The polychromatic orchestral textures of Richard Strauss had an immediate and long-lasting effect upon Bartók's own instrumental sense, evidenced in masterpieces such as Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1936) and the Concerto for Orchestra (1945). The complete assimilation of elements from varied sources - the Classical masters, contemporaries like Debussy, folk songs - is one of the signal traits of Bartók's music. 3, were completed from Bartók's in-progress scores and sketches by his pupil, Tibor Serly.įrom its roots in the music he performed as a pianist - Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms - Bartók's own style evolved through several stages into one of the most distinctive and influential musical idioms of the first half of the 20th century. The composer's legacy included a number of ambitious but unrealized projects, including a Seventh String Quartet two major works, the Viola Concerto and the Piano Concerto No. He died of leukemia in New York on September 26, 1945. Though his prospects seemed sunnier in the final year of his life, his last great hope - to return to Hungary - was dashed in the aftermath of World War II. In his final years, Bartók was beleaguered by poor health. Days later, Bartók and his wife set sail for America. A concert in Budapest on October 8, 1940, was the composer's farewell to the country which had provided him so much inspiration and yet caused him so much grief. As the specter of fascism in Europe in the 1930s grew ever more sinister, he refused to play in Germany and banned radio broadcasts of his music there and in Italy. The great success he enjoyed as a concert artist in the 1920s was offset somewhat by difficulties that arose from the tenuous political atmosphere in Hungary, a situation exacerbated by the composer's frank manner. In addition to his compositional activities and folk music research, Bartók's career unfolded amid a bustling schedule of teaching and performing. Bartók's immersion in this music lasted for decades, and the intricacies he discovered therein, from plangent modality to fiercely aggressive rhythms, exerted a potent influence on his own musical language. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hungary and neighboring countries, collecting thousands of authentic folk songs. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works - most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) - Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicologist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the 20th century.īorn in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Romania), on March 25, 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies at the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument.
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