Violin Concerto No. 1, Sz. 36 for violin and piano by Bela Bartok
Piano reduction by Hans-Heinz Schneeberger. Published by Boosey & Hawkes
Bela Bartok (1881-1945) was one of Hungary's greatest composers and one of the most outstanding composers of the 20th century. He was a committed modernist, applying the contrapuntal rigor of Bach to his own forward-thinking, bold music. He was also one of the first ethnomusicologists; he recorded folk music across Eastern Europe with fellow composer Zoltan Kodaly, later incorporating folk song into his own music. He wrote much in the way for strings, including string quartets, concertos, and folk suites.
Bartok wrote his Violin Concerto No. 1, Sz. 36 (1908) as a romantic gesture toward the violinist Stefi Geyer; she rejected him and the concerto, and Bartok annulled it from his oeuvre, reworking it into an orchestral work; only in 1956, 11 years after his death, would the concerto see its premiere. It would soon by championed by the links of David Oistrakh. It is a conservative, two-movement rhapsodic work in the style of Richard Strauss, with passages of melodic lyricism and displays of virtuosity. Master level, Grade 6.
