BÉLA BARTÓK Romanian Folk Dances
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Born 1881 in Nagyszentmiklós in the Kingdom of Hungary ; died 1945 in New York City , NY
• At age 11 , Bartók gave his first recital , which included his very first composition . As a young musician , Bartók overheard a Romanian nanny singing folk songs to children , which sparked a lifelong dedication to folk music . Bartók and collaborator Zoltán Kodály traveled to remote parts of Hungary to research folk melodies , which they transcribed for piano and incorporated into their own compositions .
• At the start of World War II , Bartók ’ s anti-fascist views led to conflict with the Hungarian authorities . He was vehemently against the Nazis and Hungary ’ s alliance with the Axis powers . After the Nazi regime came to power , Bartók refused to perform in Germany . He and his wife , Ditta , emigrated to the U . S . and settled in New York City . Bartók remained in New York for the rest of his life but never truly felt at home in the U . S ., finding it difficult to compose at first .
• In 1944 , Bartók was diagnosed with leukemia . During his declining health , he composed his Concerto for Orchestra , which would go on to become one of his most famous works , although he would not live to see its full impact .
• In 1988 , over 40 years after his death , Bartók ’ s remains were moved to Budapest where the Hungarian government arranged a state funeral for him .
THE WORLD AT A GLANCE
1917
MUSIC Carlos Chávez ’ s Sonata Fantasia
ART Paul Klee ’ s Ab ovo
FUN FACT
Renowned banjo player and bandleader Béla Fleck is named after Bartók .
ABOUT THE PIECE
• The town where Bartók was born was very near the Hungarian border with Romania and today falls within Romanian territory .
• Collecting Romanian folk melodies became a passion of Bartók ’ s , and he would collect over 3,000 Romanian folk tunes in his lifetime . In 1915 , Bartók wrote a collection of piano works based on Romanian fiddle melodies . In 1917 , he created the orchestral version we are most familiar with today .
LITERATURE Gertrude Stein ’ s An Exercise in Analysis
HISTORY The Russian Revolution begins
20 BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA