Bela Bartok's Fourteen Bagatelles, Op. 6 Determining Performance Authenticity 6c1d5o

B: BAGATELLE NO. 9, MM. 13-14 - ft\ f Vc.lnt. ^

C: BAGATELLE NO. 8, MM. 20-22

agitato

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

75

D: BAGATELLE NO. 7, IM. 97-104

At these culmination points the presence of an almost stereotypical "Hungarian" dotted rhythm, or the approach towards a "short-long" [Lcmbardic] rhythmic cadence, in general, is one of the most essential factors in creating a profoundly Hungarian character. The Magyar rhythm in Bartok's works is usually accompanied by a simplification of texture— either a thinning of voices from a denser texture, or a change to traditional triadic


76

harmony in contrast to surrounding material of a more abstract nature. According to Somfai, the ages exhibiting this phenomenon tend to conform to two significant tendencies: (1) These emphatically Hungarian

bars in the

culmination point— although thematically related to the foregoing material of the movement—

here, to a certain

extent, appear unexpectedly and without preparation, at some points even impeding the regular growth of the form, and definitely endeavouring to create sensual effect. (2) The work, the movement never canes to an end with these pathetic bars.

Bartok, in a deliberate

"alienation",...adds thematic material already used, or a coda, but in any case, with a neutralizing effect....Even if they are brief and terse,

there is something in these

Bartok culmination points that is reminiscent of the Verkiarung pathos of late-rcmantic music. It is precisely in order to counterbalance this that Bartok ends with 43 the so-called "alienating" bars.

43.

Ibid.


77

Although Somfai refers only to other Bartok works in his discussion, this phenomenon is highly characteristic of the Bagatelles. The sudden intrusion of the Magyar rhythm creates a dranatic, usually climactic sensual effect, after which the movement is closed with either a return of earlier thematic material or with a "neutralizing" coda.

A more objective character

returns to balance the ionate outburst, sometimes containing vestiges of the Magyar rhythm as a subtle reminder of the climactic age.

Although not present in every movement, the Magyar rhythm

appears so frequently and in such significant roles that it can be seen as one of the primary unifying features of the entire opus. In the ABA form of Bagatelle No. 11 some very new (for 1908) and abstract (non-folk-related) musical ideas are contrasted with more traditional materials using the Magyar rhythm. section features chords built of fourths (Ex. 16).

The opening A This quartal-

chord section has a tipsy, unstable, somewhat comical character, and demonstrates a type of writing which appears a number of tines in Bartok's compositions, such as in the second of Three Burlesques, Op. 8c, which is actually entitled "Slightly Tipsy" (Ex. 17).


EX. 17: "SLIGHTLY TIPSY" FROM THREE BURLESQUES, OP. 8C, MM. 1-2 A llrjjivlto J . iu 4- i m

_

_

_

The middle section of Bagatelle No. 11 becorres suddenly much more serious, a dotted-rhythm melody harmonized by triads— abstract materials become more traditional, lhe tension increases through the B section, culminating in a telescoping of the melodic rhythm to the essential Magyar rhythmic element: eighth note— dotted-quarter note. The climactic point is reached and sustained by fermata, after which the tension is released, or "neutralized" with the return of the fourth chords of the A section (Ex. 18).


EX. 18: BAGATELLE NO. 11, MM. 55-61

m

Bagatelle No. 1^ features contrasts of all kinds.

It is

notated bitonally, as discussed in the previous chapter, with the part for each hand written in a different key. The parts of the two hands proceed in a highly contrasting counterpoint of note values (RH: 3 quarter notes— whole note; LH: 4 eighth notes— quarter note), of melodic contour (RH ascends, LH descends), of pianistic touch (RH------ , L H ------ ) and of dynamic level (RH: mf, LH: ppp). This stratification of contrasting elements lends a cool, impersonal mood to this material. The texture converges, and the atmosphere becomes contrastingly more vibrant, in a solo age in Magyar rhythm.

The two contrasting forces unite again in the

second half of the piece, mm. 12-14, where the climax occurs, this


time with both hands in a unison age of Magyar rhythm (Ex. 19, mm. 12-14).

After the musical climax the neutralizing cool,

objective material returns, although colored by remnants of the Magyar rhythm.

The "Hungarian" bars serve as a symbol of the

convergence of conflicting forces, as a Romantic expressive element.

The dramaturgy sesns to be concerned with conflicting

elements which attempt, unsuccessfully in the end, to be reconciled. Bagatelle No. 7 is another example of the use of the Magyar rhythm as an expressive tool at the point of culmination.

Except

for the fanfare introduction, the material of this Bagatelle is entirely free of obvious folk references.

The mood is capricious

and lighthearted, much like Bagatelle No. 11, until the last part of the movement, where the music reaches a fiery climax, culminating in the unexpected arrival of a single voice in Magyar rhythm (Ex. 20, rrm. 103-106.)

This moment is sustained, then

followed by a completely unrelated, neutralizing coda.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission

81

EX. 19: BAGATELLE NO. 1


82



83

This discussion of the Magyar rhythm is essential to the interpretation of the Bagatelles because of its dramatic implications. Personally, politically, and musically Bartok was a committed nationalist.

The oppression of various regimes and the

changing of surrounding borders were sources of grief and concern throughout his life, ultimately resulting in his emigration to the United States.

As he had written to his mother several years

before the composition of the Bagatelles; Everyone, on reaching maturity, has to set himself a goal and must direct all his work and actions towards this.

For my own part, all my life, in every sphere,

always and in

every way, I shall have one objective: The 44

good of Hungary and the Hungarian nation.

The Magyar rhythm represents his most ardent yearnings, the Rcmantic and dramatic in Bartok, and serves as the antithesis of the radical, objective, experimental, cerebral Bartok of the Fourteen Bagatelles.

44.

Demenyi, p. 29.


Of ail the Bagatelles, No. 10 demonstrates the most canplex synthesis of all the elements of Bartok's mature personal style. Here, for the first time in his works, the primitivistic piano style that became a hallmark of his most important piano works appears.

It was not until Allegro Barbaro (1911) that Bartok's

unorthodox approach to piano writing was established in the annals of music history—

inviting the ire and awe of the confused musical

public. Most of Bartok's piano works after Allegro Barbaro employ this primitivistic technical style to a greater or lesser extent, but one could cite the Piano Sonata 1926 and the Piano Concerto No.

2

and Piano Concerto No. _1 of

as particularly significant

examples. This primitivism in Bartok's piano writing represents the most sophisticated absorption of folk elements in the Bagatelles. There is no direct use of authentic folk materials, i.e. no quotations of folk tunes, nor does Bartok employ any original material in direct imitation of folk melodies or rhythms.

The folk

element is far more subtly perceptible (although the relentless, motoric drive of the piece is anything but subtle!) as a pervasive rustic quality which arises frcm the driving rhythm and the clean, angular texture. The incessant ostinati lend the piece an

R e p ro d u c e d w ith p e rm is s io n o f th e c o p y rig h t o w n e r. F u rth e r re p ro d u c tio n p ro h ib ite d w ith o u t p e rm is s io n .

85

irresistible manentum, and the long fortissimo

approach to the

final climactic point a barbaric power. This unique piano style arose fran the composer's unorthodox perception of the instrument itself. He wrote that "its inherent nature becomes really expressive only by means of the present 45 His

tendency to use the piano as a percussion instrument."

meaning, often misconstrued by pianists, was that the technical nature of the instrument was such that its natural tone and expression could best be realized when the composer is oriented toward varieties of touch—

striking the keys.

In other words, to

compose idiomatically for the instrument one must think in of the way sound is produced, not in such as legato and cantabile, concepts more idiomatic to string and wind instruments. Bartok did NOT mean that his music should be played with a jarring, harsh, strident quality. This is a major misconception of pianists today.

One need only listen to the recordings of Bartok playing

his own music to realize that he never played with a harsh tone. "Percussive" playing has a negative connotation to us today.

45.

But

Essays, p. 288.


86

Bartok was speaking in purely technical, not qualitative, , referring objectively to the mechanism of the instrument itself, not to the quality of tone produced by the performer. Mention must be made of the pervasive influence of folk music on the harmonic/melodic dimension of the Bagatelles. Bartok gradually absorbed harmonic, melodic, formal, and rhythmic elements from his studies of folk music into his musical language.

In the

Bagatelles the various elements are still juxtaposed, i.e. contrasting influences (e.g. fran Debussy, folk music,) are presented side by side, but the beginnings of a true synthesis can also be observed, for example, in

Bagatelle No. 10, discussed

above. The manner in which Bartok extracted materials frcm folk and other sources and fused them together into his personal musical harironic language is explored in depth in the writings of Antokoletz.


CHAPTER FOUR

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ELEMENTS OF THE BAGATELLES

The composition of the Fourteen Bagatelles was a result, not only of Bartok's new musical incentives—

the investigation of folk

music and new directions in art music— but also of events in his personal life.

. 6 occupies a central position in a group of

works related to a period of great crisis for the composer, a tine when he seriously faced fundamental personal, political and ideological dilemmas. Bartok's musical output during this period reflects the contemplation and resolution of these grave inner conflicts. The manifestations of these personal currents are fundamental to the meaning and purpose of the works of the tirre, because they illustrate Bartok's process of encountering and 87


working through these years of crisis. The years 1906-1907 represented a time of important changes in every phase of Bartok's life.

For many years he had experienced

an increasingly acute awareness of a need for a new musical outlet. When he found that outlet in his discovery of Hungarian peasant music, he was keenly cognizant of its import in his music and the future of Hungarian art music. At the same time he began to ponder the fundamental questions of the creative artist, of his isolation from society, his inability to live and work in harmony with himself and the rest of the world. He wished to pursue his calling, to study folk music and compose, yet he faced the inevitable necessity of needing to earn a living to these endeavors, which therefore diverted time and energy to other pursuits.

He

accepted an appointment to succeed his teacher Thctnan as Professor of Piano at the Budapest Academy, but the decision was made with feelings of reluctance—

he expressed to his friends his doubts

about the appointment and his indifference toward teaching of the 46 time.

46. This in spite of the fact that many students attested to the excellence of his teaching. His career as a pedagogue is significant, especially as regards the original piano works composed as teaching materials.


89

Bartok's devotion to the collection of folk music contributed to his soul searching.

The time spent in the country amona the 47

peasants, which he referred to as "the happiest days of my life," gave substance to the nationalistic attitudes he had assumed since his student days. The better he came to know the conditions of peasant life, the more critical he became of upper-class tastes and sensibilities, and from this evolved his conviction that the true national identity was to be found among the folk. He felt comfortable and at home only in the country— he cultivated peasant friends and even stayed in their hates.

The city came to be a

desolate wasteland, where he was destined to be alone among the crowds and concrete. Bartok rejected Christianity with a similar fervor during this period, railing against the fundamental concepts of the Church and proclaiming himself an athiest, that "the Bible preaches the 48 contrary of the truth learned in our existence on earth." He

47. Essays, p. 332. 48. Demeny, p. 76.


90

began to ascribe to a pantheistic spiritual alignment, finding in nature his inspiration and source of solace, "...if I ever crossed myself, it would signify "In the name of Nature, Art and

49

/ S c i e n c e T h i s was manifested in the rich symbolism of nature images in his music of the time, and remained an element of his music throughout his career, especially in the "night music" sequences of the Out of Doors Suite, the third Improvisation on Hungarian Peasant Songs, Op. 20, and the second movement of the Piano Concerto No.

3.

Bartok"s sense of inner conflict and alienation was compounded by his ill-fated infatuation with a fellow student at the Academy, the violinist Stefi Geyer. He found in Geyer a soulmate, one in whom he thought he could confide his inner turmoil and budding philosophies. Bartok, characterized

throughout

his

life as a private, reserved and aloof personality, poured himself into uncharacteristically lengthy and ionate epistles with Geyer, written during folk song collecting tours of the countryside.

In this correspondence of September 1907, Bartok

described his period of religious conflict, of questioning and

49.

Ibid.


91

final rejection of the basic doctrines of Christianity: For it isn't God who created man in his own image, after his likeness: It is man who created God after his own likeness.

It is not the body that's mortal and the

soul that's inmortal, but the other way round: The soul is transitory and the body (that is, matter) is everlasting! Why are these false doctrines thrust upon so many millions of people—

to ensure that they are

accepted by the vast majority of people throughout their lives and can only be cast aside by a minority 50 after a conflict that should be unnecessary.

Apparently Bartok's radical fervor was too much for Geyer— she must have responded with shock and disapproval, because Bartok's next letter attempts a clarification of his views, and although conciliatory in tone, gently expresses his sadness and disillusionment that she should cling to traditional beliefs: I wouldn't have thought you capable of such dogmatism; that you believed in this or that just as you've been


92

told to.

Or maybe I am after all mistaken in thinking

that you accept as true that clumsy fable about the Holy Trinity? There is a kind of holiness which can be entirely ed for in of human qualities, and which is recognized by many thoughtful people. But to stick your head in the noose of dogmas! I must 51 have got your letter all wrong, I am sure.

Geyer broke with Bartok sometime during early 1908, compounding his sense of inevitable loneliness. He was less and less at hone in the city, where he was offended by the triviality of cultural tastes and principles. He found solace only in the countryside, among nature and rural folk, but was forced to spend most of his time in Budapest, where he could earn a living. The events of 1907-1908 had a direct bearing on his compositions of that tine. During the summer of 1907, when Bartok's relationship with Geyer was as yet untroubled by religious differences— he first broached the subject of his views in the correspondence of September—

51.

he began the composition of his first

Ibid.


93

Violin Concerto. The Concerto was dedicated to Geyer, a gifted violinist, and intended for her performance.

He was occupied with

its composition during the troubling period of their correspondence and separation, and in one letter described his state of mind: After reading your letter, I sat down to the piano—

I

have a a sad misgiving that I shall never find any consolation in life save in music.

And yet—

[here

Bartok noted several measures of music, and above the four notes C#-E-Gjf-B# wrote "this is your 'Leitmotiv'"] For seme time, I have been in a very strange mood, going from one extreme to the other.

One letter frcm you, a

line, even a word— and I am in a transport of joy, the next brings me almost to tears, it hurts so. What is to be the end of it all? And when?

It is as if I am in a 52

state of spiritual intoxication all the time.

52.

Ibid., p. 87.


94

Bartok completed the Concerto in February of 1908, after Geyer had severed ties with him, then copied a long poem onto the last page and mailed the original manuscript to her. Neither of them wished to hear the work perfonred after the pain of ending the relationship, and so the work remained unknown and unperformed until after her death, when it was premiered in 1958 by Paul Sacher in Basel, Switzerland, fifty years after its composition. The leitmotif to which Bartok referred in his letter to Geyer is the primary symbol of the autobiographical meaning in the works of this period. It had the same significance in its major or minor form; i.e., a major triad with a major seventh or a minor triad with a major seventh were two versions of the same motive (Ex. 21).

EX.21: THE STEFI GEYER LEITMOTIF


95

Both movements of the Violin Cbncerto are based heavily on this thane, and it is also an important feature of the Fourteen Bagatelles. Bagatelle No. 14, composed on March 20, bears the title "Ma mie qui danse" [My dancing sweetheart]. The title refers to Geyer, fashion—

and the Bagatelle features her leitmotif in ironic this parody of a waltz is perhaps related to the

"spiritual intoxication" described above (Ex. 22).


Bartok combined the first movement of the Violin Concerto with Bagatelle No. 14 in a transcription for orchestra titled IWo Portraits, Op. 5.

The Cbncerto movement, labeled

"Ideal," paints

a loving portrait of the beloved. The Bagatelle transcription, "Grotesque,"

is an irreverant rcmp.

Bagatelle No. 13, titled "Elle est morte" [She is dead], was written on February 14, 1908.

The significance of the title and


96

the use of the leitmotif is especially fascinating in light of the direct resemblance it bears to the example used by Bartok to introduce the motif to Geyer in the September, 1907 letter.

Both

create a ponderous dirge-like mood using a triadic dotted-rhytlm accompaniment.

The leitmotif appears in the same transposition,

although in different guises: the fragment fran the letter uses the version with a minor third, the Bagatelle employs the major third version, and is an enharmonic spelling.

At the point in the

letter where the leitmotif occurs, Bartok wrote above the notes: "This is your "Leitmotiv'" (Ex. 23a).

53 Above the leitmotif in

the first edition of the Bagatelles, a measure almost identical to the example, in the letter, he wrote the words: "She dies" (fix. 23b).

This was removed in later editions, because the connection

with Stefi Geyer became less important, and this thane took on a more generalized meaning for the composer.

However, there is no

doubt that the original intention of the funereal Bagatelle No. 13 was to express Bartok's mourning for the loss of Geyer.

53.

Ibid.

R e p ro d u c e d w ith p e rm is s io n o f th e c o p y rig h t o w n e r. F u rth e r re p ro d u c tio n p ro h ib ite d w ith o u t pe rm is s io n .

97

EX. 23A: LEITMOTIF FROM BAKIUK'S LETTER TO STEFI GEYER

Temporal distance from the pain of parting from Geyer made it possible for Bartok eventually to employ this theme as a more objective symbol, no longer referring specifically to one person, but to thanes of opposition, of contradiction, in general. The Stefi Geyer leitmotif appears in various guises throughout the works of this period. The first movement of the Ten Easy Pieces, composed in June 1908, immediately after the Bagatelles, opens with this theme as an introductory fanfare:


98

EX. 24: "DEDICATION," FROM TEN EASY PIECES, ram 1-4

Transformations of this same theme have been identified in several other works of 1908-1917. Judith's primary thane in the opera Duke Bluebeard's Castle is a descending minor-major seventh chord (Ex. 25a).

The opening motive of the First String Quartet

(1908) (the first two notes of each of the violin parts) are constructed out of this same chord: the F-A-flat-C-E is a minormajor chord in inversion, with octave displacement in the second violin part (Ex. 25b).


EX 25A: JUDITH'S MOTIVE FROM BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE

EX 25B: STRING QUARTET NO. 1, 1ST MVT., MM. 1-4

VIOUMO I

The autobiographical connection of Bagatelles Nos. 13 and L4 is quite clear from the reference to the leitmotif in Bartok's letter and the titles of the movements. But personal themes are also to be found on a deeper level. One can sense a sadness in the general tone of most of the Bagatelles, evidenced by solemn tempos, (Nos. 1, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 1_3) and a tendency toward downward-ending contours in nearly every Bagatelle, especially toward the end of


100

movements (Ex. 26). This downward shape can be seen both as typical of the contours of folk melodies and as expressive of Bartok's pessimistic state of mind at the time of composition.

EX 26: CHARACTERISTIC DESCENDING COUTOURS IN THE BAGATELLES 26A: BAGATELLE NO. 7, MM. 116-118


101

26C: BAGATELLE NO. 8, MM. 1-2 Andante sostenuto ^/si-eo.

26D: BAGATELLE NO. 13, MM. 1-3 L ento funebre H o .n

___ >>//

motto eaprcs*. "— •'v ’r”-


102

A more complete discussion is in order for

Bagatelle No.

12.

Elusive because of its evocative nature, one can sense intuitively a depth of meaning, yet what that meaning might be is difficult to ascertain. A connection with the program of Nos. 13 and 14_ is implied by a frequent sublimation of the Stefi Geyer leitmotif in the harmony— the motive never appears in overt melodic form, but major 7th chords are basic harmonic materials (Ex. 27).


Deeper insights into No. 12 can best be gained by first considering a pair of works which followed a few years later. Certain of the themes emerging in Bartok's life and music were explored in depth in two stage works, his only opera Bluebeard' s Castle (1911) and the ballet-pantomime The Wooden Prince (1914-


103

1916).

Both works were written in collaboration with the

poet

Bela Balazs, who together with Endre M y and Mihaly Babits was one of the most important Hungarian literary voices of the early twentieth century. Balazs and Zoltan Kodaly became acquainted in their student days, and Bartok probably came into with the poet through Kodaly. All three were an integral part of a generation of Hungarian intellectuals and idealists who forged a 54 new path in modern Hungarian art and literature. Balazs shared Bartok's dilemma and his goals.

His poetry

centered around the themes with which Bartok was obsessed, that he was formulating in his letters to Geyer: the inevitable solitude and loneliness of man, and of his isolation from society; the pantheistic attitudes expressed in the worship of nature and the

54.

Balazs, Kodaly and Bartok were active in meetings of a group of Hungarian intellectuals centered around Balazs and Gyflrgy Lukacs, known as the "Sunday Circle," who met in the apartments of the to discuss avante garde artistic, social and political issues. The writers of the movement founded a literary journal called Nyugat [The West], geared toward the tastes and philosophies of the progressive intellectual generation. It was in Nyugat that the works later involved in Balazs-Bartok collaborations were first published.


104

symbolic use of nature's images; and the tragedy and hopelessness inherent in the relationship of man and woman. Their common goal was to find the proper Hungarian expression in literature and music of the Hungarian soul, and to express in art the themes that they considered the inevitable plight of man. These ideas remained central to Bartok's art even after the pain of his break with Stefi had subsided, and the works composed in collaboration with the poet Balazs illustrate that these themes were bigger than the one love affair. Bluebeard's Castle tells of the wheedling, prying ways in which Bluebeard's wife Judith, whcm he has brought to his castle for the first time, forces her way into each of the closed rooms. Bartok had married his first wife Marta Ziegler by the tine of the composition of Bluebeard, and the relentless probing of Judith into the most private recesses of Bluebeard's castle, and the tragic inevitability of her fateful destruction are no doubt symbolic of Bartok's relationship with Marta. He even dedicated the opera to his first wife— an ominous tribute, because he divorced Marta soon after to marry his second wife Ditta Pasztory. The Wooden Prince also deals with themes of alienation between man and woman, although with a somewhat happier ending, and


105 in the guise of a fairy tale.

A Prince, in trying to attract the

attention of a lovely Princess who does not notice him at all, fights the forces of nature in vain to reach her.

Finally he

constructs a wooden puppet, adorns it with his cloak and swaths of his own hair. The Princess is enthralled and delighted, with the puppet.

and dances

The Prince finds, however, that she loves only

the puppet, not the Prince who made it.

Eventually,

influenced

through the forces of Nature, the Princess comes to a deeper awareness and is united with the Prince. This fable is symbolic on many levels: the alienation of man and wcman, of the creator from society, (the Princess loved the art but not the artist), and the benevolent and influential character of nature. Bartok and Balazs developed these ideas in the opera and the ballet, and it is through an understanding of the cannon vocabulary of musical gestures anploved in these works that the true meaning of Bagatelle No. 12 becomes apparent. Unmistakable similarities in types of musical gesture can be seen between the Bagatelle and especially the Wooden Prince— so unmistakable that the Bagatelle can be seen as a prototype for the later work, even though Bartok did not begin its composition until several years after the Bagatelles—

Balazs' Wooden Prince text was not even


106

written until 1912. Both Bluebeard"s Castle and The Wooden Prince are conceived in an arch form, which, because of the dramatic genres, is intricately connected with the dramaturgy.

In the opera, the drama

proceeds frcm the darkness of the castle, becoming brighter as Judith opens each successive door, peaking with the brilliance, of the fifth door.

From that point to the end, the scene returns to

darkness as the tragedy approaches.

The key structure s

this arch-form concept: the opening darkness is portrayed in a somber f-sharp pentatonic framework, the fifth door scene gleans in C major, and the work returns to the darker tonality at the end. The story of The Wooden Prince is also constructed in a symmetrical manner: it opens with the

awakening of nature,

followed by dances between characters, most importantly between the Princess and the wooden puppet. a dream sequence.

A central, slower section depicts

The Princess and puppet dance again, and the

work ends with musical images of nature.

Again, the tonal plan

follows the dramatic arch structure: the opening and closing sections remain in C major, while the central section is tonally ambiguous, with a frequent emphasis on C-sharp.

The composer

himself described the construction:


107 There are three clearly distinguishable parts, within which are smaller sections, too. The first part lasts till the end of the duet between the wooden puppet and the princess.

The second one is far

more tranquil, of typical middle-movement character, and it continues to the reappearance of the wooden puppet. The third part is actually the repetition of the first part but in inverse order of subdivisions, a natural 55 requirement because of the libretto.

This palindromic structure was favored by Bartok in many of his most important later works (e.g. Fourth String Quartet, Concerto for Orchestra), but its first application was in Bagatelle No. 12. In a much compressed manner, the Bagatelle conforms to the formal, dramatic and even tonal contours of The ftboden Prince. The opening is nebulous and static, like the awakening of nature. second section is dance-like, and

gathers energy

The

and intensity as

it progresses, arrriving in the center at a magical, dream-like

55.

Essays, p. 406.


108

apex.

The contour of the second B section is inverted, the figures

now descending in hopelessness, and in the final section, a return of the opening, the energy disperses.

The structural similarities

of the ballet and the Bagatelle are ilustrated below.

EX. 28: STRUCTURE OF TIE WOODEN PRINCE AND BAGATELLE NO. 12 56

The Wooden Prince The Awakening/ of Nature

Dance of Princess / Dream / and Puppet

Dance

/Closing Scene (nature)

Bagatelle No. 12 Static

/ Pantomime Gestures

/

Dream /

Pantomime/ Static Gestures

Bartok associated certain musical gestures with the common themes of these related works.

The rising and falling, wave-like

figures which begin the B section of Bagatelle No. 12 (Ex. 29a) have their counterparts in Judith's entreaty to Bluebeard to give her the keys to the doors of his castle, and in the motive

56. After Gydrgy Kroo's description in the program notes to The Wooden Prince, Hungaroton Complete Edition Recording (LPX 11403).


109

describing the sixth door, the "Lake of Tears" episode (Ex. 29b). Similar gestures appear frequently throughout The Wboden Prince.

EX. 29A: BAGATELLE NO. 12, MM. 8-12

Pooo pit! mosso

-f


EX. 29C: THE WOODEN PRINCE, MM. 272-274


I ll The fragmentation of this figure in the Bagatelle produces one of the most striking similarities of gesture to the ballet. This is the pantomime technique Bartok used to describe physical movement in music.

This type of gesture lends itself naturally to

ballet, of course, where movement is an integral part of the communication, but manages to suggest ballet-like movement even in other settings.

The pantomime gesture of Bagatelle No. 12 (Ex. 30)

resembles the figures used in the dance of the princess and the wooden puppet in the ballet (Ex. 31). EX. 30: BAGATELLE NO. 12, MM. 13-18


112

EX. 31: THE WOODEN PRINCE, MM. 138-147

Allegretto acheriando I


113

(Bartok's pantomime technique can be observed in another facet of his musical language of this time, his "tipsy" style.

In No^ 2

of Three Burlesques, Op. 8c ("Slightly Tipsy"). Bartok effectively portrayed the clumsy movements appropriate to the title.

Similar

staggering, stumbling gestures in humorous fashion are found in both Bagatelles Nos.

1_

and 1JL.)

Bagatelle No. 12 also resembles the overall outline of the larger works in of tonality. Bluebeard's Castle moves from an F-sharp pentatonic tonality to a central C major tonality and back again.

The Wooden Prince also begins and ends in C major, moving

to a more tonally ambiguous middle section.

Bagatelle No. 12, too,

begins and ends with an emphasis on the semitone B/C while the evocative measures of the central section assert an F-natural/Fsharp tonal basis.

Just as certain keys were associated with

specific moods or meanings in earlier composers, for instance the tragic or fateful c minor quality of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata, Op. 13 and his Symphony No. 5, Bartok seems to have associated a C tonality,

and its opposite implication (the tritone F-sharp) with

the gestures and intentions embodied in this group of works. The descriptive significance of these musical characteristics—

gestures, themes, tonal relationships—

becomes


114 increasingly apparent as one compares Bagatelle No. 12 to The Wooden Prince and Bluebeard's Castle. Their meaning is made clear by association with the text in the two later works, and by inference one must therefore associate the Bagatelle with these same elemental themes. But how closely are they actually related? If Bartok first became familiar with Balazs Wooden Prince text in 1912, then it is impossible to consider the Bagatelle, written in 1908, a direct sketch for the ballet. The key lies in the poem copied onto the last page of the original manuscript of the Violin Concerto, which Stefi Geyer after their parting. . Kroo,

Bartok mailed to

According to GyOrgy

57that text was a poem by Balazs which told the story of a

young man destined to be alienated frcm the rest of mankind, and to find solace only in nature—

the Loneliness and Pantheism themes of

the Wooden Prince. One line from the poem reads: "No two stars are 58 so far apart as two human souls." Balazs and Bartok were indeed

57. Kroo, Bartok Handbuch (Vienna: Universal Edition, 1974) p. 38 58. Ibid., translation by this author.


115

already dealing with these thanes in their work of 1908.

The

connection between the Violin Concerto, to which Bartok attached the poem, and Bagatelle No. 12 is an easy one— composed for, and dedicated to, Stefi Geyer.

the Concerto was

There is no question

of the significance of the poem in light of the painful love story between the two.

Bagatelles Nos. 13 and 14, also directly inspired

by this situation, were composed within weeks of the completion of the Concerto. It is uncertain precisely when Bagatelle No. 12 was composed, but in any case by the end of May 1908. The musical clues supply the final evidence, that Bartok began to associate these fundamental themes with certain types of musical gestures in 1908. Bagatelle No. 12 was the first manifestation of this mode of expression which culminated in The Wooden Prince. It was in the musical working out of these issues that Bartok came to personally with his problems—

the thanes were felt by him to be

universal, and he continued to develop them even after the names of the characters changed.

Whether at the time of composition he was

referring to Stefi Geyer, or later to his first wife Marta Ziegler,


116

the fundamental ideas were the sane.

Bartok associated what to him

were basic truths with a certain type of musical expression, and the first product of this aspect of his musical style was the Bagatelle No. 12, the prototype of his stage works of 1911 and 1916.


CHAPTER FIVE

PROBLEMS TOTH THE SCORE

The pianist beginning an interpretative study of the Fourteen Bagatelles is certain to encounter difficulties of various types related to the printed score.

Bartok was liberal with specific

performance instructions, particularly articulation and dynamic markings, but this abundance of punctuation marks can be a source of confusion.

In addition, there are numerous inconsistencies—

mistakes or ambiguities of pitch or tempo—

in the various editions

of the Bagatelles which can be corrected only through a study of the primary sources, such as original manuscripts and corrected editions.

Not every question raised here has a ready answer, but

the prospective performer should be prepared to make appropriate

117


118

interpretative decisions based on the material presented here.

Articulation Markings

Bartok was brimming with new ideas and new methods of communicating them during the composition of the Bagatelles. His approach to piano playing was unorthodox in that he looked upon the piano primarily as a percussion instrument.

He wanted to help the

performer understand his unusual concepts of pianistic touch, and to that purpose developed a system of symbols to express the various subtle gradations of ways to strike the keys.

He used the

traditional vocabulary of articulation signs, such as staccato dots, slurs, tenuto marks and various types of accents, but with a specific concept of their relationship to eyach other. In other x words, he distinguished between degrees of staccato, legato, and accentuation. Bartok used two types of notation in his piano works, a concert style, intended for himself or other professionals, and amore didactic style.

The professional notation can be seen in the

major piano works of his mid- to late- career, intended for his own performance, such as the Piano Sonata and the

Piano Concertos. In


119

this style of notation only essential details such as articulations and dynamics are included; the score is relatively clean of excessive markings.

The composer assumed that the performer

understood the basic rhetoric of keyboard notation, and needed oily the details essential

to the work in question. But Bartok was a

pedagogue, and many of his piano works were written with didactic purposes in mind.

Although the Bagatelles contain technical

challenges beyond those of most works identified by the composer as 59 pedagogical, the editors of the first edition announced their publication as "teaching pieces." In any case, he filled the score with extremely detailed articulation markings, using the type of instructional notation typical of his teaching works. As Bartok was ccmposing the Bagatelles, he was also teaching a studio of advanced piano students in his recently acquired position at the Budapest Academy.

As a result of his teaching

activities, he undertook the preparations for a number of teaching

59.

Bartok composed several collections of relatively easy piano pieces specifically for teaching purposes, most notably: For Children, Vols. I and II, Ten Easy Pieces, and six volumes of Mikrokosmos. The latter is a graded series, with the final two volumes encoming quite sophisticated technical and musical difficulties.


120

editions of the classics, including works of Beethoven and Bach. His first edition of Bach's Das Wohl-Temperierte Klavier was prepared during 1907, shortly before he began the composition of the Bagatelles. The intention of this edition was didactic— he even rearranged the order of the pairs of preludes and fugues to follow a sequence of increasing difficulty—

and Bartok was

concerned with the same problems of articulation that he faced in his own piano compositions of 1907-1908.

The style of articulation

notation in the Bach edition is similar to the Bagatelles as well as to Ten Easy Pieces and For Children. An illuminating explanation of articulation and dynamic notation which Bartok appended to the Bach edition is therefore applicable to these other compositions as well, and serves as a much-needed reference in sorting out these difficulties. One and the same sign serves as a phrasing and a legato indication: the slur.

Therefore we want to remark right

away that the last tone of a phrase will be separated from the beginning of the next by a sharp staccato in only extremely rare instances.

It is more usually

advisable to simply inflect the following phrase with a barely perceptible dynamic coloration.

In cases where a


121

definite separation between phrases appears to be desirable, we will use the dividing sign / .

We will indicate non legato simply with non legato or with poco legato.

The first indicates a heavier attack,

the second a lighter one. the

In a slower tempo we will set

---- (tenuto) sign over non legato tone groups

when we wish them to be held nearly their full value;

m - ~

mean as much as half the duration, combined with a tenuto attack.

The portamento [Bartok misuses the term; he

means "portato" ] sign^’T T ^ implies a similar execution. The only difference between the two lies in that the portamento-touch requires more lightness. provided with . . . .

The notes

(staccato) dots would in the rarest

of cases be sharply clucked, we would much more often 60 play such notes with a muted Staccato, rounded in tone.

60.

Bartok, commentary to Das Wohl-Temperierte Klavier by J. S. Bach, translation by this author.


122

In Anna

his 1916 edition of selections fran the Notebook for

Magdalena

Bach, Bartok clearly defined the ideas set

forth above in a list of articulation markings:

= sharp staccato (staccatissimo) implying a certain accentuation and a stronger tone color. . . . = the regular staccato, whereby the tone should be permitted to sound between

a moment and almost

one half of the note value. . . . = portamento [portato], whereby the tones must be permitted to sound almost up to half of the note value in conjunction with a certain special coloring. t t t

= the symbol for half-shortening (the tones should not sound shorter than half of the note value). = the tenuto symbol above different notes signifies that they must be held for their entire note value; when above each note of a group, that we must permit the notes to sound throughout their


123

entire note value if possible, without linking them to one another. = the well-known legato symbol, which we are also using, in the case of legato parts, for marking the phrase for lack of another symbol. sf

= strongest accentuation

>

= weak accentuation

= accentuation still forceful enough

= the tenuto symbol above the different tones of the legato parts signifies delicately emphasizing the 61 tone by way of a different tone coloring.

In reference to the Mikrokosroos pieces, Benjamin Suchoff elaborates on Bartok's specifications in the extremely helpful catalogue of touches and articulations included in his Guide to the

61.

Translation from Masters Music Publications, Inc. publication of Bartok's edition of J. S. Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach.


124

Mikrokosmos. 62 He assigns the various types of pianistic touch to the two basic categories of "percussive," i.e. a striking of the key, and "tenuto," a pressing of the key.

He further adds that the

former is the basic method of playing in Bartok's piano music, the second is employed for special coloristic shadings. Under "percussive touch-forms" he includes staccatissimo, staccato, nonlegato, legato and legatissimo. Tenuto, dotted tenuto, portato and espressivo and dolce touches are included as the "pressure" touch forms. All of the types of articulation denotations listed above appear in the Bagatelles. To further complicate matters, they often occur in conjunction with slurs.

In Bagatelle No.

1,

the

first two measures alone contain several different articulations: the right hand is tenuto under a two-bar slur, ending with an accent A ; the left hand is dotted tenuto over a five-note slur, ending with tenuto. indications—

Because of the specificity of the touch

every note has its own—

we can assume that the slurs

serve their phrase-defining function, rather than influencing the

62.

(New York: Da Capo Press, 1983) p. 14.


125

articulation.

According to Bartok's (and Suchoff's) instructions,

the right hand in this case should play the first three notes with a caressing touch, almost connected, producing a rounded, wannlycolored tone.

The last note should be given extra sound.

The

left-hand notes should be played with a slightly shorter tone.

The

delineation of the contrast between the articulations contributes to the stratification of the two voices, and should be cultivated as a primary means of communicating the composer's intentions in this piece (Ex. 32).

EX. 32: BAGATELLE NO. 1, MM. 1-5Molib sostenuto iuo

With an understanding of the explanations of the relationships between various types of touch and articulation provided by Bartok and Suchoff, the careful performer can begin to develop a personal repertoire of colors and sounds in accordance with the intentions of the composer.

It should be added that


126

notes with no slurs nor other signs are understood to be nonlegato, played with the "percussive" finger stroke, and those under a slur with no other signs are legato.

Very important to keep in

inind is that "percussive" refers simply to a technical approach to the key—

the striking of the key with a finger stroke of more or

less velocity— not to a strident or harsh quality of tone.

Dynamics

The dynamic signs used in the Bagatelles are for the most part orthodox and self-explanatory.

One aspect of dynamics,

however, that of crescendo and diminuendo, bears consideration. Bartok, in his notes to the Wohl-Temperierte Klavier, stated that "ascending voice leading should usually go hand in hand with a 63 This

crescendo, that in the opposite direction with diminuendo."

comment is relevant to the Bagatelles, as they are representative of the emergence of Bartok's new linear style.

The association

of

rising and falling contours with crescendo and diminuendo, respectively, was a convention of Romantic piano playing,

63.

Notes to Das Wohl-Temperierte Klavier (Budapest: Rozsnyai, 1910).


127

automatically understood by performers.

But Bartok, in his

didactic notation, tended to leave little to presumption.

In the

example above from Bagatelle No. 1_ he notated in no uncertain the crescendo and diminuendo which follow the ascending and descending contours in agreement with the general rules stated in the Bach edition. Bartok did adapt one dynamic sign to his purposes, and applied it in both the Bach Wohl-Temperierte Bagatelles. "Thin <

>

Klavier and his own

should mean an almost imperceptible cresc.

and dim., limited only to a particular voice, a thick < means a 64 bigger cresc., which applies to all the voices equally." Because he used both types of crescendo indications in the

Bagatelles the

pianist must take care to regulate the degree of crescendo properly and to determine to which strata of the texture it applies.

The

incidences of the bold print crescendo sign in the Bagatelles are always quite clear in meaning: an exaggerated crescendo of the entire texture is indicated.

There are instances, however, when

the interpretation of the signs in normal print should be

64.

Ibid.


128

influenced by Bartok's instructions.

Bagatelle No. 5 illustrates

both these usages: the heavy print in mm. 45-47 (Ex. 33) indicates an extreme crescendo; the lighter diminuendo in mm. 48-50 a lesser dynamic change. The lighter-type crescendo and diminuendo above the right hand part in mm. 58-59 indicate that the dynamics pertain only to the upper parts.



129

Rests

Bartok supplied the Bagatelles and Ten Easy Pieces with an identical list of performance instructions.

Among the items on

this list is his explanation of an unusual use of rests, which occurs in Bagatelles No. 9 and 11_: "Here and there a rest is placed above the barline.

There we want a pause between the

respective measures, whose duration is indicated by the value of 65 the rest." This device throws the established rhythm off-balance and produces a "tipsy" effect, especially in No. 11, where it occurs frequently.

In preparation it is certainly necessary to

consider the actual duration of the rest indicated, but as these' are sometimes odd fractions of a beat, absolute accuracy may be difficult, and is probably less essential than achievement of the musical concept.

An interpretation based on grasping the mood of

the music— a humorously lumbering character in No. 11, a rhythmic lift in No. 9—

is a more fruitful approach than one preoccupied

with exact mathematical calculations.

65.

The Piano Music of Bela Bartok, Series I, ed. Benjamin Suchoff, p. 68.


130

Arpeggio Indications

Bartok's piano music, beginning with the Bagatelles, frequently employs a downward arpeggio (rolled chord) (Ex. 34a). To distinguish this fran the conventional upward arpeggio he placed the wavy arpeggio indication after the chord, instead of its usual position preceding the targeted chord. In later works (frcm about 1920) he modified this indication, placing the indication before the chord as in conventional ascending arpeggios, but affixing a downward-pointing arrow to the arpeggio sign (Ex. 34b).

EX. 34A: BAGATELLE NO. 10, MM. 90-93

tf " >

F¥

T ?

— r-7


131

EX.34B: EIGHT IMPROVISATIONS ON HUNGARIAN PEASANT SONGS, OP. 20 (1920), NO. VII, MM. 18-21

Discrepancies Between the Sources

In order to evaluate discrepancies between modern editions it is necessary to consult the primary sources of the Bagatelles. These sources, divided between the Budapest Bartok Archive and the private collection of Peter Bartok (formerly the New York Bartok Archive) are listed below:

1. The Black Sketch Book: located in the Budapest Archive, contains fragments of Bagatelles No. 8, 9, 13, 14, and perhaps seme other sketches originally intended to be Bagatelles. Facsimile edition, edited by Laszlo Kalmar with conmentary by Laszlo Somfai, published in 1987 by Editio Musica, Budapest. 2. First draft of Bagatelles No.

1^

2^ 3^ 5^ 6, dated April 14,

1908, located in Budapest Bartok Archive.


132

3.

Bagatelle No. 6, copied by Zoltan Kodaly, in Budapest Bartok

Archive. 4. Second Draft of the entire set, dated May, 1908, in collection of Peter Bartok. 5. Engraver's copy, dated August, 1908, in Budapest

Bartok

Archive. 6. First Edition, autumn of 1908, published by Roznyai in Leipzig and Budapest, with corrections in the hand of the composer, in the private collection of Peter Bartok. 7. Bartok's instructions for the Leipzig engraver, located in the Budapest Bartok Archive, reprinted in Studia Musicologica XXIII/1, (1981) p. 61.

Of these primary sources, the first edition with corrections by Bartok (item 6) stands as the authoritative source.

The

corrections to the edition were evidently added by Bartok in preparation for a volume proposed for publication by the publisher E. B. Marks in 1945. Although a contract was signed, the edition never appeared, its publication interrupted by Bartok's final illness and death. Translations of various footnotes in the score into English (in Bartok's own hand) this theory.

The


133

canposer also struck through the page containing the introductory remarks concerning accidentals, rests, pedal indications, etc., that had been published with all previous editions of the Bagatelles as well as with Ten Easy Pieces. Instead he supplied many of the markings in question in the score itself—

the score is

full of Bartok's additions, especially of accidentals, which would have been redundant in combination with the introductory explanation.

He was clearly preparing to publish the score for the

first time without the explanation. Perhaps he realized that those explanations, new in 1908, had becane common practice by the 1940's, and no longer required explicit statement. A number of editions of the Bagatelles have been published. Until recently the pianist had no choice but to rely on fallible editions, the most familiar being those frcm Boosey & Hawkes and Editio iMusica Budapest, both of which have perpetuated a number of important errors. In 1981 Dover Publications, Inc. produced Series I

and II of the Piano Music of Bela Bartok in the Archive Edition,

edited by Benjamin Suchoff. Series _I includes the Bagatelles in the most authoritative printed text to date.

A number of pitch and

dynamic errors appear corrected for the first time in print, and helpful and interesting information about the music is included by


134

the editor. There remain, however, several unresolved points related to the accuracy of the text.

In all matters of pitch (two

incorrect pitches in Bagatelle No. 14 have remained in print until the Dover Edition) and articulation and dynamic markings, it suffices to rely on the authority of Suchoff, except in Bagatelle No^ 13., rn. 16, where a half rest in the bass clef should be a quarter rest. Bartok's use of durational indications and metronome markings are of special interest to the careful interpreter of the text of the Bagatelles. The composer included metronome markings as early as the second draft of 1908.

Through the various stages of

composition many of these indications changed, same quite radically. The durata seem to have been added only in 1945, and so can provide ive evidence in the question of tempo. Bagatelles No. 4 and 9. have carried metronome indications through same of the editions that are extremely misleading, and have in fact misled recording artists.

In all editions prior to

Dover (where it stands corrected) and in the second draft, Nck £ bears a metronome indication of quarter note = 50. But in the corrected first edition Bartok crossed out the printed indication and wrote dotted-half note = 50-62, conclusive evidence that the


135

piece should be performed three times faster than anyone could ever have kncwn from the pre-1981 editions. Bagatelle No. £ presents a situation less conclusively soluble frcm the evidence. In the second draft the piece bears the metronome marking eighth-note = 69. The Boosey & Hawkes edition revised that extremely slew tempo to twice the speed at quarter note = 69. Although Bartok does not alter the original marking in the corrected first edition, he does indicate at the end of the piece that the duration should be one minute, ten seconds, which could only be achieved at the faster tenpo. It is therefore safe to assutie that Boosey & Hawkes and Suchoff are correct in including the faster tempo. Bartok was fallible in his corrections— perhaps he never quite completed them in his last year. In the case stated above, the duration indicates that the metroncme narking is incorrect.

In

Bagatelle No. 2 the opposite is true, and we have the additional evidence of Bartok's own recorded performance to prove this point. He noted in the score that the entire piece should take one minute, 48 seconds to perform. The two extant recordings of Bartok's performance of this piece last only 45 and 44 seconds


136

each. Clearly, Bartok unwittingly added a minute to the durational indication that he wrote at the end of the piece. The Dover edition includes Bartok's original durata, even this false one. The incorrect duration is in brackets—

it would be better to add a note

of explanation and include the correct timing. Bagatelle No.

3

presents yet another case in which the

corrections of 1945 prove the previous editions wrong.

All

editions prior to the Dover edition list the tempo indication as dotted-half note = 46.

Bartok changed this to quarter note = 126

in his 1945 corrections, and this change is incorporated by Suchoff. In this case, the difference in tempo is slight; the change alters the sense of pulse, three as opposed to one per measure. By far the most difficult tempo problem is posed by Bagatelle No. 12. The piece contains numerous tempo changes which have been designated in as many as three different note values through the various sources. Even though in a triple meter (freely mixing 6/8, 9/8, and 3/8) Bartok, in the second draft of 1908, set the unit of beat in most of the tempo indications as the quarter note.

Because

of the consistency with which this phenomenon occurs, it is difficult to dismiss as simple carelessness. As shown in the table


137

below, the older editions simply included the curious quarter-note unit without any advice to the performer; Suchoff consistently changed it to an eighth-note; neither serves as an entirely satisfactory solution.

EX. 35: METRONOME INDICATIONS IN BAGATRT.T.F. NO. 12 2nd draft

1st edition

Bartok's Dover Boosey 1945 edition & Hawkes corrections (Suchoff) to 1st ed.

Rubato m. 2 Andante sostenuto =72 / =72 m. 6 j =92 ) =92 m. 7 =80 J =80

_

-

J

J J

\ ’A O

3

Poco piu inosso

II o

J J

>=72

>=50

m. 21 =58 =85 Lento . m. 23 |=54 =58 Poco piu andante m. 24 =76-80 ^=76-80

>=72 >=92 >=80

>=50

)=50

>=85

)

>=58

>

>=76-80

Poco piu inosso m. 26 J =50 >=50

>=50

>=50

m. 34 ) =58 m. 36 J>=50

>=85 > =70=76

>=85 > =70-76

J=58 j =50

), =72 #>=92 j=80

=85

>=58 >=76-80

j =50 i =58 )

=50

Eaitio Musica

j =72 ) )

=92 =80

J =50 j =85 >=58 >=76-80

j =50 J =58 ;=so


138

The verbal instruction "Andante sostenuto" of the draft may lend some insight as to the original desires of the composer. At the quarter-note unit, the music is rather quick and energetic, and this nay veil the eighth-note pulse. And yet a hint of the lilt of a Viennese waltz can be detected when the quarter-note pulse is felt. It is clear from his efforts to indicate specific, subtle shades of articulation that Bartok was interested in communicating sane unorthodox ideas in the Bagatelles. Could the quarter-note pulse indeed be what he intended, in order to capture certain subtle musical inflection? This issue is confused still further by the fact that Bartok's metronome is known to have been faulty in the early days—

until

about 1926. From 1930 onward, when he realized that the old editions of his music were filled with metronome errors, he made a practice of giving approximate durations of his works. (More evidence of the late date of the first edition revisions.) When Bartok revised the Bagatelles in 1945, he made a few changes in the metronome indications of the first edition. Were the revisions of Bagatelle No. 12 complete? They do not seem to be; the change of the first marking but not the following two to an eignthnote unit is difficult to understand except as incomplete. Further


evidence that he was not finished with the revisions to this score is to be found on this very page—

a verbal note in Hungarian at

the bottom of the page is not stricken through and translated as are other similar instances of prose. Why did he make the changes? Perhaps it had to to with the faulty metronome of his early days, but the changes themselves are not of that type—

they

are not

sanewhat slower or faster, but slower or faster by multiples of two or three, depending on the unit of beat measured. Perhaps Bartok had simply mellowed somewhat, given in at the end, realizing that his earlier esoteric indications were too puzzling, and intended, but did not complete, a revision to a more orthodox indication. The interpreter of Bagatelle No. 12 must evaluate this situation and make personal decisions— there seems to be no absolute answer. Ercm this viewpoint, it seams logical to agree basically with Suchoff, except in the case of m.9—

certainly this

material should be the same tempo as its second occurrence in m. 26, especially since Bartok's correction indicates as much.


CHAPTER SIX

CONCLUSION

The recordings left by Bartok himself, collected and edited on Hungaroton by Laszlo Somfai and Zoltan Kocsis, are perhaps the most important source of insight for an interpreter seeking an authentic performance in the piano music of Bartok.

The

representation of Bartok's works on these recordings is far from complete, few of the works included appear in their entirety, and the quality of many of the recordings, by modern standards, ranges from mediocre to terrible, due to their age.

Nevertheless, the

existence of these recordings represents a rare treasure of a source for pianists—

a chance to actually hear how Bartok the

pianist played his own works and the works of other great canposers.

Unfortunately, only Nos. 2, 7 and 10 of the Bagatelles

were recorded by the composer.

As shown in the discussion of tempo

and duration in Chapter 5, the recording of No.

2

proved valuable

140


in establishing the correct tenpo. The recordings of the three Bagatelles also demonstrate a number of touch and accent techniques. By inference, however, a study of the rich variety of works recorded by Bartok can provide a great deal of insight into his works not represented in the recorded collection.

For instance,

although Bagatelle No. 11 is not recorded, the whimsical Bagatelle No. 2 is included, along with the second of Three Burlesques, Op. 8c ("Slightly Tipsy"),

which has a similar character.

These

performances tell much about Bartok's interpretation of this unusual type of rubato playing. For parlando rubato in a folk-style melody, an exemplary interpretation is Bartok's rendition of "Evening in the Country," from the Ten Easy Pieces. This is a freely composed work, using no authentic folk melody, but it was composed in direct imitation of true folk tunes, and is performed by the composer with exquisite freedom of rhythmic inflection. Bartok's highly individualized piano idiom is typified in the extremely rich variety of musical means found in the Fourteen Bagatelles. The pianist has a responsibility to become familiar with elements essential to the style, to seek authenticity.

Yet,

after a careful study of the folk and autobiographical influences


142

on the works, after attempting to understand the notation, the soore and the editions, even after a thorough knowledge of Bartok's own playing, some questions of interpretation will unavoidably persist.

The solution?

After an honest attempt to understand all

that there is to understand—

and based on that knowledge—

performer must be granted an element of freedom.

the

It is very much

in the spirit of Bartok the great pianist, who was the best interpreter of his own works, in the final analysis, after every detail has been considered, to play the music honestly and with personal freedom.


APPENDIX

ANALYTICAL NOTES TO THE FOURTEEN BAGATF.T.TES, Op. 6

Each of the Bagatelles is a capsule of compositional technique, independent of and unrelated to the other pieces of the set in of harmonic fabric. The primary technical approaches represented in each movement are outlined below. These comments reflect an analytical approach concerned with both Bartok's derivations from the folk music sources and the aspects of his style drawn from contemporary art music techniques. 66

As pointed out by Antokoletz,

after whom these analytical notes

are modeled, the most meaningful analytical interpretation of Bartok's music is to be achieved through an understanding of both these approaches and the fundamental relationships that exist between the two in their absorption and assimilation into Bartok's musical style.

66.

The Music of Bela Bartok: A Study of Tonality and Progression in TVentieth-Century Music.

143


144

BAGATELLE NO, _1 Bimodal notation is featured, although Bartok later dismissed this as a "half-serious, half-jesting" procedure, and asserted that the tonality is really a "Phrygian-colored C major". This can be observed in the focusing of each cadential point on a C-E harmony, approached through a descending G-F-Eb— Db— C melodic pattern. The Bagatelle employs basically modal material, which, through reordering of the of the set into interval cycles, is transformed into new symmetrical melodic formations.

The

reordering of the opening material into a symmetrical Perfect 5th cycle emerges in the second phrase (nm. 7-8: the presence of E-BFtf-C#-G#, although not appearing in that order, implies a segment of the P5 cycle). This P5 reordering becomes explicit in the fourth phrase (ra. 13: E-B-F#-C#-G#-D#). The tritone is used as the boundary of the symmetrical segment. At m. 13, for example, the P5 segment is completed by the tritone A, which by extension also compliments the other end of the segment (A-E= P5).

BAGATELLE NO. 2 Tonality is established by symmetrical pitch relationships ordered around a central axis.

The first section emphasizes the A-


145

A and the second section Eb-Eb. These are the two tritone boundaries of the same dual axis:

-Rh-n-r-pa-n-T^b A A -Ab-G-F#-F-E-Eb

The notes of the first section expand symmetrically around the major second Ab-Bb (the A/A axis) and the recapitulation (mm. 18ff.) around D-E (the Eb axis). The Bagatelle is an ABA form in which the middle section departs from axial orientation, comprising instead a series of segments of different symmetrical interval cycles.

BAGATELLE NO. 3 Tonality is established by symmetrical relationships around a central axis.

An oriental, folk-like melody, characterized by the

interval of the augmented second, is accompanied by a symmetrically rotating chromatic ostinato figure.

The boundaries of the melody

tend to relate to the axial center of the acccmpanimental figure (the F#-C tritone which serves as the boundary of much of the lefthand melody is the m2 expansion of the G-B-Bb-A-Ab accorapanimental


figure). While the range of the melody does extend beyond the F#-C range, this tritone is the fundamental anchoring interval of the melody.

BAGATELLE NO. 4 This is a setting of the authentic old-style Hungarian' folk song "Mikor gulasbojtar voltam" ("I was a cowherd").

The primary

pentatonic structure of the melody is projected vertically into the harmony, which, although tertian in construction, is manipulated in parallel fashion, thereby avoiding any real traditional major/minor function.

The bassline is exclusively pentatonic and the primary

intervallic constructions, the P5 and minor 7th chord, are extracted from the symmetrical pentatonic scale on which the song is based: P5 D

G

- A

-

C

m7 chord

BAGATELLE NO. 5 This is a setting of the authentic Slovakian folk tune "Ej, popred nase dvere" (Hey, before our door"). A first inversion m7


147

chord, a vertical projection of the main outline of the melody, is employed in a rhythmic ostinato in accompaniment to the folk-song melody.

Transitions between strophes of the melody feature motion

through the rotating inversions of the chord.

Sane melodic variety

is introduced into the bassline of this ostinato in the second and third strophes (beginning respectively at ran. 28 and 51), but the constant reiteration of the unvarying of the m7 chord, itself a parallel construction, create a static harmonic atmosphere.

BAGATELLE NO. 6 The phrase structure of Bagatelle No. 6 is modeled on that of a Hungarian folksong, although the piece is entirely original. In addition, the piece is organized in three strophes, a form characteristic of Bartok's folksong settings. (Bagatelle No. 5 includes three repetitions of the authentic melody.) Bartok's manipulation of the characteristic folksong structure can be seen by comparing the three strophes. In the middle stroph, mm. 8-15, four equal phrases of 7 beats each (analagous to the equal syllabic arrangement of the four phrases of a Hungarian folk tune) can be clearly scanned.

The first and third


148 strophes represent manipulations of that structure which nevertheless always clearly reflect their origins. The regular phrase structure of the first stroph is interrupted by a truncation of the third phrase, but the melodic cadential formula used at the end of each phrase identifies m. 5 as the completion of the third phrase. In the third stroph (beginning m. 16) the sarre truncated version of the phrase occurs twice, and can be viewed as either shortened complete phrases or extensions by repetition of the previous phrase.

The entire stroph, excluding the closing codetta

(mm. 24-25) exactly matches the number of beats (syllables) of the entirely regular second stroph.

The phrases are displaced within

the eight-bar range in a sort of periodic hemiola, but the underlying relationship to the four equal phrases of the folksong structure is not disturbed. Harmonic progression is achieved through the interaction of octotonic and whole tone pitch collections through pitch cells based on tritones which are common to both.


149 BAGATELLE NO. 7 The harmonic materials are based on symmetrical reorderings of diatonic melodic material into cycles of P4/P5.

Explicit

occurrences in mm. 8-11 and mm. 49-60 of the P5 cycle A#-D#-G#-C#F# represent a reordering of the pentatonic scale D#-F#-G#-A#-C#. Elements of bimodality can also be seen in the juxtaposition of the left and right hand parts.

In mm. 3ff. the upper C major part

contrasts with a D# Phrgian collection in the lower part, the juxtaposition creating the effect of white keys vs. black keys. The hands exchange white key and black key emphasis in the section from mm. 25-46, and revert to their original roles beginning in m. 47.

The "Stefi Geyer chord" ( in7) is a feature of this Bagatelle,

here tertially extended to the ninth.

The left hand melody begins

with a descending rn9 arpeggio; in augmentation the sarre motive appears in rrm. 47-48, and in stretto statements in the coda, nxn. 108-112.


150 BAGATELLE NO. 8 This Bagatelle represents a radical departure from the traditional concept of basic triadic construction.

The piece is

based instead on the transformations of several intervallic pitch cells, culminating finally in the explicit emergence of all the

67 possible transpositions of the symmetrical cell Z,

a collection

formed of two tritones interlocking at the minor second (e.g. F#-C3-F). The original formation is a non-symmetrical three-note cell comprising a minor 2nd, major 3rd and perfect 4th (G#-B#-C#). After various transformations and interactions of this cell, the original thematic material returns at m. 24 in a modified recapitulation, only without its major 3rd member. At the third statement cf the main motive in m. 26, the original major 3rd returns, as well as a new cell member which forms a major 3rd from the upper note.

Each of the four-note symmetries which follows,

which can be seen as two semitones separated by a minor 3rd (e.g. B-G/C-Ab=G-Ab/B-C at the downbeat of m. 26}, expand in the final

67. Terra borrowed fran Antokoletz's study cited above, p. 71n. Antokoletz credits Leo Treitler as the originator of the term in Treitler's "Harmonic Procedure in the Fourth Quartet of Bela Bartok," Journal of Music Theory 3/2 (November, 1959): 292-298.


151

age to all six possible Z cell collections, which can be seen as two semitones separated by a perfect 4th.

BAGATELLE NO. 9 Bagatelle No. 9 is a set of three variations in unison and a coda.

Small melodic segments function as links between diatonic,

octotonic and whole-tone collections.

Progression through the

movement is produced by the pivotal qualities of these invariant segments from one harmonic context to another.

A certain ambiguity

is inherent in this process, by which the possibilities of progression to an arrival point are expanded. For example, the end of each variation is marked by the arrival at a short age in expanded durational values marked "IVblto sostenuto" (nm. 14-15, 3738, and 70). The context of the first such arrival is purely modal, although whole-tone elements are interspersed with the material leading to that point.

The second variation further explores the

whole-tone idea, and its arrival point is transformed

by the

substitution of a tritone (E-Bb, mm. 37-38) for the original diatonic perfect 4th (Bb-F, imt. 13-14) as the final interval. Thus, an ambiguity is introduced into the expectancy of the listener as to whether the emphasis and arrival will occur in a diatonic or


152 whole-tone context. The arrival point of the final variation, preceded by small diatonic segments (mm. 67-69) utilizes the version of the motive which ends with a tritone. The final measure consists of exceedingly long note values at a greatly reduced tempo, thereby postponing the final context-defining tritone in the extreme, and by its ambiguity increasing the sense of uncertain expectation.

BAGATELLE HO. 10 Bagatelle No. 10 explores the potentialities of the intervallic properties of cell Z.

This symmetrical cell, in

addition to its inherent minor 2nd, perfect 4th/5tn and tritone qualities, can generate cycles of major 2nds (by the whole-tone filling-in of a tritone), minor 3rds (by the minor 3rd filling-in of a tritone), and major 3rds (by the extension of the whole-tone cycle). Examples of the other interval cycles are employed (e.g. whole-tones in the right hand chords of mm. 6--7 and 9, and minor 3rds in the bassline of ran. 10-13), but the primary force in operation is the partitioning of the 2 cell into its perfect 4th/perfect 5th properties and the generation of that interval cycle. For example, the Z cell C-G-Gb-Db (m. 17) is divided between


153 the hands into its white key (C-G) and black key (&>~Db) perfect 5ths. The Gb-Db interval is extended through the black key area of the cycle to Ab(G#), and A#(Bb) in m. 19, the skipped Eb member of the cycle supplied in in. 20.

The white key segment C-G is finally

expanded, and the phrase completed, with the arrival of D in in. 20. Such cyclic expansions occur chromatically through the middle sections of the piece, while the closing section (mm. 78-end) emphasizes the primary C-G/Db-Gb partitioning of the basic Z cell.

BAGATELLE NO. 11 The form is a clear-cut ABA-coda structure.

The A section

features chords built of 4ths, a characteristic interval of Hungarian folk tunes. These 4th chords represent a symmetrical reordering of diatonic modal collections. But modal considerations require the parallel 4ths to adjust quality and it tritones, which interrupt the absolute parallelism (e.g. the third right hand chord). The tritones function as invariant segments between diatonic (modal) and octotonic collections (juxtaposed explicitly between the two hands in mm. 27-29), serving as pivots between the two. The progression on the larger scale is from a diatonic context, seen in the 4th chords, to an octotonic context,


154

characterized by the double tritone Z cell (mm.55-56).

Both

collections generate non-traditional chords and melodic constructions.

BAGATELLE NO. 12 Although most of the harmonies are based on triads, and elements of traditional diatonic melodic fabric exist, the intensely chromatic idiom obscures any clear sense of tonal function.

The large-scale tonal plan centers around a B/C

dichotomy at the beginning and end, cresting at the tritone relationship F/F# in mn. 22-25.

But parallel movement of chords,

extended tertian chordal relationships and a slippery chromaticism create a static harmonic atmosphere.

Bartok's signature minor

7th/major 7th harmony (the "Stefi Geyer chord") subtly permeates the harmonic fabric, although not explicitly presented in melodic form.

The architectural structure as well as the tonal plan is

palindromic: Form: Tonal plan:

A B/C

B

C F/F#

B

A B/C


155

BAGATELLE NO. 13 Despite the outwardly traditional appearance of the triadic left hand accompaniment, Bagatelle No. 13 has nothing to do with traditional tonal functions.

The two triads Eb-minor and a-minor

represent two segments of an octotonic scale in polar opposition at the tritone.

Near the end of the piece they are brought into

closer juxtaposition (beginning m. 17), until they are finally brought together in a statement of the complete octotonic collection Eb-E-Gb-G-A-Bb-C-Db at mm. 23-24. This coincides with the dramatic climax of the piece.

The "Stefi Geyer motive" is

woven melodically into this autobiographical movement: the right hand melody opens with a descending inversion of the major 7th chord (A-Gb-D-Db); the climax of the piece is reached through the ascending root position chord, transposed to Cb-F-Ab-C (this at the point in the score where Bartok wrote "she dies.")


156

BAGATELLE NO. 14 This is the most prograrrraatic of the Bagatelles. It is labelled "Valse: Ma mie qui Danse" ("My dancing sweetheart). Progression is achieved by the alternation and interaction of diatonic segments (e.g. the major 7th chord and its accompaniment in m. 1) and whole-tone segments (e.g. rnm. 18-26: G-A-B-C#-Eb) in both the melodic and harmonic texture.

These interactions,

occurring both as local events and as larger structure-defining elements occur through the manipulation of invariant elements common to both sets.

This alternation is seen frcm the beginning,

where the left hand accompaniment alternates between a diatonic Dmajor chord and a whole-tone chord F#-G#-Bb.

The first held C# in

the melody (m. 9) extends the D major chord to a D-major-7th, inparting a new incomplete pentatonic meaning to the whole-tone collection of the accompaniment (e.g. m. 10).

In addition the long

held notes of the melody beginning with the C# of m. 9 project a pentatonic outline C#-F#~B-E-A.

In this way, this C# (and its

perfect 5th F#) can be seen to function as invariant elements which pivot between the D-major-7th chord, the whole-tone segment and the pentatonic collection.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Antokoletz, Elliott. "At last something new: the Fourteen Bagatelles." The Bartok Companion, ed. Malcolm Gillies. London: Faber & Faber, forthcoming. _________ . Bela Bartok. A Guide to Research. New York and London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1988. _________ . The Music of Bela Bartok: A Study of Tonality and Progression in TWentieth-Century Music. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1984. _________ . "The Musical Language of Bartok's 14 Bagatelles for Piano." Tanpo 137 (June 1981): 8-16. Balazs, Bela. "A fabol faragott keralyfi" [The Wooden Prince] Nyuqat (1912): 879-888. Reprinted in English in Bartok Studies, ed. Todd Crow, Detroit: Information Coordinators, 1976, pp. 101-110. Bartok, Bela. The Hungarian Folksong, ed. Benjamin Suchoff, trans. M. D. Calvocoressi. Albanv: State University of New York Press, 1981. _________ • Slovenske L'udove Piesne Vol. II [Slovak folk songs], ed. Alica and Oskar Elschek. Bratislava: Vydavatel'stvo Slovenskej akadanie vied, 1970.

157


158 Bartol; Studies, comp. and ed. Todd Crow. Coordinators, 1970.

Detroit: Information

Beaumont, Anthony. Busoni the Composer. London and Boston: Faber & Faber, 1985. _________ , ed. Ferruccio Busoni: Selected Letters. London and Boston: Faber & Faber, 1987. Bela Bartok Letters, ed. Janos Demenv. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1971. English translation Peter Balaban and Istvan Farkas, rev. Elizabeth West and Colin Mason. London: Faber & Faber; Budapest: Corvina Press, 1971. Bela Bartok Essays, ed. Benjamin Suchoff. New York Bartok Archive. Studies in Musicology 8. New York: St. Martin's Press; London: Faber & Faber, 1976. Bodnar, Gybrgy. Bartok et le mouvernent ' N y u g a t . Studia musicologica 5 (1963): 347-354. Bonis, Ferenc. "Quotations in Bartok's Music: A Contribution to Bartok's Psychology of Composition." Studia musicoloaica 5 (1963): 355-382. Cross, Anthony. 125-130.

"Debussv ana Bartok."

Musical Times 108 (1967):

A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians. J. M. Dent and Sons, 1924. Dille, Denijs. "Angaben zum Violinkonzert, 1907, Den Deux Portraits, dem Quartett . 7 und den zwei Rumanischen Tanzen." Documenta bartokiana 2 (1965): 91-102. _________ . "Die Beziehung zwischen Bartok und Schbnbery." Documenta bartokiana 2 (1965): 53-61.


159

_________ . "Documente Uber Bartok's Beziehung zu Busoni." Documenta bartokiana' 2 (1965): 62-76. Docunrenta bartokiana 3, ed. Denijs Dille. Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1968. 3udapest-Mainz: B. Schott's Stthne, 1968. Fabian, Imre. "Bartok und die Wiener Schule.' Osterreichische Musikzeitschrift 19 (1964): 255. Fuchss, Werner. Bela Bartok und die Schweiz, eine Dokumentensammlung. Bern: Hallway, 1973. Garst, Marilyn M. "How Bartok Performed His Own Conpositions." Taiipo 155 (December 1985): 15-21. Haraszti, Emil. Bela Bartok, His Life and Works. Paris: Press, 1938. Karpati, Janos. "Bartok, Schoenberg, Stravinsky." The Hew Hungarian Quarterly. (Budapest) 7/24 (Winter 1966): 211-216. Kroo, Gydrqy. Bartok Handbuch. Wien: Universal, 1974. _________ . "Duke Bluebeard's Castle." Studia musicoloqica 1 (1961): 251-340. _________ . "Monothematik und Dranaturgie in Bartok's Bflhnenwerken." Studia musicoloqica 5/1-4 (1963): 449-467. _________ . "On the Origin of the Wooden Prince." International Musicoloqical Conference in Corrr.iemoration of Bela Bartok 1971, ed. Jozsef Ujfalussy and Janos Breuer. Budapest: Editio Musica; New York: Belwin Mills, 1972. Lesznai, Lajos. Bela Bartok: Sein Leben Deutscher Verlag fttr Musik, 1961.

Sein Werke. Leipzig:

Moreux, Serge. Bela Bartok, sa vie, ses oeuvres, son langage. Paris: Richard-Masse, 1949.


160

Ntill, Edwin von der. Bela Bartok, Ein Beitrag zur Morphologie der neuen Musik. Kalle: Mitteldeutsche Verlags A. G., 1930. Parker, Mary Elizabeth. "Bartok's Mikrokosmos: A Survey of Pedagogical and Canpositional Techniques." D.M.A. Diss. The University of Texas at Austin, 1987. Sandor, GyOrgy. "Bela Bartok: Extending the Piano's Vocabulary." Contemporary Keyboard (September/October 1975): 16-18, 32. Schoenberg, Arnold. Harmonielehre. Leipzig-Vienna: Universal Edition, 1911. Snith, Joan Allen. Schoenberg and His Circle: A Viennese Portrait. New York: Schirmer; London: Collier MacMillan, 1986. Somfai, Laszlo. Bartok's Workshop. Sketches, Manuscripts, Versions: the Compositional Process. Budapest: Bartok Archives, 1987. _________ . "A Characteristic Culmination Point in Bartok's Instrumental Forms." International Musicological Conference in Comma noration of Bela Bartok 1971, ed. Jozsef Ujfalussy and Janos Breuer. Budapest: Editio Musica; Melville, New York: Belwin Mills, 1972. _________ . "Manuscript Versus Urtext: the Primary Sources of Bartok's Works." Studia musicoloqica 23 (1981): 17-66. _________ . "Nineteenth-Century Ideas Developed in Bartok's Piano Notation in the Years 1907-1914." 19th-Century Music XI/1 (Sunmer 1987): 73-91. _________ . "Theme With 'Long Notes, ' frcm "Analytical Notes on Bartok's Piano Year of 1926." Studia musicoloaica 26 (1984): 5-58. ‘


161

_________ . Tinezennyolc Bartok tanulmany (Eighteen Bartok Studies). Budapest: Editio iMusica, 1981. _________ and Vera Lampert. "Bela Bartok." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, II., 6th ed. Stanley Sadie. London: MacMillan Publishers Ltd., 1980, pp. 197-225. Stevens, Halsey. The Life and Music of Bela Bartok. New York: Oxford University Press, 1953; rev. New York University Press, 1964. Suchoff, Benjamin. Guide to Bartok's Mikrokosmos. London: Boosey and Hawkes, 1957, rev. 2/1971. Reprint New York: Da Capo Press, 1983. _________ . "Interpreting Bartok's Piano Works." Piano Quarterly Newsletter 20 (Summer 1957), 15-18. Szabolcsi, Bence. Bela Bartok, Leben und Werk. Leipzig: Verlag Philipp Reclam Jun., 1961 Ujfalussy, Jozsef. Bela Bartok. Boston: Crescendo Publishing Go., 1972. _________ . "Bela Bartok— Werk und Biogrsphie." Studia rnusicologica 23 (1981): 5-16. _________ . "1907-1908 in Bartok's Sntwicklung." Studia rnusicologica 24/3-4 (1982): 519-525. Veress, Sandor.

"Bluebeard's Castle." Tempo 13 (1949): 32-38.

Vinton, John. "Bartok on his Own Music." Journal of the American Musicological Society 19 (1966): 232-243. _________ . "Hints to the Printers from Bartok." Music and Letters 49/3 (July 1968): 224-230.


162

Welch, Allison. "Approaches to Bartok's Source Materials With a Focus on the Facsimile Edition of the Piano Sonata (1926)." Master's thesis. The University of Texas at Austin, 1985. Zsuffa, Joseph. Bela Balazs, The Man and the Artist. Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press, 1987.

SCORES

Bela Bartok. A fabol faraqott kiralyfi [The Wboden Prince] Op. 13. Wien London: Universal Edition, 1924. _________ • A Kekszakallu herceq va'ra [Duke Bluebeard's Castle] Op. 11. Vocal score, Universal Edition, 1922. _________ . Bight Improvisations on Hungarian feasant Songs, Op. 20. Boosey & Hawkes, 1939. _________ • Ket portre (Two Portraits) Op. 5. Boosey 1950.

&

Hawkes,

_______ • Piano Music of Bela Bartok— The Archive Edition, Series I, ed. Benjamin Suchoff. New York: Dover Publications, 1981. [Includes Fourteen Bagatelles, Op. 6; Two Elegies, Op. 8b; Ten Easy Pieces; Three Burlesques, Op. 8c; Four Piano Pieces (1903) _________ • String Quartet No. 1, Op. 7.

Boosey & Hawkes, 1939.

_________ • Tizennegy zonqoradarab (Fourteen Bagatelles) Oo. 6. Boosey & Hawkes, 1959. _________ • Violin Concerto No. 1. Boosey & Hawkes, 1959.


RECORDINGS

Bartok, Be'la. Bartok Piano Music (Complete), Vol. III. Sandor, pianist. Vox, SV3X 5427.

Gytirgy

_________ . Fourteen Bagatelles, Op. 6 and Ten Easy Pieces. Bela Bartok Complete Edition. Kornel Zempleni, pianist. Hungaroton, LPX 1299. Centenary Edition of Bartok's Records (Complete). Ed. Laszlo Sotnfai, Zoltan Kocsis, Janos Sebestyen. Budapest: Hungaroton, 1981. 2 vols.: LPX 12326-33 Mono and LPX 1233438 Mono.

PRIMARY SOURCES

Bartok, Bela. Fourteen Bagatelles. Second draft in the composer's hand. Bartok Archive in Hcmossassa, formerly New Yorrk Bartok Archive. _________ . First edition with corrections in the composer's hand. Rozsnyai, 1908. Bela

Bartok, Black Pocket-Book (Sketches 1907-1922). Facsimile edition, ed. Laszlo Sornfai. Budapest: Editio Musica, 1967.


VITA

Anne Victoria Fischer was born in Alice, Texas, on Fay 2, 1955, the daughter of Marguerite D. Fischer and Alfred 0. Fischer, Sr.

She attended Fair Park High School in Shreveport, Louisiana.

She graduated summa cum laude frcm Centenary College in Shreveport in May 1975 with a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance, and received the Master of Music degree in piano performance from the University of Texas at Austin in May 1979. In 1983 she completed the Master of Arts degree in musicology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

At both the

University of Texas and the University of North Carolina she was employed as a piano teaching assistant. After a year's study in Vienna, Austria on a Rotary International Fellowship, she returned to the University of Texas to earn the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance. From 1984-87 she operated the Crawford-Fischer School of Music with a partner in Austin.

She is

presently employed as Assistant Professor of Music at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Permanent address: 6115 Bradford Drive Shreveport, Louisiana 71119

This dissertation was typed by the author.


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