Béla Bartók's Passion for Ethnomusicology
Bartók and Folk Music
Béla Bartók (1881-1945), one of the best-known Hungarian composers is also one of the most significant musicians of the twentieth century. He shared a strong passion for ethnomusicology, which is the scientific study of music, especially traditional music, as an aspect of culture. Bartok synthesized the Hungarian pattern of music and other folk music that he studied to make his own distinctive style. As composers continued to seek originality in the twentieth century, many new styles of music emerged. The music of Bartók is no exception to this trend. Bartók’s music is saturated with qualities derived from folk music that Bartók was undoubtedly exposed to during his youth. His music was recognized for containing characteristics representing much of the folk music of Eastern Europe. These folk music qualities present in Bartók’s music give his compositions a unique quality separating him from other European composers of his time. In the years 1934-40, Bartók devoted himself full-time to work as an ethnomusicologist. He collaborated with Zoltán Kodály and led a small team of folk-music researchers to collect various folk-music in countryside and arranged the folk music. Meanwhile he put them in practice and wrote many famous works. On these compositions, Bartók emphasized on exploring the melody and absorbing the material from the folk music.
Among these famous compositions, Music for String Instruments, Percussion and Celesta (1936) is one of Bartók’s most celebrated compositions, which was commissioned by the Swiss conductor Paul Sacher for the Basle Chamber Orchestra. As the title suggests, the orchestration of this piece is double strings, harp, piano, xylophone, timpani, percussion and celesta. According to Bartók’s instructions for orchestra position, placing the piano, harp (piano is a percussion instrument in this case, and harp is part of the strings) xylophone, timpani, percussion and celesta in the center of the stage, and
Béla Bartók (1881-1945), one of the best-known Hungarian composers is also one of the most significant musicians of the twentieth century. He shared a strong passion for ethnomusicology, which is the scientific study of music, especially traditional music, as an aspect of culture. Bartok synthesized the Hungarian pattern of music and other folk music that he studied to make his own distinctive style. As composers continued to seek originality in the twentieth century, many new styles of music emerged. The music of Bartók is no exception to this trend. Bartók’s music is saturated with qualities derived from folk music that Bartók was undoubtedly exposed to during his youth. His music was recognized for containing characteristics representing much of the folk music of Eastern Europe. These folk music qualities present in Bartók’s music give his compositions a unique quality separating him from other European composers of his time. In the years 1934-40, Bartók devoted himself full-time to work as an ethnomusicologist. He collaborated with Zoltán Kodály and led a small team of folk-music researchers to collect various folk-music in countryside and arranged the folk music. Meanwhile he put them in practice and wrote many famous works. On these compositions, Bartók emphasized on exploring the melody and absorbing the material from the folk music.
Among these famous compositions, Music for String Instruments, Percussion and Celesta (1936) is one of Bartók’s most celebrated compositions, which was commissioned by the Swiss conductor Paul Sacher for the Basle Chamber Orchestra. As the title suggests, the orchestration of this piece is double strings, harp, piano, xylophone, timpani, percussion and celesta. According to Bartók’s instructions for orchestra position, placing the piano, harp (piano is a percussion instrument in this case, and harp is part of the strings) xylophone, timpani, percussion and celesta in the center of the stage, and
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