Bartók, Béla: Four Orchestral Pieces op. 12 BB64 (1912, orch.1921) 25'


Scoring
4(IV=picc).3(III=corA).3.bcl.4(IV=dbn)-4.4.4.1-timp.perc:glsp/cyms/ tgl/tam-t/BD/SD-2harps-cel-pft(4 hands)-strings

World Premiere
1/9/1922
Budapest
Budapest Philharmonic Society Orchestra / Ernö Dohnányi


Repertoire Note  
These orchestral pieces are transitional works, which he soon set aside, and only returned to orchestrate nearly a decade later when a performance was offered. Here, especially in the first and third movements, we witness the last gasp of Bartók’s indebtedness to the French impressionists.

Note by Malcolm Gillies