945; left unfinished in sketches; reconstructed and orchestrated by Tibor Serly, 1947-49; Minneapolis, Dec. 2, 1949, Primrose soloist, Dorati conducting; also arranged by Serly for Cello and Orch.); various orch. transcriptions of Romanian and Hungarian folk and peasant dances, orig. for piano. CHAMBER: 3 unnumbered violin sonatas: C minor, op.5 (1895), A major, op.17 (1897), and E minor (1903); Piano Quartet in C minor, op.20 (1898); an unnumbered String Quartet in F major (1898); Duo for 2 Violins (1902); Albumblatt for Violin and Piano (1902); Piano Quintet (Vienna, Nov. 21, 1904); 6 numbered string quartets: No. 1, op.7 (1908; Budapest, March 19, 1910), No. 2, op.17 (1915-17; Budapest, March 3, 1918), No. 3 (1927; London, Feb. 19, 1929), No. 4 (1928; Budapest, March 20, 1929), No. 5 (1934; Washington, D.C., April 8, 1935), and No. 6 (1939; N.Y., Jan. 20, 1941); 2 numbered violin sonatas: No. 1 (1921; Vienna, Feb. 8, 1922) and No. 2 (1922; Berlin, Feb. 7, 1923); Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano (1928; Budapest, Nov. 22, 1929; Szigeti violinist, composer pianist; also versions for Cello and Piano, and Violin and Orch.) and No. 2 for Violin and Piano (Amsterdam, Nov. 19, 1928; rev. 1944; also a version for Violin and Orch.); 44 Duos for 2 Violins (1931); Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion (1937; Basel, Jan. 16, 1938, composer and his wife, Ditta Bartók, soloists; also for Orch. as Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orch.); Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano (1938; N.Y., Jan. 9, 1939); Sonata for Solo Violin (1944; N.Y., Nov. 26, 1944, Menuhin soloist). Piano: Rhapsody, op.l (1904; Pressburg, Nov. 4, 1906; composer soloist); 14 Bagatelles, op.6 (Berlin, June 29, 1908); 10 Easy Pieces (1908); 2 Elegies, op.8b (1908-09; Budapest, April 21, 1919; composer soloist); For Children (orig. 85 easy pieces in 4 vols., 1908-09; rev., 1945, reducing the number to 79, divided into 2 vols.); 7 Sketches, op.9 (1908-10; rev. 1945); 3 Burlesques (1908–11); 4 Dirges (1910); Allegro barbaro (1911); 6 Romanian Folk Dances (1909–15); 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs (1914–18); 3 Rondos on Folk Tunes (1916, 1927, 1927); Romanian Christmas Carols, or Colinde (1915); Sonatina (1915); Suite, op.14 (1916; Budapest, April 21, 1919, composer soloist); 3 Etudes, op.18 (1918); 8 Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs (1920; Budapest, Feb. 27, 1921, composer soloist); Sonata (Budapest, Dec. 8, 1926, composer soloist); Out of Doors (1926); 9 Little Pieces (Budapest, Dec. 8, 1926, composer soloist); Mikro-kosmos (153 pieces, 1926-39); Petite Suite (1936); 7 Pieces from Mikrokosmos for 2 Pianos (c. 1939); Suite for 2 Pianos (1941; transcription from Suite No. 2, for Small Orch., op.4). VOCAL: 20 Hungarian Folksongs for Voice and Piano (1^st 10 by Bartók, 2^nd 10 by Kodály; 1906; rev, 1938); 8 Hungarian Folksongs for Voice and Piano (1907–17); 3 Village Scenes for Female Voices and Chamber Orch. (1926; N.Y., Feb. 1, 1927; a transcription of 3 of 5 Village Scenes for Voice and Piano, 1924; Budapest, Dec. 8, 1926); 20 Hungarian Folksongs for Voice and Piano (4 vols., 1929); Cantata Profana for Tenor, Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1930; BBC, London, May 25, 1934); 27 Choruses for Women’s or Children’s Voices (1935); numerous settings of various folk songs.

Writings

Cântece poporale románeşti din comitatul Bihor (Ungaria)/Chansons populaires roumaines du département Bihar (Hongrie) (Bucharest, 1913; rev. ed. in Eng. as incorporated in B. Suchoff, ed., Rumanian Folk Music, The Hague, vols. I-III, 1967); with Z. Kodály, Erdélyi magyarság népdalok (Transylvanian Folk Songs; Budapest, 1923); “Die Volksmusik der Rumanen von Maramures,” Sammelbände für vergleichende Musikwissenschaft, IV (Munich, 1923; in Eng. as incorporated in B. Suchoff, éd., Rumanian Folk Music, The Hague, vol. V, 1975); A magyar népdal (Budapest, 1924; Ger. tr. as Das ungarische Volkslied, Berlin, 1925; Eng. tr. as Hungarian Folk Music, London, 1931; enl. ed., with valuable addenda, as The Hungarian Folk Song, ed. by B. Suchoff, Albany, N.Y., 1981); Népzenenk és a szomszéd ńepek népzenéje (Our Folk Music and the Folk Music of Neighboring Peoples; Budapest, 1934; Ger. tr. as Die Volksmusik der Magyaren und der benachbarten Völker, Berlin, 1935; French tr. as “La Musique populaire des Hongrois et des peuples voisins,” Archivum Europae Centro Orientalis,II; Budapest, 1936); Die Melodien der rumänischen Colinde (Weihnachtslieder) (Vienna, 1935; Eng. tr. in B. Suchoff, ed., Rumanian Folk Music, The Hague, vol. IV, 1975); Miért és hogyan gyûjtsünk népzenét (Why and How Do We Collect Folk Music?, Budapest, 1936; French tr. as Pourquoi et comment recueille-t-on la musique populaire?, Geneva, 1948); with A. Lord, Serbo-Croatian Folk Songs (N.Y., 1951; reprinted in B. Suchoff, ed., Yugoslav Folk Music, vol. I, Albany, N.Y., 1978). The N.Y. Bartók Archive publ. an ed. of Bartók’s writings in English trs. in its Studies in Musicology series. The following vols., under the editorship of Benjamin Suchoff, were publ.: Rumanian Folk Music (The Hague, vols. I-III, 1967; vols. IV-V, 1975); Turkish Folk Music from Asia Minor (Princeton, 1976); Béla Bartók’s Essays (selected essays; London and N.Y., 1976); Yugoslav Folk Music (4 vols., Albany, N.Y., 1978); The Hungarian Folk Song (Albany, N.Y., 1981).

Bibliography

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—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire