IDAGIO | Bartók: 44 Duos for 2 Violins, Sz. 98 - Vivaldi: Sonata in F Major, RV 70 7619990103993

Featuring

Enrico Onofri
Lina Tur Bonet
Béla Bartók
Antonio Vivaldi

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Cultural Impact

Bartók's 44 Duos are considered 44 masterpieces, each a sublime miniature in its 'Pythagorean perfection', with harmonies, melodies, rhythms, and forms based on 'golden' proportions.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bartók believed that folk music was a natural phenomenon and a collective art form intrinsic to human beings, always seeking 'inspired simplicity' in his compositions.

Interpretation

The performers on this album use historical instruments, specifically violins strung as they would have been in the early 20th century, with a mix of pure gut, steel, and wound-gut strings.

Notable Performances

Eight of Bartók's Duos were premiered by violinists Imre Waldbauer and György Hannover in Budapest on January 20, 1932.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Bartók's detailed notation in the Duos was his way of expressing the sounds, rhythms, and 'speech' of folk tunes in a new conceptual manner, avoiding stereotypes of Eastern folk music.

Composition History

Béla Bartók's 44 Duos for Two Violins were commissioned in 1931 by German violinist and pedagogue Erich Doflein, who initially requested an arrangement of Bartók's piano collection 'For Children'.

Compositional Technique

All pieces in Bartók's 44 Duos are based on folk tunes from various Eastern European countries, incorporating modal elements and often using a concept of 'complementarity' where different modes or key signatures are combined.