4.) Bartok - Romanian Folk Dances, s. 76

Yes, I realize that the name of Bela Bartok causes some people to recoil in horror,
but every once in a while, a legitimate arts organization has a responsibility to
present the works of the truly great creators, especially one like Bartok, whose
music embodies a sort of cosmic humanism.

That being said, these 7 short dances are among Bartok's most enjoyable and

accessible works. Who could fail to be moved by his undying passion and
commitment for collecting and preserving the pure, authentic FOLK MUSIC
of the Hungarian empire....which, at the time, included Rumania, Slovakia,
Serbia and Croatia.

 

Imagine Bartok and his friend, composer Zoltan Kodaly, travelling through the
backwoods of rural Hungary to every tiny, primitive village they could find, then
asking all of the oldest peasants to sing the songs they remembered from their
childhood into Bartok's miniature Edison wax-cylinder phonograph; what a clash
of cultures!  But Bartok and Kodaly realized that, without their pursuit of these
old songs, an important part of their cultural past would be lost forever---since
none of these songs were written down; they existed only in the memories of the
peasants who sang them.

Bartok's entire voice as a composer changed because of his work "in the field";
what an incredibly fascinating synthesis between the raw, unadorned folk
material and Bartok's own rugged, uncompromising...but thoroughly human....
musical personality.

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Bartok's Romanian Dances originated with seven authentic folk-dance tunes
he collected, which he then arranged and harmonized in his own unique,
exotic style. He wrote them first for piano, then orchestrated them (there's also
a version for violin solo and piano).

They last barely 5 minutes in total....and each is like a superb and fascinating
miniature "audio clip" of Romania's distant past, thankfully preserved for us by
the great composer. Each dance has a title----most are descriptive of the purpose
or the function that the dance served in daily life. Apparently the first dance,
stately and joyous in nature, was danced with some sort of stick resembling a
baseball bat; Bartok's title is literally Dance with Bat, which I've changed to
Dance with Wooden Bat in the program; all seven of these dance melodies come
from the Transylvania region of Romania, and I wouldn't want anyone to think
that "Dance with Bat" had anything to do with Transylvania's most infamous,
legendary Count.

A wonderful way to open the second half of our concert on Sunday; you will
enjoy getting to know the "lighter" side of the great Bela Bartok.

Thanks for reading,

Larry R