Piano Concerto No.1

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