SKU: BT.EMBZ1765

'This music, moving even in its bleakness, is characterised by the complete absence of ornamentation. The arc of all four pieces [1. Adagio, 2. Andante, 3. Poco lento, 4. Assai andante] is similar: after beginning softly they reach a fortissimo climax, then sink back into numbing grief. Only the decidedly important melodic and harmonic elements are heard, pared down, occasionally reinforced with octave doubling. In the Adagio of the Second Piano Concerto Bartók was to return to this peculiar piano instrumentation. The lyricism and Hungarian turns of phrase of the second movement differ a little from the series: he orchestrated it with the title 'Melody' in 1931 as thecentral piece of the five-movement 'Hungarian Sketches'.' (HCD 32525 Bartók New Series Vol. 25, Somfai László).

SKU: PR.110417650

ISBN 9781491111482. UPC: 680160615797. 9x12 inches.

Commissioned by Piano & Keyboard magazine, Amlin’s EIGHT VARIATIONS is a charming 5-minute piece designed to be within reach of intermediate pianists. The work begins with a fascinating chorale in true Amlin style — a study in major-seventh chords in varied inversions and everchanging harmony. The result is a theme that is at once beautiful, fresh, and always moving forward. Seven characteristic variations follow, subjecting the original chord progression through the guises of a Habanera, a Bach-style invention, and further treats. [ADDITION] Andrew Willis has recorded EIGHT VARIATIONS for Albany Records, on a CD also including the works listed below.

SKU: KP.BE189

SKU: HL.50605139

SKU: BT.EMBZ20039

English-Hungarian.

Bartók composed his first pedagogical collection For Children between 1908 and 1911. The first edition was issued between 1909 and 1911 in four volumes, comprising two of Hungarian and two of Slovak folk song arrangements. After moving to America, Bartók considered it important to produce new editions of his earlier works. Thus in autumn 1943, together with his new publisher Boosey & Hawkes, he planned a new edition of For Children, and to this end completely revised the collection. Although Bartók had already completed his revision by the end of 1943, the revised edition was only issued in 1946. The pieces were published without titles in the first edition, but the folksong lyrics were included. These lyrics, deemed unnecessary for the non-Hungarian audiences, were not taken over to the American revised edition however, a significant number of pieces were provided with a title conveying their mood and their background in folk music and folk life. The American edition omitted the folk songs lyrics that seemed unnecessary to the audience there, but the titles of the first edition were replaced with English titles (some with the same meaning and some with modified interpretations) conveying each song's mood and background in folk music and folk life.The present edition - which contains the same scores as those in Volume 37 of the Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition (Z. 15037) - is based on the revised version that the composer made in 1943 for the new edition, to which he also referred to as ''corrected''. We have added Hungarian translations to the English titles but we have also restored the original collection of folk song texts with parallel English translations. The pieces discarded from the revised version, as well as early versions that are significantly different from the revised version, are included in the Appendix. This publication contains a preface and editorial comments in both Hungarian and English.