Classical Music | Music for Duo

Recorded on 06/27/2006, uploaded on 01/27/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Second Rhapsody for violin and piano                 Béla Bartók

Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945) is considered one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century.  With a Hungarian heritage and training as both a pianist and composer, Bartók was a founder of the field of ethnomusicology.  Bartók's music was influenced by the folk music traditions not only of his native Hungary, but also by his numerous collections of ethnic music from Eastern Europe and the Middle East.  His compositional style is influenced by the music of rural Hungary as well as Central and Eastern Europe.  His works combine a wide variety of modernistic techniques, from atonality and bitonality to octatonic scale.  Although his harmonic, melodic, and rhythmic style of composition is rooted in the ethnic traditions, he remains true to formal classical structures.    Michael Cansfield

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.