Bartók for Piano

A Survey of His Solo Literature

David Yeomans

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Year: 1988
• Print ISBN: 9780253310064
• eBook ISBN: 9780253028211
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

" . . . detailed and thorough . . . a wealth of information . . . David Yeomans deserves our thanks for a job exceedingly well done." —American Music Teacher

" . . . a must for pianists . . . " —American Reference Book Annual

"David Yeomans's study is certainly to be recommended for all good music libraries, pianists and students of Bartók." —The Music Review

"Although there are currently more than 15 books in print about composer Béla Bartók, this short volume is unique in its focus on his complete oeuvre for solo piano. . . . Recommended for pianists, piano teachers, and students from lower-division undergraduate level and above." —Choice

" . . . the entire book is indispensable for any of us before we play another Bartók piece." —Clavier

"This work collects in one place an enormous number of 'facts' about the piano music of Bartók . . . for planning concerts and student repertoire, and as a survey of an important body of 20th-century music, this listing is valuable." —Library Journal

This chronological listing of more than 400 pieces and movements presents in convenient form essential information about each of Bartók's solo piano works, including its various editions, timing, level of difficulty, pertinent remarks by the composer, and bibliographical references to it.

Chronological Survey of Bartók’s Solo Piano Works

Funeral March from Kossuth

Sz. 21

1903

T11 M10

4′

Publication

Included in:

Balógh, ed. Bartók, Selected Works for the Piano (Schrimer).

BBPI, Series I.

Transcribed by Bartók from sections 9 and 10 of the original orchestral setting of the same name (Kossuth, Symphonic Poem for Orchestra, Sz. 21, 1903).

Commentary

The piano arrangement by Bartók of this orchestral excerpt was made at a time in his career when he was transcribing and performing piano versions of orchestral works by other composers, most notably those of Richard Strauss (Ein Heldenleben, Also Sprach Zarathustra). The background of the present example is best expressed in Bartók’s own program notes for the first performance of the orchestral work in 1904:

The leader [of the Hungarian revolution against the sovereignty of the Austrians and the Habsburg dynasty] was Louis Kossuth. As Austria saw, in 1849, that the war was going against her, she concluded an alliance with Russia. A crushing blow was inflicted upon the Hungarian Army, and the hope of an independent Hungarian kingdom was shattered—apparently for ever.¹

The “Funeral March,” sections 9 and 10 of the orchestral version, reflects the tragedy of defeat: “All is finished. Hungary lies in deepest woe, in deepest mourning—” and “A hopeless silence reigns.”²

Movement

Lento—Adagio molto.

Key center A. Introduction followed by subject marked “Adagio molto,” which undergoes intensive melodic and harmonic variation. Ostinato in double-dotted rhythms forms the rhythmic basis for the work, often combined with a rhythmic pattern in triplets. A series of indeterminate (non-metric) arpeggio figurations in the left hand before the coda. Pianist must be able to coordinate these characteristic rhythmic patterns while maintaining a steady metric pulse throughout. A strong stylistic kinship between this piece and Liszt’s “Funérailles” from Harmonies poétiques et religieuses.

Notes

1. BBES, p. 399.

2. Ibid., 1 403.

Four Piano Pieces

Sz. 22

1903

T10–14 M10–12

26′ 50″

Publication

Available separately:

EMB, as Négy Zongoradarab (No. 1 also published separately).

K-BM (Nos. 1, 2–3, and 4 also published separately).

Included in:

K-BM, publ., Bartók. An Album for Piano Solo (No. 2).

BBPI, Series I.

No. 4 transcribed by Bartók for piano and orchestra (Op. 2, Sz. 28, 1904–1905, EMB). Although the basic structure remains similar to the solo piano version, the arrangement includes an introductory “Adagio ma non troppo,” which does not appear in the solo version.

Commentary

This cycle, written at the end of Bartók’s studies at the Academy of Music in Budapest, shows a marked affinity to the Romantic traditions of Liszt, Brahms, and Richard Strauss. Although the pieces are not representative of the mainstream of Bartók’s mature compositional style, they are worthy of study and performance for insights into some of the nineteenth-century influences in his early compositional career. They are stunningly virtuosic, make use of an abundance of technical figurations, and display a bold and extroverted musical outlook. One or two pieces from the cycle could be studied and performed as alternatives to the more standard and better-known works of the nineteenth century.

Movements

No. 1. Study for the Left Hand (Tanulmány balkézre). Allegro. (8′ 50″) T13 M10

Key center B-flat. Sonata-rondo design, originally conceived as a movement in a large-scale piano sonata. Dedicated to Bartök’s piano teacher at the Academy, Istvân Thoman, but written under the stimulus of one Géza Zichy, a concert pianist who lost his right arm in a hunting accident but subsequently continued his concert career as a left-hand pianist. Sweeping arpeggio figurations and octave passages which run the gamut of the keyboard. Although relatively unknown, this piece could be a welcome addition to the select core of piano works for the left hand, notably those of Ravel, Prokofieff, and Scriabin.

No. 2. Fantasy I (I. Ábránd). Andante, quasi Adagio. (4′ 50″) T11 M10

Key center G. Dedicated to Emma Gruber, who married Zoltán Kodály in 1910 and who “at that time was one of the most inspiring personalities linking the traditional and modern periods in the musical life of Hungary.”¹ Free structure, elegiac mood, influence of Richard Strauss and Brahms. Much sweeping arpeggiation in the left hand, parallel chords and octaves, counterrhythms. The second beat of m. 4 should obviously read B-natural.

No. 3. Fantasy II (II Ábránd). Andante. (4′ 10″) T10 M10

Key center A. Loosely constructed ABA form; extensive melodic variation of the opening motive throughout the piece, much like that found in the intermezzi of Brahms. Parallel intervals, mostly in thirds and octaves, abound. The indication “Ped. (prolongation) ... sempre ...” at m. 27 should be observed literally until the change of harmony at m. 31. The most compact and ingeniously constructed of the set, and probably the most worthy of serious study.

No. 4. Scherzo. Allegro vivace. (9′) T14 M12

Key center E. Dedicated to Ernö Dohnânyi, a major influence on Bartók’s early career and a well-known composer in his own right. Sonata-rondo form, one of Bartók’s longest single-movement solo piano pieces, a precursor of the more mature and elaborate Rhapsody, Op. 1, Sz. 26, composed one year later. Note the metric discrepancies between the staves and non-coincident bar lines in the ‘Vivace molto” (beginning in m. 244) and the “Molto vivace” (beginning ning in m. 431); maintain the preceding meter as the primary metric unit in these passages (2/4 in the former, 3/8 in the latter). Scale passages, parallel thirds, parallel and interlocking octaves; a bravura, full-textured virtuoso piece reminiscent of the scherzo movements of early Brahms. Anyone who attempts this piece should be familiar with the version for piano and orchestra.

Note

1. Hungaroton SLPX 1300, Vol. I, p. 6.

Rhapsody

Op. 1, Sz. 26

1904

T15 M13

20′ 45″

Publication

Available separately:

EMB

UE

Included in:

BBPI, Series I.

Transcribed by Bartók for piano and orchestra (Op. 1, Sz. 27, 1904, EMB). Although the basic structure remains similar to the solo piano version, the arrangement includes an introductory “Adagio molto-Doppio movimento* of 41 measures.

Commentary

The most significant of Bartók’s post-Romantic piano works, the Rhapsody is the only piece from that period that the composer continued to include in his solo piano recitals. He entered the piano and orchestra setting in the competition for the Rubinstein Prize in 1905—further testimony to its importance among his early works. It is referred to as “a bravura piece par excellence, ...the last echoes of the Franz Liszt-Anton Rubinstein technique.”¹ With the exception of the Elegies, Op. 8b, Sz. 41, the Rhapsody represents Bartók’s last composition under the direct influence of the Romantic tradition. By this time Bartók had already turned his attention to peasant folk music, French Impressionism, and more concise and progressive compositional techniques, all of which served as strong musical stimuli during the rest of his creative life.

Movement

Mesto.

Key center D. Freely composed in two large sections, the first corresponding to the lassú (slow introductory fantasy), the second to the friss (fast energetic dance); both are the main components of the ver bunkos, a recruiting dance of the Hungarian soldiers. The lassú (“Mesto”) has a distinctly Lisztian flavor; it is held together by extensive melodic development of the opening theme in a highly improvisatory and ornamented manner. The following friss section (beginning in m. 118) starts “Tranquillo” and progresses through several tempo changes to the “Presto” (beginning in m. 431). It maintains a lively duple-meter dance character until the triumphant return (in m. 564) of the lassú theme, this time in D major, and finally subsides to the quiet and contemplative character of the opening. For the pianist of the highest virtuoso attainments; need for advanced technical equipment, the ability to hold together a large and heterogeneous structure, and a keen stylistic grasp of a variety of Gypsy musical temperaments. Enormous demands on octave, chord, arpeggio, and double-note technique; many awkward passages conceived orchestrally. In either setting, the work as a whole surpasses many of Liszt’s Hungarian rhapsodies in difficulty and scope.

Note

1. FENY, p. 32.

Three Hungarian Folksongs from the Csík District

Sz. 35a

1907

T4–6 M5–9

3′ 10″

Publication

Available separately:

EMB, as Három Csíkmegyei Népdal

K-BM

Included in:

EMB, pub1., Bartók Béla. Album, Vol. II. K-BM, publ., Bartók. An Album for Piano Solo. BBPI, Series I.

Transcribed by János Szebenyi for flute and piano (1955); by György Balassa for clarinet and piano (1955); by T. Szeszler for oboe and piano; and edited by Denijs Dille for recorder and piano.

Commentary

These three miniatures represent the first adaptations by Bartók of Hungarian peasant folk music to the medium of solo piano. He describes their derivation as “unaltered (transcribed from phonograph record) peasant flute music, provided with ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Introduction: Bartók as Pianist and Piano Teacher
• Using the Survey
• Chronological Survey of Bartók’s Solo Piano Works
• Appendix A: Solo Piano Works in Order of Difficulty
• Appendix B: Publishers’ Addresses
• Appendix C: Editions and Transcriptions by Bartók of Keyboard Works by Other Composers
• Appendix D: Critical Survey of Teaching Editions and Collections of Bartók’s Piano Music
• Bibliography
• Index