Bartók: The 6 String Quartets

Featuring

András Kiss
Ferenc Balogh
László Bársony
Károly Botvay
New Budapest Quartet
Béla Bartók

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Composition History

Bartók's Third Quartet won joint first prize with Alfredo Casella in a competition by the Music Fund Society of Philadelphia in 1928.

Compositional Technique

The Third String Quartet (1927) is the shortest of Bartók's six quartets but is his largest instrumental structure as a single movement, focusing on motivic cells.

Cultural Impact

Bartók's string quartets have profoundly influenced many subsequent works in the genre, with few succeeding composers remaining unstirred by his contribution.

Compositional Technique

Bartók's First String Quartet is original in both thought and structure, taking no prior model.

Composer Biography

Béla Bartók completed his Sixth String Quartet in 1939 at the age of 58, and it was to be his last completed quartet.

Composition History

Bartók's String Quartet No. 1, written in 1908, was his third or fourth attempt in the medium, indicating he was not a beginner.

Compositional Technique

The Sixth String Quartet (1939) is unique among Bartók's quartets for its use of a recurring 'Mesto' (sad) motto theme prefacing the first three movements.