Béla Bartók
1881 - 1945
Snapshot
English Deutsch
Béla Bartók is recognised as one of the most important composers of the 20th century * Style grew out of romanticism and nationalism to embrace new currents heard in Debussy's music * Inspired by Hungarian traditional songs and dances which he collected with Kodály * Incorporated folk modes and irregular rhythmic patterns into his highly original scores * Skills as a pianist are apparent in the novel keyboard writing of Piano Concertos Nos.1-3 and Mikrokosmos * A master of instrumentation, as heard in his ravishing 'night music' movements * Highly sophisticated musical structures often relying on proportional relationships * String Quartets Nos.1-6 are masterpieces of the genre * Works have been championed by the world's leading conductors and performers including Solti, Boulez and Rattle
Works by Béla Bartók include:
Divertimento (1939) for string orchestra
Concerto for Orchestra (1943)
Piano Concerto No.3 (1945)
Viola Concerto (1945)
"Of the three musicians who dominated the musical scene during the first half of the 20th century - Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Bartók - it is the Hungarian master who, despite his intellectual control, remained the nearest to the instinctual, the irrational in music, and thus to the Dionysian spirit in art." — Mosco Carner
Mailing List
Sign up for news updates and offers via email
SIGN UPFeatured Publication
Leonard Bernstein: Orchestral Masterworks
Two anthologies of Bernstein favourites are in the Masterworks series of full scores: Volume One contains music from West Side Story and On the Town, and Volume Two includes the Candide Overture, On the Waterfront and Prelude, Fugue & Riffs.
READ MORECompetitions
