This week Bill follows the life and musical development of one of Hungary’s greatest composers. A musician’s musician, Bartok was supported by many of the great conductors of his time; Paul Sacher, conductor of the Basel Chamber Orchestra commissioned the Divertimento for Strings, Serge Koussevitsky and Fritz Reiner commissioned the Concerto for Orchestra, and Benny Goodman commissioned his trio Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano.
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Playlist
Episode 1
Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (excerpt)
CSO/Solti
Bartók: Music for Strings, Percussion & Celesta; The Miraculous Mandarin Suite; Divertimento
Lon 430352
:28
Bartók: ‘Unpublished’ Sonata for Violin and Piano (excerpt)
Szabadi, v.; Gulyás, piano
Bartok- Violin Sonatas
Hungaroton 31558
:53
Bartók: Transylvanian Dance for Violin duo (excerpt)
Muzsikás and Márta Sebestyén, violins
The Bartok Album
Fono 571439
:36
Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (excerpt)
Cziffra, piano
Liszt: Rhapsodies Hongroises
EMI 56228
:48
Roby Lakatos: WQXR broadcast excerpts
1:12, 1:04
Bartók: Andante for Violin and Piano (excerpt)
Pauk, violin; Jandó, piano
BARTÓK, B.: Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2 / Piano Quintet
Naxos 8.550886
1:15
Bartók: Piano Quintet – II. Vivace (Scherzando)
Kodály Quartet & Jeno Jando, piano
BARTÓK, B.: Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2 / Piano Quintet
Naxos 8.550886
8:47
Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra, op. 30: Einleitung excerpt)
CSO/Solti
Richard Strauss Concert
London 440618
:42
Strauss: Ein Heldenleben (excerpt)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Barenboim
Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche, Op. 28 / Ein Heldenleben, Op. 40
Erato 2292-45621-2
:28
Bartók: Kossuth, Sz.21
Budapest Festival Orchestra/Fischer
Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra
Philips 456575-2
19:59
Bartók: Fekete Föd (Snow-White Kerchief)
Basilides; Bartók, piano
Béla Bartok and Zoltan Kodaly: Hungarian Folk Music
Pearl 9266
1:34
Bartók: String Quartet #1 In A Minor, III
Emerson Quartet
Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
DG 477 6322
11:37
Episode 2
Bartók: Violin Duo No. 4- Midsummer Night Song
Drucker & Setzer, violin
Bartók: Sonata For Solo Violin, Violin Duos
Biddulph 020
:48
Bartók: Four Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12, III
NY Phil/Boulez
Bartok: Miraculous Mandarin, Pieces For Orchestra
Sony 45837
4:26
Bartók: Allegro Barbaro, Sz. 49
Bartók, piano
Composers In Person
EMI 55031
2:30
Bartók: Evening In Transylvania
Bartók, piano
Bartók Plays Bartók: Bartok at the Piano, 1929-41
Priceless 22719
2:51
Bartok: Hungarian Sketches (excerpts)
CSO/Boulez
Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra; Orchestral Pieces, Op. 12
DG 435825
2:47
Bartók: String Quartet No. 2 (excerpts)
Takács Quartet
Bartók: The 6 String Quartets
Lon 455297
:56, :42
Bartok: Bluebeard’s Castle (excerpts)
Hungarian State Orchestra/Fischer; Ramey, bass; Martón, soprano
Bartok: Bluebeard’s Castle
CBS 44523
6:37
Bartok: The Wooden Prince, I-III
NY Phil/Boulez
Cantata Profana Sz 94 / The Wooden Prince Sz 60 (Op. 13)
DG 435 863
10:56
Bartok: Istenem (Coldly Runs The River), rec. 1928
Basilides, mezzo soprano; Bartók, piano
Hungarian Folk Music
Gemm 9266
1:24
Bartók: 6 Romanian Folk Dances
Szigeti, violin; Bartók ,piano
Composers In Person
EMI 55031
5:26
Bartók: Hungarian Sketches, IV- Slightly Tipsy
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Boulez
Bartók: Divertimento, Dance Suite
DG 445825
2:11
Bartok: Burlesques No. 2, Slightly Tipsy
Bartók, piano
Composers In Person
EMI 55031
2:07
Tom Waits: The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)
Tom Waits
Small Change
Asylum 21375
:44
Bartók: Violin Duo No. 5 – Slovakian Song
Drucker, violin; Setzer, violin
Bartók: Sonata For Solo Violin, Violin Duos
Biddulph 020
:58
Episode 3
Bartók: Violin Duo No. 42- Arabian Song
Drucker, violin; Setzer, violin
Bartók: Sonata For Solo Violin, Violin Duos
Biddulph 020
1:10
Bartók: String Quartet No. 2, II
Takács Quartet
Bartók: The 6 String Quartets
London 445297
7:16
Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite, Op. 19
Philadelphia Orchestra/Ormandy
Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta / The Miraculous Mandarin – Suite
EMI 47117 2
20:07
Bartók: Violin Sonata #2, I
Andsnes, piano; Tezlaff, violin
Violin Sonatas
Virgin Classics 45668
8:05
Ravel: Tzigane For Violin & Piano (excerpt)
Hope, violin; Knauer, lutheal
East Meets West – Ravel, Shankar
Warner 61329
4:59
Bartok: Village Scenes: Lullaby
New York Philharmonic/Boulez; Fuerstman, alto
Bartok: Miraculous Mandarin, Pieces For Orchestra
Sony 45837
4:42
Bartók: Cantata Profana (excerpt)
Budapest Festival Orchestra & Choir of Hungarian Radio & TV/Solti
Sir George Solti: The Last Recording; Bartók, Kodály, Weiner
London 458929
1:09
Orff: Carmina Burana (excerpt)
Philharmonia Orchestra/Muti
Orff: Carmina Burana
EMI 735732
:37
Episode 4
Bartok: Violin Duo No. 34: Counting Song (excerpt)
Setzer, violin; Drucker, violin
Bartók: Sonata For Solo Violin, Violin Duos
Biddulph 020
:59
Bartók: Piano Concerto #2, SZ 95 – 1. Allegro
Berlin Philharmonic/Boulez; Andsnes, piano
The Piano Concertos
DG B0003885-02
9:19
Bartók: Contrasts – I. Verbunkos (Recruiting Dance)
Goodman, clarinet; Bartok, piano; Szigeti, violin
Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet and Piano: I. Verbunkos
Pearl 57
5:25
Bartók: Music For Strings, Percussion And Celesta, III & IV
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Solti
Bartok: Music For Strings, Percussion & Celesta/The Miraculous Mandarin-Suite/Divertimento
London 430 352-2
13:21
Bartók: Violin Concerto No. 2, I (excerpt), II
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/Boulez; Shaham, violin
Violin Concerto No. 2 · Rhapsodies Nos. 1 & 2
DG 459 639
10:50
Bartók: Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion and Orchestra, III
Concertgebouw/Zinman; Argerich, piano; Freiere, piano
Philips 416 378-2
6:44
Episode 5
Bartok: Divertimento for Strings, III
Camerata Academica Des Mozarteums/Végh
Sandor Vegh conducts Bartok, Berg and Stravinsky
Capriccio 10300
7:13
Bartok: Concerto For Orchestra, I
CSO/Solti
Concerto For Orchestra / Dance Suite
London/Decca 400 052-2
9:04
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60
NBC Symphony Orchestra/Toscanini
Live broadcast from July 19, 1942
:28 (excerpt)
Lehár: “Da Geh’ Ich Zu Maxim” fr. Merry Widow (excerpt)
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Lehár: Die Lustige Witwe
DG 459 658-2
:26
Bartók: Concerto For Orchestra, IV & V
CSO/Solti
Concerto For Orchestra / Dance Suite
London/Decca 400 052-2
13:40
Bartok: Piano Concerto No. 3, II & III
LA. Philharmonic Orchestra/Salonen; Bronfman, piano
Béla Bartók, The Three Piano Concertos
Sony 66718
17:13
Bartok: Violin Duo No. 10 – Ruthenian Song
Drucker, violin; Setzer,violin
Bartók: Sonata For Solo Violin, Violin Duos
Biddulph 020
:59
