Please explain Bartok

[camper]

in 100 words or less
I'm all ears (make of that what you will)
I think I am stuck in the romantic period and besides, when I am in my shop and listening to him on Beethoven.com I always think I left my lathe running.

Camper

<small>[ 03-07-2005, 10:00 PM: Message edited by: camper ]</small>

[hal 9000]

I found this quote which I think sums it up best:

His pagan barbarity, his explosive and angrily defiant melancholy, his demoniacal instinct...these are all echoes...of the thousand-year-old Hungarian psyche. -Emil Haraszti

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

No. I think he had fashionably tight shoes and chronically aching feet. That'll destroy your native sunniness, every time.

[camper]

Originally posted by Selma in Sandy Eggo:
No. I think he had fashionably tight shoes and chronically aching feet. That'll destroy your native sunniness, every time.

Good point. I may, therefore, run down to the music store and get some staff paper for my wife...thanks

[shostakovich]

There are two Bartoks. The folksy one (Hungarian Sketches, Roumanian Dances) is very approachable. The tough one (Viola Concerto, Sonata for 2 Pianos and Percussion) is not. The Concerto for Orchestra is a test piece. It's one of the 20th C landmarks (enhanced by the legend surrounding it). If you get to like it (last movement should be the easiest), then Bartok has much to offer you. Still, his music has to be carefully chosen. Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta is worth a shot. His two Suites and ballets are worth considering. Chamber music lovers (I'm not one) enthuse over his quartets.

The upshot is that his folksy works are easy to take. That includes many of his solo piano pieces. The music for which he is famous presents more of a challenge.

He is not on my 10 favorites list, but his friend and contemporary, Kodaly, is. Kodaly's folksy Hungarian works are also major compositions, where Bartok's are not. Kodaly is more in keeping with the romantic spirit, camper. He will never remind you of a lathe running amuck. Happy hunting.
Shos