Bartók, Romanian Folk Dances

Romanian Folk Dances

I. Joc cu bâtǎ (Stick Dance)

II. Brâul

III. Pe loc (In one spot)

IV. Buciumeana (Dance of Buchum)

V. Poargǎ româneascǎ (Romanian Polka)

VI. Mărunţel

Bartók’s early compositions were largely in the language of the late Romantics and in particular, that of Richard Strauss. This apparent lack of originality compelled him to find his own voice by means of immersing himself into Hungarian peasant music – not that of the gypsies but something Hungarian to its core, something autochthonous. His interest soon extended to music of the neighbouring lands and during the years 1904-1918 he collected and categorized up to 10,000 melodies of Romanian, Slovak and Hungarian origins.

Some of these melodies were transcribed into concert pieces using a variety of techniques. For instance, the Romanian Folk Dances treat the folk melodies as jewels and mount them on a bed of unassuming accompaniments, preludes and postludes. In other cases the added material may be given equal importance as the melody, or even take over as the bulk of the musical discourse with the melody being a motto theme of some sort.

One must bear in mind that these transcriptions were made to be printable for the publishers and presentable to the audiences. Much of the irregularities found in original melodies were lost in translating it into western musical notation and then further reduced in the transcriptions. One example is the opening Stick Dance: the version in Bartók’s collection Rumanian Folk Music Vol. I clearly states the ascending thirds of the melody as an ornamental figure, whilst in the transcription it is integrated into the melodic line.

October 2012