1st violin concerto (Bartók)

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The two-movement 1st Violin Concerto ( Sz. 36) by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók (1881–1945) was completed in 1908, but was only performed 13 years after Bartók's death.

Origin and premiere

In 1906 Béla Bartók became acquainted with the then 18-year-old violinist Stefi Geyer , who was studying with Jenő Hubay at a concert at the Budapest Music Academy . In the summer of 1907, his growing affection led him to join her on vacation with relatives outside Budapest on the pretext of wanting to study folk music there. The violin concerto that began there on July 1, 1907 and was completed in early February 1908 is closely related to this love affair. The score contains in memory of a shared experience in the coda of the second set, the reminiscence of the children's song "The donkey is a stupid animal" marked " Jászberény , 28 June 1907". However, the relationship was ended in February 1908 by Stefi Geyer. Nevertheless, Bartók sent her the manuscript with a farewell dedication, which Stefi Geyer kept until the end of her life in 1956, but never performed.

With only minor changes, Bartók took over the first movement of the concert in the Deux Portraits (Two Portraits) for orchestra op.5, which premiered in 1909. The first performance of the two-movement concerto - now commonly referred to as Bartók's first violin concerto - did not take place in its entirety until on May 30, 1958, 13 years after Bartok's death, in Basel . The soloist was Hansheinz Schneeberger , Paul Sacher conducted .

Cast and characterization

In addition to the solo violin , the score includes the following orchestra:

2 flutes (2nd also piccolo ), 2 oboes , English horn , 2 clarinets (2nd also bass clarinet), 2 bassoons , 4 horns , 2 trumpets , 2 trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion ( triangle , bass drum ), 2 harps and Strings . The performance lasts about 21 minutes.

The two movements of the concert have the following tempo markings:

  1. Andante sostenuto
  2. Allegro giocoso

The slow movement is opened by the solo violin with a motif of ascending thirds (d - f sharp - a - c sharp), which also appears in other works of the period and which Bartók himself described as the leitmotif characterizing Stefi Geyer. First 2, then 4, then 6 violins are added before all the strings and finally the winds enter. The sentence, which sometimes swings up like a hymn and traces the ideal of the revered Stefi Geyer, fades away softly.

The harmonic middle of the movement is still largely based on the late romantic Tristan harmony , but partly dissonant chord formations with fourths and major sevenths already point to future works by Bartók.

The quick 2nd movement follows the sonata form and embodies the teasing, ironic side of the lover, but lyrical insertions, based on the mood of the 1st movement, have a contrasting effect. The movement makes use of an expanded tonality (music) , whereby the tonal center of G major is often added tones from other keys that belong to C sharp or F sharp major.

The 1st Violin Concerto marks the end of Bartók's early creative period and already heralds the radical upheavals in his subsequent compositions.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Publishing house information Boosey & Hawkes

literature

  • Tadeusz A. Zieliński: Bartók . Schott, Mainz, 1973. ISBN 978-3-254-08417-0 . Pp. 87-88, 97-100.
  • CD supplement harmonia mundi, HMC 902146: Bartók: Violin Concerts 1 / 2. Isabelle Faust (violin), Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor: Daniel Harding; Text by Isabelle Faust.

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