Béla Viktor János Bartók (1881 -- 1945) was a
Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of
the most important composers of the 20th century; he
and Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers
(Gillies 2001). Through his collection and analytical
study of folk music, he was one of the founders of
ethnomusicology.
Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56, BB 68 is a suite of six
short piano pieces composed by Béla Bartók in 1915.
He later orchestrated it for small ensemble in 1...(+)
Béla Viktor János Bartók (1881 -- 1945) was a
Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of
the most important composers of the 20th century; he
and Liszt are regarded as Hungary's greatest composers
(Gillies 2001). Through his collection and analytical
study of folk music, he was one of the founders of
ethnomusicology.
Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56, BB 68 is a suite of six
short piano pieces composed by Béla Bartók in 1915.
He later orchestrated it for small ensemble in 1917 as
Sz. 68, BB 76.
It is based on seven Romanian tunes from Transylvania,
originally played on fiddle or shepherd's flute. The
original name for the piece was titled Romanian Folk
Dances from Hungary but was later changed by Bartók
when Transylvania joined Romania in 1918. It is
nowadays available in the 1971 edition which is written
with key signatures although Bartok rarely ever wrote
key signatures.
The melody of the first movement, according to Bartók,
came from Mezőszabad (present-day Voiniceni)
village that was part of Mezőcsávás (present-day
Ceuașu de Câmpie) commune which was located in
the Maros-Torda administrative county within
Transylvania, and he first heard it when two gypsy
violinists were playing it. The second movement is a
typical dance from Romania called Brâul, for which
traditionally a sash or a waistband was used. This
melody came from Egres (present-day Igriș), in the
Banat region. The third dance comes also from Egres
(Igriș), but its theme is much darker and its
melody recreates Middle Eastern instruments, such as
the flute. The fourth dance came from Bucsony
(present-day Bucium), in the district of Torda-Aranyos
(today Alba county in Romania). The fifth dance is an
old Romanian dance similar to the Polka and comes from
Belényes (present-day Beiuş, in Bihor county),
near the border between Hungary and Romania. The sixth
and last dance is formed by two different melodies: the
first one comes from Belényes (present-day Beiuș)
and the second one comes from the then named Nyagra
(present-day Neagra) village within the Palotailva
(present-day Lunca Bradului) commune. Both on the
orchestral version and on the original piano version,
these two dances are performed without a discernible
pause, the reason for which is anyone's guess.
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanian_Folk_Dances).
Although originally written for Piano, I created this
interpretation for Flute & Classical Guitar.
