Béla Bartók
20th Century · 1881–1945
Béla Bartók was born in 1881 in a small Hungarian town and spent his career in Budapest as a concert pianist and piano teacher at the music academy. His other life's work happened in villages: with his friend Zoltán Kodály he hauled a phonograph into the countryside and recorded thousands of folk songs from Hungary, Romania, and beyond, writing them down note by note before they vanished.
That fieldwork transformed his own music. The sharp rhythms and strange scales of village fiddlers and singers run through everything he wrote, from savage piano pieces to some of the century's finest string quartets. Opposed to fascism, he left Europe for New York in 1940 and died there in 1945, poor and homesick. Two years before his death, a commission drew from him one of his most loved scores.
That score is the Concerto for Orchestra, and it is the place to start. Then try the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, especially its eerie slow movement.
105 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- Sonata for 2 Pianos and 2 Percussion, BB115, Sz.110
- Sonata for Violin Solo, BB124, Sz.117
- String Quartet no. 3 in C sharp major, BB93, Sz.85
- String Quartet no. 4 in C major, BB95
- String Quartet no. 5 in B flat major, BB110, Sz.102
- String Quartet no. 6 in D major, BB119, Sz.114
- 44 Duos for 2 violins, Volumes 1-4, BB104, Sz.98
- Albumblatt, for violin and piano, BB26b
- Contrasts, for clarinet, violin, and piano, BB116
- Duo for 2 violins, without opus; without Sz.
- From Gyergó, for recorder and piano, BB45a, Sz.35
- Piano Quintet, BB33
- Rhapsody for Cello and Piano, BB94c, Sz.88
- Rhapsody for Violin and Piano no. 1, BB94a, Sz.86
- Rhapsody for Violin and Piano no. 2, BB96a, Sz.89
- Six danses populaires roumaines, for trumpet and ensemble
- String Quartet no. 1 in A minor, op. 7, BB52, Sz.40
- String Quartet no. 2 in A minor, op. 17, BB75, Sz.67
- Violin Sonata in E minor, BB28
- Violin Sonata no. 1 in C sharp minor, op. 21, BB84, Sz.75
- Violin Sonata no. 2 in C major, BB85, Sz.76
Keyboard
- Allegro barbaro, BB63, Sz.49
- Piano Sonata, BB88
- 2 Elegies, op. 8b, BB49, Sz.41
- 2 Romanian Dances, op. 8a, BB56
- 3 Burlesques, op. 8c, BB55, Sz.47
- 3 Hungarian Folksongs from Csík, BB45b, Sz.35a
- 3 Hungarian Folk Tunes, BB80b, Sz.66
- 3 Klavierstucke, BB8
- 3 Klavierstucke, BB14
- 3 Rondos on Slovak Folktunes, BB92, Sz.84
- 3 Studies, op. 18, BB81, Sz.72
- 4 Dirges, op. 9a, BB58, Sz.45
- 4 Piano Pieces, BB27, DD71
- 7 Pieces from Mikrokosmos, for 2 pianos, Sz.108, BB120
- 8 Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs, op. 20, BB83, Sz.74
- 9 Little Piano Pieces, BB90, Sz.82
- 10 Easy Pieces, BB51, Sz.39
- 14 Bagatelle, op. 6, BB50
- 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, BB79, Sz.71
- Andante
- Ciaia Sonata in G
- En plein air
- First Term at the Piano, BB66, Sz.53
- For Children : 85 Teaching Pieces in 4 volumes, BB53, Sz.42
- Fugue in G minor, for organ and strings
- Magyar nepdalok, BB109
- Mikrokosmos: 153 Progressive Piano Pieces in 6 volumes, BB105, Sz.107
- Out of Doors, BB89
- Pastorale for keyboard in C
- Petite Suite, BB113, Sz.105
- Petits morceaux, for piano, BB38
- Rhapsody, op. 1, BB36a, Sz.26
- Romanian Christmas Carols, 20 pieces in 2 series, BB67, Sz.57
- Román népi táncok, BB68, Sz.56
- Scherzo in B major, BB11
- Sonata for Recorder and Continuo in B flat major, SF. 775
- Sonatina, BB69, Sz.55
- Sonatina over themes of peasants from Transsylvania
- Suite for Piano, op. 14, BB70, Sz.62
- Toccata in G
- Toccata no. 1 for keyboard
- Toccata no. 2 for keyboard
- Tre Correnti
Orchestral
- Concerto for Orchestra, BB123, Sz.116
- Dance Suite, BB86a, Sz.77
- Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, BB114, Sz.106
- Piano Concerto no. 1 in A major, BB91, Sz.83
- Piano Concerto no. 2 in G major, BB101, Sz.95
- Piano Concerto no. 3 in E major, BB127, Sz.119
- Violin Concerto no. 2 in B minor, BB117, Sz.112
- 2 Pictures, op. 10, BB59, Sz.46
- 4 Orchestral Pieces, op. 12, BB64, Sz.51
- 7 Romanian Folk Dances, BB76
- Concerto for 2 Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra, BB121, Sz.115
- Concerto for Orchestra, BB127, Sz.116
- Divertimento for String Orchestra, BB118
- Hungarian Peasant Songs, BB107, Sz.100
- Kossuth, BB31, Sz.21
- Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, op. 1, BB36b, Sz.27
- Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra no. 1, BB94b, Sz.87
- Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra no. 2, BB96b, Sz.90
- Romanian Dance, BB61, Sz.47a
- Suite for Orchestra no. 1, Sz. 31, BB 39
- Suite for Orchestra no. 2, op. 4, BB40, Sz.34
- The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19a, BB82, Sz.73a
- The Wooden Prince, op. 13, BB74, Sz.60
- Transylvanian Dances, BB102b, Sz.96
- Two Portraits, for violin and orchestra, op. 5, BB48b, Sz.37
- Violin Concerto no. 1, BB48a, Sz.36
Stage
- Duke Bluebeard's Castle, op. 11, BB62 Opera
- The Miraculous Mandarin, op. 19, BB82
- The Wooden Prince, op. 13, BB74
Vocal
- Cantata profana, BB100, Sz.94, "The Enchanted Stags"
- 4 Old Hungarian Folksongs, for male chorus, BB60, Sz.50
- 4 Slovak Folksongs, BB78
- 4 Slovakian Folksongs, BB46, Sz.35b
- 5 Hungarian Folksongs, for mixed chorus, Sz.93, BB99
- 5 Magyar nepdalok, BB 108
- 5 Songs, BB72, Sz.63, op. 16
- Choruses in 2 and 3 Parts, 27 works for children's or female chorus and piano, BB111, Sz.103
- Eight Hungarian Folksongs
- Falun: 3 Village Scenes, BB87b, Sz.79
- Falun: Village Scenes, BB87a, Sz.78
- Húsz magyar népdal in 4 volumes, BB98, Sz.92
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