Bartók: Violin Concertos No. 1 & 2

Featuring

Daniel Harding
Isabelle Faust
Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester
Béla Bartók

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Notable Performances

Stefi Geyer, the dedicatee of Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 1, refused to play the piece, and it was only premiered posthumously in 1958 in Basel.

Composition History

Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 1 was inspired by his passionate love for violinist Stefi Geyer, with whom he spent summer holidays in 1907.

Composer Biography

Béla Bartók's two violin concertos, written three decades apart, reflect different stages of his life: the first as a young idealist in love, and the second as a mature composer.

Recording & Production

For this recording, the rarely heard original ending of Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2 was chosen, which concludes without the solo violin.

Compositional Technique

Bartók incorporated a 'verbunkos' melody, a heroic, march-like folk dance he discovered on his field trips, as the opening theme of the first movement of his Violin Concerto No. 2.

Compositional Technique

For his Violin Concerto No. 2, Bartók initially planned a single-movement set of variations, but acceded to the commissioner's request for a three-movement classical concerto by making the middle and final movements variations of the first.