BÉLA BARTÓK Music for Strings , Percussion , and Celesta
ABOUT THE PIECE
• Bartók composed this piece in 1936 as a commission for the tenth anniversary of the Basel Chamber Orchestra .
• Not only is the instrumentation of the work unusual , but so is the accompanying instructions for the layout of the orchestra , which requires two separate string orchestras that perform on either side of the stage separated by percussion . This seating arrangement created an antiphonal sound that harks back to the brass choir music of Gabrieli in Italy several hundred years earlier .
THE WORLD AT A GLANCE
1936
MUSIC Billie Holiday ’ s “ Summertime ”
LITERATURE John Steinbeck ’ s In Dubious Battle
SPORTS Jesse Owens wins four Gold Medals at the Summer Olympics
HISTORY The Spanish Civil War begins
BSO SESSIONS | MARCH 2021
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