Bartok: The Complete String Quartets - The 1963 Stereo Recordings
9/14/2010, 22 Tracks, 2:14:16
Featuring
Robert Mann
Isidore Cohen
Raphael Hillyer
Claus Adam
Juilliard String Quartet
Béla Bartók
Did you know?
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Composer Biography
Bartók's lifelong fascination with the string quartet form led him to compose six surviving quartets, spanning over thirty years, and even an earlier suppressed quartet according to his friend Zoltán Kodály.
Compositional Technique
Bartók's string quartets are notable for his unique architectural forms, including the use of sonata form modified by his harmonic and melodic choices, and the idea of motivic generation.
Compositional Technique
The Sixth Quartet is unified by a 'Mesto' (sadly) motto theme that appears at the beginning of each movement, eventually becoming the entire finale.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Béla Bartók's six string quartets convey his personality and artistic growth, serving as a direct expression of his essence.
Composition History
Bartók's Third Quartet won half of the first prize in a competition sponsored by the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, earning him $3000.
Compositional Technique
The Fifth Quartet's central Scherzo, subtitled 'Alla bulgarese', extensively uses syncopated rhythms found in Bulgarian folk dances, with changing time signatures like 4+2+3 and 3+2+2+3 eighths per measure.
Compositional Technique
The Fourth and Fifth Quartets employ an 'arch form' where movements are symmetrically related, with the central movement acting as a 'keystone'.
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Bartok: The Complete String Quartets - The 1963 Stereo Recordings
