Bela Bartok (1881-1945)

Fourteen Bagatelles (No 2)

Bela Bartok (piano)

EMI CDC555031-2 T1

Four Hungarian Folk Songs, Sz 50

Male chorus of the Hungarian People's Army

Zoltan Vasarhelyi (conductor)

HUNGAROTON HCD31047 T1-4

Two Portraits

Shlomo Mintz (violin)

London Symphony Orchestra

Claudio Abbado (conductor)

DG 4105982 T15-16

Ten Easy Pieces (Nos 4,6,11)

Peter Frankl (piano)

ASV CDDCA687 T4, 6 and 11

String Quartet No 1 (final movement)

Takacs Quartet

DECCA 455 297-2 CD1 T3

Duke Bluebeard's Castle (excerpt)

Bluebeard - Siegmund Nimsgern

Judith - Tatiana Troyanos

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Pierre Boulez (conductor)

SONY CLASSICAL SMK64110 T10-12.

Donald Macleod explores music inspired by Bartok's failed love affair with Stefi Geyer.

Az en szerelmem, Op 15 No 1

Julia Hamari (mezzo-soprano)

Ilona Prunyi (piano)

HUNGAROTON HCD31535 - Tr 1

Suite, Op 14

Peter Frankl (piano)

ASV CDDCA687 - Tr 2

Wooden Prince (excerpt)

Philharmonia Orchestra

Neeme Jarvi (conductor)

CHANDOS CHAN8895 - Trs 6-9

Romanian Folk-dances

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Zoltan Kocsis (conductor)

HUNGAROTON HSACD 32506

Miraculous Mandarin (Concert Suite)

London Symphony Orchestra

Georg Solti (conductor)

DECCA 4250392 - Tr 12.

Donald Macleod presents two Bartok ballets that had contrasting public receptions.

Three Village Scenes (Lad's Dance)

Gyor Girls Choir

Budapest Chamber Ensemble

Conductor, Antal Dorati

HUNGAROTON HCD31883 T6

Dance Suite

Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor)

FINLANDIA 398421029-2 T1-6

Out of Doors (No 4)

Jeno Jando (piano)

NAXOS 8.558200-01 CD2 T4

Rhapsody No 2 (2nd mvt)

Susanne Stanzeleit (violin)

Gusztav Fenyo (piano)

ASV CDDCA883 T2

Cantata Profana

John Aler (tenor)

John Tomlinson (bass)

Chicago Symphony Chorus and Orchestra

Pierre Boulez (conductor)

DG 435 8632 T1-3.

Donald Macleod presents a Bartok suite celebrating 50 years of a unified Budapest.

He introduces a complete performance of Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste, considered one of the masterworks of the 20th Century, plus an excerpt from his Second Piano Concerto and a chamber work played by the two musicians who commissioned it, with the composer himself at the piano.

Romanian Whirling Dance

Gyorgy Pauk, Kazuka Sawa (violins)

NAXOS 8550868 T42

Piano Concerto No 2 (1st mvt)

Peter Donohoe

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Simon Rattle (conductor)

EMI CDC754871-2 T4

Loafers' song; Wandering; Girls' teasing song

Gyor Girls' Choir

Miklos Szabo (conductor)

HUNGAROTON HCD12448 T13-15

Contrasts (3rd mvt)

Benny Goodman (clarinet)

Joseph Szigeti (violin)

Bela Bartok (piano)

BIDDULPH LAB 070-71 CD2 T16

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Georg Solti (conductor)

DECCA 4705162 CD2 T1-4.

Donald Macleod introduces Bartok's celebrated Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste.

Mikrokosmos (No 142)

Jeno Jando (piano)

NAXOS 85578212 CD2 T42

Mikrokosmos (Nos 142, 149 and 151)

NAXOS 85578212 CD2 T46, 53 and 55

Sonata for two pianos and percussion (final mvt)

Andras Schiff, Bruno Canino (pianos)

Zoltan Racz, Zoltan Vaczi (percussion)

DECCA 4438942 T16

Concerto for Orchestra

Los Angeles Philharmonic

Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)

SONY CLASSICAL SK62598 T6-8.

Donald Macleod introduces music from Bartok's final years after his emigration to America.

Donald Macleod explores Bartok's sickly childhood, early life and musical beginnings.

Trad Mikor gulaslegeny voltam (When I was a herdsman)

Singer unknown

Fourteen Bagatelles; No. 4

Kornel Zempleni (piano)

Two Portraits; 2nd movement: Grotesque

London Symphony Orchestra

Shlomo Mintz (vln)/

Claudio Abbado (conductor)

Fourteen Bagatelles; Nos. 3, 13, 14

Robert Hagopian (piano)

String Quartet No. 1

Tokyo String Quartet

Duke Bluebeard's Castle; Door 7

Elena Zhidkova (mezzo-soprano)

Sir Willard White (bass-baritone)

Valery Gergiev (conductor).

Donald Macleod focuses on the years leading up to World War I.

Roman Nepi Tancok (Romanian Folk Dances) BB 76

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Zoltan Kocsis (conductor)

Op. 15 songs; No. 2: Summer, No. 5: In the Valley

Julia Hamari (mezzo-soprano)

Ilona Prunyi (piano)

The Wooden Prince; The Princess Dances with the Wooden Prince

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Marin Alsop (conductor)

String Quartet No. 2; 2nd movement: Allegro Molto Capriccioso

Quatuor Ebene

Miraculous Mandarin Suite

London Symphony Orchestra

Sir Georg Solti (conductor)

8 Improvisations on a Hungarian Theme; Theme

Bela Bartok (piano).

Exploring Bartok's crisis of confidence and the chance encounter that revitalised him.

Dance Suite: 5th and 6th movements (Comodo, Finale)

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Zoltan Kocsis (conductor)

Frescobaldi (transcribed Bela Bartok)

Fuga in G minor

Ilona Prunyi (piano)

Out of Doors Suite: 4th movement (The Night's Music)

Rolf Hind (piano)

Piano Concerto No. 1: 3rd movement (Allegro Molto)

BBC Philharmonic

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)

Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)

Cantata Profana

John Aler (tenor)

John Tomlinson (baritone)

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Chicago Symphony Chorus

Pierre Boulez (conductor)

Music for Strings Percussion and Celesta: Finale

Sir Georg Solti (conductor).

Donald Macleod focuses on Bartok's re-emergence as a composer and pianist after WWI.

String Quartet 6; 3rd movement

Vertavo String Quartet

Ten Hungarian Folksongs: BB42; No. 1: Elindultam szep hazambul (I left my fair homeland)

Stefan Margita (tenor)

Katerina Englichova (harp)

Mikrokosmos;

Vol I: No. 16: Andante Rubato

Vol II: No. 37: In Lydian Mode: Allegretto

Vol III: No.86: Two major Pentachords

Vol IV: No. 100: In the style of a folksong

Vol V: No. 135: Perpetuum Mobile

Vol VI: No. 147: March

No. 142: From the Diary of a Fly (1'30)

No. 152: Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm [5] 57

No. 146: Ostinato 2'10

Dezso Ranki (piano)

Concerto for Orchestra; 3rd, 4th and 5th movements

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Sir Simon Rattle (conductor)

Piano Concerto No. 3; 3rd movement

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana

Martha Argerich (piano)

Alexander Vedernikov (conductor).

Donald Macleod explores Bartok's final years and his move to America during World War II.

Among the list of elements that feed into the formation of an outstanding musician might be good teaching, a quality instrument, focus, determination, consistency, encouragement.

But there is also the brute fact of physiology.

B退la Bart　k may have been of slight build and somewhat sickly, but he had unusually large hands. So while he didn't show any exceptional compositional talent as a young man, he was expected to have a brilliant career as a pianist.

For Children

Andreas Bach, piano

Piano Concerto No. 3

Budapest Festival Orchestra

Ivan Fisher, conductor

Andras Schiff, piano

Contrasts

Ensemble Intercontemporain

Matthias Pintscher, conductor

Hungarian Sketches

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Pierre Boulez, conductor

Kossuth

Donald Macleod explores the early musical life of Bela Bart\u00f3k.

Bart　k's birthplace, Nagyszentmikl　s, was on a geographical border. It's now S nnicolau Mare in Romania, close to the borders with Serbia and Hungary and then on the edge of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In a sense, he lived on a border as well. Bart　k played an important role in synthesising the old and the new: he had an ear for the deep-rooted music of the Hungarian people - supposedly timeless and authentic - the music of the past - which he put to use in creating music that was international, challenging and new - music for the present and the future.

14 Bagatelles, #4 & #5

Ferenc Bognar, piano

Piros Alma / Red Apple

Andrea Melath, mezzo soprano

Emese Virag, piano

44 Duos for Two Violins

#44: Transylvanian Song

Andras Keller, violin

Janos Pilz, violin

Allegro Barbaro

Zoltan Kocsis, piano

Romanian Folk Dances for Orchestra

Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra

Dennis Russell Davies, conductor

Transylvanian Dance

Lucian Ban, piano

John Surman, soprano saxophone

Mat Maneri, viola

String Quartet No.2

i. Moderato

ii. Allegro molto capriccioso

Takacs Quartet

Orchestral Suite No. 2

ii Allegro scherzando

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Zoltan Kocsis, conductor

Donald Macleod follows Bela Bart\u00f3k's developing interest in national music.

In the early weeks of 1918, a virulent strain of influenza was detected among military personnel. It spread and it's estimated that some 500 million people, a quarter of the population of the world, contracted what was called Spanish ‘Flu. One of them was Bart　k. He was confined to bed for almost a month and at times was unable to speak. When he recovered, Hungary was in turmoil in the first of a series of upheavals which would see the borders of the nation redrawn and Bart　k's own uncomfortable position in the spotlight of political life.

Three Hungarian Folk Tunes

Zoltan Kocsis, piano

The Miraculous Mandarin Suite

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Georg Solti, conductor

Village Scenes

i Wedding

ii Lullaby

New York Philharmonic

Ensemble Intercontemporain

Pierre Boulez, conductor

Dance Suite

Philharmonia Orchestra

Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

Donald Macleod explores Bela Bart\u00f3k's life and work in the years after World War I.

After being granted a sabbatical from his teaching at the Budapest Academy Bart　k was able to realise an ambition he had cherished ever since he had graduated, of undertaking a coast-to-coast concert tour of the USA.

This was against the backdrop of rising nationalism in Europe. Bartok's inclinations had him swimming against that tide. Romania, where he had been born, was anxious to claim him for its own. He objected to being called a `Romanian composer` and wrote to the author of a radio talk about him who described him in that way: `My creative work just because it arises from three sources - Hungarian, Romanian Slovakian - might be regarded as the embodiment of the very concept of integration so much emphasised in Hungary today - my own idea however - of which I have become fully conscious since I found myself as a composer - is the brotherhood of peoples, brotherhood in spite of all wars and conflicts. I try to the best of my ability to serve this idea in music - `

Two Portraits

ii. One grotesque - Presto

London Symphony Orchestra

Claudio Abbado, conductor

Out of Doors

iii Musettes

iv The Night's Music

v The Chase

Denes Varjon, piano

Piano Concerto

i. Allegro moderato

ii Andante

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin

Ferenc Fricsay, conductor

Geza Anda, piano

Cantata Profana

Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

Pierre Boulez, conductor

John Aler, tenor

John Tomlinson, bass

Donald Macleod looks back on Bela Bart\u00f3k's heyday as a performer in the late 1920s.

B退la Bart　k had already been distressed by what he viewed as Hungary's capitulation to the wishes of Germany, or as he put it `this regime of thieves and murderers.` He also strongly objected to the fact that his publishers, Universal Edition, and the Austrian Performing Rights Society had been `Nazified.` They sent him a form to fill out in which he was asked whether he was `of German blood, of kindred race, or non-Aryan.` Bart　k decided that that question would remain unanswered. Meanwhile he became embroiled in a tortuous struggle to wrest his works form Universal and move them to the British firm of Boosey & Hawkes. He wrote to his friend, the violinist Zoltကn Sz退kely: `Neither while I am alive nor after my death do I want any German publisher to have any of my work, even if it means that no work of mine will ever be published again. This is for now what is fixed and final.`

Mikrokosmos

Bulgarian Rhythm No. 1 (Vol 4, no.113)

Study in Chords (Vol 3, no 69)

Perpetuum Mobile (Vol 5, no 135)

Chick Corea, piano

Nicolas Economou, piano

Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion

Cheng Zhang, piano

Tomoki Kitamura, piano

Juris Azers, percussion

Weiqi Bai, percussion

Sixth String Quartet

iii Mesto - Burletta - moderato

iv Mesto

Emerson String Quartet

Sonata for Solo Violin

i. Tempo di ciaccona

Yehudi Menuhin, violin

Concerto for Orchestra

v. Finale

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

Zoltan Kocsis, conductor

Donald Macleod explores Bela Bart\u00f3k's decision to leave Europe.