Béla Bartók

Béla Bartók was known as a pianist, composer, educator, and ethnomusicologist whose works are among the most well-known and performed compositions of the 20th century. His music demonstrates a wide variety of 20th-century musical styles, and he had a particular interest in the folk music of both his native country and other cultures.

Bartók was born in a region of Hungary that is now part of Romania in 1881. His family was of a musical background: his father was the headmaster of an agricultural school and an amateur musician, and his mother was a piano teacher. He started composing in the 1890s at age seven, and among his first works were dances such as waltzes, Ländler, and polkas. He held a formal musical education at the Budapest Academy with an advanced standing in piano and composition (he also later taught here for over 20 years). After hearing Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, his enthusiasm for composition grew, and his major success in composition came a few years later, with the nationalist symphonic poem, Kossuth, in 1903, which eventually propelled him into fame internationally. Bartók was also fond of ethnolmusicology, and shared this with his colleague Zoltàn Kodàly. He travelled throughout Hungary as well as other places to make gramophone recordings of the folk songs of the local people. He had a successful performing career in the United States (where he would move in 1940) as well as all over Europe, appearing on local radio. Bartók also received the French Légion d’honneur (Legion of Honour) and was a part of the League of Nations (now the United Nations or UN) for his contributions on the preservation of culture. During his time there, he witnessed deteriorating human rights and growing intolerance sweeping across parts of Europe. Upon arrival in the U.S., he worked for Columbia University and was also a guest lecturer at Harvard University, although he was unable to finish his lecturing series due to severe illness. As a result of WWII, he struggled financially since he was not receiving any royalties, however his medical treatment was generously covered by ASCAP (American Society for Composers, Authors, and Publishers) despite not being a member. Even in his illness, he continued to compose. Most notably, his Concerto for Orchestra was written with great enthusiasm during this time (this work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitsky, conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra), which he completed in 1943. He died on 26 September 1945 in New York City.

Bartók’s music features rhythmic complexity, folk elements, dissonant harmony, and a preference for traditional forms. He also explored other currents of his time, including Expressionism (German music and art movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with a focus on subjectivity and the human condition - e.g. the opera Bluebeards’ Castle), virtuosity, and neo-Classicism (return to Classical tradition). His Hungarian nationalism can be found in the use of folk elements in his music, and his influence of Stravinsky and primitivism has led him sometimes to a more percussive, dissonant style of writing that nearly verges on atonality (e.g. the piano piece Out of Doors). His preference of traditional forms can be seen in his employment of contrapuntal textures such as fugue, and neo-Classical forms such as sonata, rondo, and cyclical structure. As well, he made significant and notable contributions to the field of pedagogy by authoring many pedagogical works such as Mikrokosmos (six volumes of instructional piano solos) and For Children.

Overall, Béla Bartók has left a lasting mark as one of the most prominent and well-known composers of the 20th century and is remembered for his significant contributions in the fields he touched during his lifetime.