Bartók, Béla: Piano Concerto No.1 (1926) 23'


Scoring
2.2.2.2-4.2.3.0-timp.perc-strings.
Abbreviations (PDF).

Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for the USA only.

Repertoire Note  
1926 was Bartók’s ‘Piano Year’, in which he kitted himself out with a new repertory, ranging from difficult, percussive essays in the Concerto and Sonata, to more mild-mooded, folksy (and easier) sets of pieces. Outstanding among these pieces is the exquisite ‘The Night’s Music’ (Out of Doors) which was inspired by sounds of the Hungarian plain, and founded a sub-style of Bartók’s slower movements in later years. (Its resonances can still be heard in the slow movement of the Piano Concerto No.3, two decades later.)

Note by Malcolm Gillies

Recommended Recording
Vladimir Ashkenazy, pft / Kyung Wha Chung, vln / London Philharmonic Orchestra / Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Sir Georg Solti, cond
Decca 473271