ComposerHungarianPianistEthnomusicologist

Béla Bartók

Béla Bartók was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist, significant for his 20th-century modernist synthesis of folk music.

1. Biography

Béla Bartók's life journey, from his early display of musical talent to his significant contributions to music and ethnomusicology, was marked by profound dedication to his art and a strong sense of cultural identity.

1.1. Childhood and Education

Béla Bartók was born on 25 March 1881, in the Banatian town of Nagyszentmiklós in the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Sânnicolau Mare, Romania). His father, also named Béla Bartók (1855-1888), was the director of an agricultural school and a passionate music enthusiast who played piano and cello. His mother, Paula Voit (1857-1939), a piano teacher of German, Hungarian, and Slovak or Polish ancestry from Turócszentmárton, played a crucial role in his early musical development.

Béla displayed remarkable musical talent from a very young age, despite being a sickly child who suffered from chronic illnesses until he was five. According to his mother, he could distinguish between different dance rhythms she played on the piano even before he could speak in complete sentences. By the age of four, he could play 40 pieces on the piano, and his mother began formally teaching him the following year. He also started composing short piano pieces around age nine.

In 1888, when he was seven, his father died suddenly at the age of 32, reportedly from Addison's disease. His mother then moved with Béla and his sister, Erzsébet, to Nagyszőlős (present-day Vynohradiv, Ukraine) and later to Pressburg (present-day Bratislava, Slovakia) for work. Béla gave his first public recital at age 11 in Nagyszőlős, where he played his own composition, "The Course of the Danube," written two years prior. His performance received positive critical reception. He continued his education at a gymnasium in Pressburg, where he became acquainted with and befriended Ernst von Dohnányi. In 1893, he received guidance from composer László Erkel.

In 1898, Bartók was accepted into the Vienna Conservatory, but on Dohnányi's advice, he chose to focus on developing his identity as a Hungarian composer. The following year, from 1899 to 1903, he studied piano under István Thomán, a former student of Franz Liszt, and composition under János Koessler at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest (later the Liszt Academy of Music). During this period, he met Zoltán Kodály, who made a profound impression on him and became a lifelong friend and colleague.

1.2. Musical Development and Folk Music Research

Bartók's early musical influences were rooted in the German-Austrian tradition, particularly the works of Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner. However, a pivotal moment occurred in 1902 when he heard the Budapest premiere of Richard Strauss's tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra. Bartók later stated that Strauss's music "stimulated the greatest enthusiasm in me; at last I saw the way that lay before me." He even transcribed Strauss's Ein Heldenleben for piano and memorized it.

The most significant turning point in Bartók's musical development came in the summer of 1904. While visiting a holiday resort, he overheard a young nanny, Lidi Dósa from Kibéd in Transylvania, singing folk songs to the children in her care. This encounter ignited his lifelong dedication to folk music.

Beginning in 1906, Bartók, in collaboration with Kodály and other researchers, embarked on extensive field research to collect and analyze old Magyar peasant melodies. Their growing interest in folk music coincided with a contemporary social interest in traditional national culture. Prior to their work, Magyar folk music had often been miscategorized as Gypsy music, as exemplified by Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, which were based on popular art songs performed by Romani bands. In contrast, Bartók and Kodály discovered that authentic Magyar folk melodies were often based on pentatonic scales, similar to those found in Asian folk traditions from Central Asia, Anatolia, and Siberia.

They found the phonograph to be an essential tool for collecting folk music due to its accuracy, objectivity, and manipulability. They meticulously notated Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, and Bulgarian folk music across the Carpathian Basin (then part of the Kingdom of Hungary). Bartók also conducted research in Moldavia, Wallachia, and in 1913, he even traveled to Algeria to collect folk music.

Bartók and Kodály began incorporating elements of this peasant music into their compositions, often quoting folk song melodies verbatim or writing pieces entirely derived from authentic songs. A notable example is Bartók's two volumes of For Children for solo piano, which contain 80 folk tunes with his accompaniments. Bartók's compositional command of folk elements was so authentic and undiluted because the scales, sounds, and rhythms were deeply ingrained in his native Hungary. His melodic and harmonic sense was profoundly influenced by the folk music of Hungary, Romania, and other nations, with a particular fondness for the asymmetrical dance rhythms and pungent harmonies found in Bulgarian music.

In 1907, Bartók also came under the influence of French composer Claude Debussy, whose compositions Kodály had brought back from Paris. Bartók held Debussy's music in high regard, stating in a 1939 interview that Debussy's "great service to music was to reawaken among all musicians an awareness of harmony and its possibilities." He sought to synthesize the contributions of Debussy, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Johann Sebastian Bach into a living synthesis for his time. This influence is evident in works like the Fourteen Bagatelles (1908), which prompted Ferruccio Busoni to exclaim, "At last something truly new!"

Bartók's style in his art music compositions evolved into a unique synthesis of folk music, classicism, and modernism. He gradually moved away from romantic elements, favoring an idiom where folk music was intrinsic to his style. He explained his approach to incorporating peasant music: either by taking a melody unchanged and adding accompaniment (similar to Bach's chorale treatment), inventing imitations of peasant melodies, or, most profoundly, by completely absorbing the idiom of peasant music until it became his "musical mother tongue."

1.3. Compositional Activities

Bartók's compositional output evolved significantly throughout his career, reflecting his absorption of folk music, his engagement with contemporary musical trends, and his development of a highly personal and mature style.

1.3.1. Early Works (1903-1910)

Bartók's early works show a strong influence from Richard Strauss and Johannes Brahms, alongside a growing interest in musical nationalism. In 1903, he composed his first major orchestral work, Kossuth, a symphonic poem in ten tableaux honoring Lajos Kossuth, a hero of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. This work caused a stir in Budapest, then under Habsburg rule. A year later, he renewed his opus numbers with the Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra (Op. 1).

His early compositions also began to subtly incorporate folk elements. The String Quartet No. 1 in A minor (1908) is considered the first piece to show clear signs of this new interest. Other notable piano works from this period include the Fourteen Bagatelles (1908) and Ten Easy Pieces (1908), which showcase his experimental approach to harmony and rhythm, influenced by Claude Debussy. Despite these innovations, the initial reception of his more experimental works was often negative, leading him to temporarily focus more on folk music research after 1911, with the exception of folk music arrangements.

1.3.2. Middle Works and Folk Influence (1911-1925)

After a period primarily dedicated to folk music collection, Bartók returned to composition with renewed vigor. In 1911, he wrote his only opera, Bluebeard's Castle, dedicated to his first wife, Márta. The opera uses symbolism to explore parallels between unconscious motivation and fate, suggesting a lack of control over outcomes. It was initially rejected by the Hungarian Fine Arts Commission as "unfit for the stage" and only premiered in 1918 after Bartók revised the score and ending in 1917. Following the 1919 revolution, in which he actively participated, the Horthy regime pressured him to remove the name of librettist Béla Balázs due to Balázs's Jewish origin and political blacklisting. Bartók refused, deepening his lifelong distrust of the Hungarian government. Bluebeard's Castle had only one revival in Hungary before Bartók's emigration.

The outbreak of World War I forced him to halt his folk music expeditions, but it also spurred him back to composing. This period saw the creation of the ballet The Wooden Prince (1914-1916), which brought him international recognition after its successful premiere in 1917, and the String Quartet No. 2 (1915-1917), both showing Debussy's influence.

Another significant ballet, The Miraculous Mandarin, with a libretto by Menyhért Lengyel, was started in 1918. Its sexually charged storyline led to its controversial premiere in Cologne in 1926, which was shut down after only one performance. This work reflects influences from Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and Richard Strauss. He also composed two highly harmonically and structurally complex violin sonatas (1921 and 1922), which he premiered with violinist Jelly d'Arányi. Other works from this time include the Eight Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs (1920) and the vibrant Dance Suite (1923), commissioned for the 50th anniversary of Budapest's unification.

In March 1927, Bartók visited Barcelona, performing his Rhapsody for piano Sz. 26 with the Orquestra Pau Casals at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He also attended a concert by the Cobla Barcelona at the Palau de la Música Catalana, expressing keen interest in the Sardana and the unique mechanisms of the Catalan wind instruments like the tenoras and tibles.

1.3.3. Mature Works (1926-1945)

By 1926, Bartók sought a substantial piece for piano and orchestra for his international tours. He was notably inspired by American composer Henry Cowell's controversial use of intense tone clusters in his piano music. Bartók, who had witnessed one of Cowell's concerts, respectfully sought and received permission to incorporate this technique. This led to his first Piano Concerto and several solo piano works like his Sonata, Out of Doors, and Nine Little Pieces, all prominently featuring clusters.

This period marked the full emergence of his mature style, often described as a "Synthesis of East and West." His later works, while fewer in number, were typically large-scale compositions for grand settings, often adhering to classical forms but infused with his distinctive musical language.

Among his most important and representative works are the six string quartets. The Third (1927) and Fourth (1928) are particularly acclaimed for their innovative harmonies and structures. The Fifth was composed in 1934, and the Sixth (his last) in 1939, reflecting a more melancholic tone.

Other masterpieces include the Cantata Profana (1930), which Bartók considered his most personal "credo," Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1936), and Divertimento for String Orchestra (1939). In 1936, he traveled to Turkey to collect and study Turkish folk music, collaborating with Turkish composer Ahmet Adnan Saygun primarily around Adana.

For his son Péter's music lessons, Bartók composed Mikrokosmos (1926-1939), a six-volume collection of graded piano pieces that serves both as a pedagogical tool and a showcase of his unique musical idiom. His final major works, composed during his last years in America, include the monumental Concerto for Orchestra (1943), the graceful Piano Concerto No. 3 (1945), and the unfinished Viola Concerto (1945).

1.4. Pianist and Educator

Bartók was a highly accomplished concert pianist, having studied under Franz Liszt's former student, István Thomán. He initially envisioned a career as a touring virtuoso. While he eventually settled into a professorship, he continued to perform extensively throughout his life, both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles. He toured Europe and America, collaborating with renowned musicians such as violinist Joseph Szigeti and cellist Pablo Casals. He also made numerous recordings, including his own compositions and works by other composers like Domenico Scarlatti and Liszt. Many of these recordings, some featuring Bartók's spoken introductions, have been reissued on CD.

In 1907, at the age of 26, Bartók became a piano professor at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest, a position he held until 1934. This role provided him with financial stability and allowed him to dedicate more time to folk music research. While he famously stated that he could not teach composition, he was a dedicated and influential piano educator. His notable students included future conductors Fritz Reiner and Sir Georg Solti, and pianists György Sándor, Ernő Balogh, Gisela Selden-Goth, and Lili Kraus. After moving to the United States, he also taught Jack Beeson and Violet Archer. Bartók's commitment to piano education is further evidenced by his extensive pedagogical works, most notably Mikrokosmos.

1.5. Personal Life

Bartók's personal life saw two marriages and the birth of two sons. In 1909, at the age of 28, he married Márta Ziegler (1893-1967), who was 16 at the time. Their son, Béla Bartók III, was born the following year in 1910. After nearly 15 years, Bartók divorced Márta in June 1923. Just two months later, in August 1923, he married Ditta Pásztory (1903-1982), a piano student who was 19, ten days after proposing to her. Their son, Péter Bartók, was born in 1924.

Raised as a Catholic, Bartók became an atheist in his early adulthood. However, he later developed an interest in Unitarianism and publicly converted to the Unitarian faith in 1916. While not conventionally religious, his son Béla Bartók III noted that his father was a profound "nature lover" who spoke with great reverence about "the miraculous order of nature." Béla III later became the lay president of the Hungarian Unitarian Church.

1.6. World War II and Exile

As the political situation in Europe deteriorated with the outbreak of World War II, Bartók became increasingly determined to leave Hungary. He held strong anti-fascist views and vehemently opposed the Nazis and Hungary's alliance with Germany and the Axis powers under the Tripartite Pact. After the Nazis rose to power in 1933, Bartók refused to give concerts in Germany and severed ties with his publisher there. His anti-fascist stance caused him significant trouble with the Hungarian establishment. In his will, recorded on 4 October 1940, he explicitly requested that no square or street be named after him in Budapest or anywhere in Hungary as long as they bore the names of figures like Benito Mussolini or Adolf Hitler.

Having first sent his valuable manuscripts out of the country, Bartók reluctantly emigrated to the United States with his wife, Ditta Pásztory, in October 1940. They arrived in New York City on the night of 29-30 October by steamer from Lisbon. Their younger son, Péter Bartók, joined them in 1942 and later enlisted in the United States Navy, serving in the Pacific before settling in Florida as a recording and sound engineer. His elder son from his first marriage, Béla Bartók III, remained in Hungary and worked as a railroad official until his retirement.

Despite becoming an American citizen in 1945 shortly before his death, Bartók never felt fully at home in the United States. He initially found it difficult to compose in his new surroundings, and although he was known in America as a pianist, ethnomusicologist, and teacher, his reputation as a composer was limited. There was little American interest in his music during his final years, and he and Ditta struggled to find enough concerts. While his finances were often precarious, the common myth that he lived and died in poverty is largely untrue. He received a 3.00 K USD-yearly research fellowship from Columbia University for several years (equivalent to over 50.00 K USD in 2024), where he and Ditta worked on a large collection of Serbian and Croatian folk songs. His income, including publication royalties, teaching, and performance tours, amounted to no less than 4.00 K USD a year (about 70.00 K USD in 2024 dollars). He had a network of friends and supporters who ensured he had sufficient money and work, though he was a proud man and often reluctantly accepted financial aid. The ASCAP, despite him not being a member, covered his medical expenses during his last two years.

2. Later Years and Death

Bartók's health began to decline in late 1940, with symptoms including a stiffening right shoulder. By 1942, his condition worsened, marked by recurring bouts of fever. Initially, doctors suspected a recurrence of tuberculosis, which he had suffered from as a young man. However, after extensive medical examinations, he was finally diagnosed with leukemia in April 1944. By this point, his condition was advanced, and little could be done.

Despite his failing health, Bartók experienced a surge of creative energy in his final years, producing a remarkable series of masterpieces. This creative resurgence was partly due to the support and commissions from friends and former students, notably violinist Joseph Szigeti and conductor Fritz Reiner, who had been a student of Bartók at the Royal Academy. His last work might have been the String Quartet No. 6 had it not been for Serge Koussevitzky's commission for the Concerto for Orchestra. Koussevitzky's Boston Symphony Orchestra premiered the work in December 1944 to highly positive reviews. The Concerto for Orchestra quickly became Bartók's most popular work, though he did not live to witness its full impact.

In 1944, he also received a commission from Yehudi Menuhin to write a Sonata for Solo Violin. In 1945, he composed his Piano Concerto No. 3, a graceful and almost neo-classical work intended as a surprise 42nd birthday present for Ditta. However, he died just over a month before her birthday, leaving the orchestration not quite finished. He had also sketched his Viola Concerto, but had barely begun its orchestration at the time of his death, leaving only the viola part completed along with sketches of the orchestral part.

Béla Bartók died at age 64 in a New York City hospital from complications of leukemia (specifically, secondary polycythemia) on 26 September 1945. His funeral was attended by only ten people, including his widow Ditta, their son Péter, and his former student György Sándor.

Bartók's body was initially interred in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. During the final years of communist Hungary in the late 1980s, the Hungarian government, along with his two sons, Béla III and Péter, requested that his remains be exhumed and transferred back to Budapest for burial. Hungary arranged a state funeral for him on 7 July 1988. He was re-interred at Budapest's Farkasréti Cemetery, alongside the remains of Ditta, who had died in 1982.

The two unfinished works were later completed by his pupil Tibor Serly. György Sándor was the soloist in the first performance of the Third Piano Concerto on 8 February 1946. Ditta Pásztory-Bartók later performed and recorded it. The Viola Concerto was revised and published in the 1990s by Bartók's son, Péter, in association with Argentine musician Nelson Dellamaggiore, aiming for a version closer to Bartók's original intentions.

3. Musical Characteristics and Evaluation

Bartók's music is a unique synthesis of diverse influences, reflecting the significant musical trends of the 20th century while forging a highly individual style.

3.1. Musical Style

Bartók's music embodies two major trends that reshaped the sound of 20th-century music: the breakdown of the traditional diatonic system of harmony and the resurgence of musical nationalism as a source of inspiration. In his quest for new forms of tonality, Bartók extensively drew from Hungarian folk music, as well as the folk traditions of the Carpathian Basin, Algeria, and Turkey. In doing so, he became a pivotal figure in the modernist movement that integrated indigenous music and techniques into classical composition.

A characteristic feature of his mature style is his "Night music", typically found in the slow movements of his multi-movement ensemble or orchestral compositions. This style is characterized by "eerie dissonances providing a backdrop to sounds of nature and lonely melodies." An example can be found in the third movement (Adagio) of his Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.

Bartók's musical language evolved through distinct periods:

  • Early Years (pre-1905)**: His initial works were rooted in classical and early romantic styles, influenced by Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss. While some pieces expressed Hungarian national consciousness, they often incorporated elements of Gypsy music, similar to earlier composers.
  • New Influences and Folk Integration (1906-1923)**: This period saw his deep immersion in folk music research with Zoltán Kodály. He began to systematically incorporate folk idioms into his compositions, moving beyond simple arrangements to integrate folk scales, rhythms, and melodic contours into his original works. During this time, he also absorbed influences from contemporary composers like Claude Debussy, Igor Stravinsky, and the Second Viennese School, leading to a more complex and experimental harmonic and structural language. He distinguished his approach to folk music integration into three methods: using peasant melodies unchanged with accompaniment, inventing imitations of such melodies, or allowing the "atmosphere of peasant music" to pervade his work, becoming his "musical mother tongue."
  • Synthesis and Experimentation (1926-1930)**: This phase is marked by highly intricate chamber works with sharp harmonies and powerful rhythmic drive. While often described as "atonal," Bartók maintained that his music always retained a tonal center. This period also shows clear influences of Neoclassicism, with a focus on clear structures.
  • Mature Style (1930-1940)**: Bartók's compositions from this decade maintained their structural complexity but often adopted a more harmonically transparent and overtly neo-classical style. This period produced many of his most celebrated masterpieces.
  • American Period (1943-1945)**: During his final years in the United States, his style continued the trajectory of his mature period, emphasizing lyrical melodic elements over intricate motives. While some works became more accessible, others retained the rigor of his earlier compositions.

3.2. Reception and Legacy

Béla Bartók's music has had a significant and lasting impact on 20th-century music. He is widely recognized for his innovative approach to harmony, rhythm, and form, and for his pioneering work in integrating folk music traditions into classical composition. His influence can be seen in subsequent generations of composers who explored similar avenues of national identity and modernist techniques.

Despite facing initial resistance and a period of limited recognition, particularly during his exile in the United States, Bartók's oeuvre has since gained widespread critical acclaim and popularity. His works are now staples in concert halls and academic studies worldwide. His six string quartets are considered among the most important contributions to the genre in the 20th century.

Beyond his compositions, Bartók's legacy as an ethnomusicologist is equally profound. His meticulous collection, classification, and analysis of folk music laid the foundation for the academic discipline of ethnomusicology, profoundly influencing how traditional music is studied and understood globally. His dedication to preserving and documenting the musical heritage of various cultures reflected a deep respect for diverse human expression.

On 1 January 2016, Bartók's works entered the public domain in the European Union, further increasing their accessibility and encouraging new performances and interpretations.

4. Musical Analysis

Various analytical approaches and theoretical frameworks have been employed to understand Bartók's complex musical structures, harmonic language, and compositional principles, reflecting the multifaceted nature of his style.

Paul Wilson identifies the most prominent characteristics of Bartók's music from the late 1920s onwards as the influence of the Carpathian Basin and European art music, alongside his evolving approach to tonality. Crucially, Bartók's use of tonality rarely involved the traditional harmonic functions associated with major and minor scales.

Although Bartók himself asserted that his music was always tonal, his unique harmonic vocabulary meant that conventional tonal theory offers limited descriptive resources. Scholars like George Perle and Elliott Antokoletz have focused on his alternative methods of signaling tonal centers, particularly through inversional symmetry and axes of symmetry. However, Richard Cohn argues that inversional symmetry in Bartók's music is often a byproduct of atonal procedures, such as the formation of chords from transpositionally related dyads.

Atonal pitch-class theory provides tools for exploring Bartók's use of polymodal chromaticism, projected sets, privileged patterns, and large set types as source collections. These include the equal-tempered twelve-tone aggregate, the octatonic scale (and alpha chord), the diatonic and heptatonia secunda seven-note scales, and less frequently, the whole tone scale and the primary pentatonic collection. Bartók rarely used the simple aggregate to actively shape musical structure, though he famously stated regarding the second theme of the first movement of his Second Violin Concerto that he "wanted to show Arnold Schoenberg that one can use all twelve tones and still remain tonal."

Examples of his use of these concepts include the gradual gathering of all twelve notes in the first eight measures of the last movement of his Second String Quartet, where the twelfth note marks the end of the first section. In the opening of the Third String Quartet, the aggregate is partitioned, with C♯-D-D♯-E in the accompaniment and the remaining pitch classes used in the melody. He also frequently juxtaposed diatonic ("white-key") and pentatonic ("black-key") collections, as seen in No. 6 of the Eight Improvisations, where the primary theme is on the black keys in the left hand, accompanied by white-key triads in the right.

Furthermore, from as early as the Suite for piano, Op. 14 (1914), Bartók occasionally employed a form of serialism based on compound interval cycles, some of which are maximally distributed, multi-aggregate cycles.

The Hungarian musicologist Ernő Lendvai proposed a comprehensive analytical system for Bartók's music, suggesting it is based on two opposing tonal systems: the acoustic scale and the axis system. Lendvai also argued that Bartók extensively used the golden section as a structural principle, even in the construction of chords, and employed the Fibonacci sequence to determine formal divisions. While the axis system is widely acknowledged, Lendvai's golden section theory, particularly its application to micro-level structures, has been met with skepticism by many scholars, both in Hungary and abroad. Critics note a lack of supporting evidence in Bartók's sketches or theoretical writings for the conscious application of the golden ratio or Fibonacci sequence.

Milton Babbitt, in his 1949 review of Bartók's string quartets, critiqued Bartók for employing both tonality and non-tonal methods unique to each piece, arguing that "Bartók's solution was a specific one, it cannot be duplicated." Babbitt found Bartók's use of "two organizational principles"-tonality for large-scale relationships and piece-specific methods for thematic elements-problematic, suggesting that the "highly attenuated tonality" necessitated extreme non-harmonic methods to achieve closure.

5. Works

Béla Bartók's compositional output is extensive and diverse, spanning numerous genres. He initially assigned opus numbers to his works but abandoned this practice due to the difficulty of distinguishing between original compositions and ethnographic arrangements, as well as between major and minor works. Consequently, his works are now primarily identified by catalog numbers assigned posthumously by scholars.

5.1. Orchestral Works

  • Symphony in E-flat major (1902-1903) Sz. 16 (unfinished, only Scherzo extant as Sz. 17)
  • Symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) Sz. 21
  • Suite No. 1, Op. 3 (1905, revised 1920) Sz. 31
  • Suite No. 2 for small orchestra, Op. 4 (1905-1907, revised 1943) Sz. 34
  • Two Portraits, Op. 5 (1907-1911) Sz. 37 (First movement derived from Violin Concerto No. 1)
  • Two Pictures, Op. 10 (1910) Sz. 46
  • Romanian Dance (1910) Sz. 47a (arrangement of the first of Two Romanian Dances)
  • Four Pieces (composed 1912, orchestrated 1921) Op. 12 Sz. 51
  • Romanian Folk Dances (1917) Sz. 68 (orchestration of piano version Sz. 56)
  • Dance Suite (1923) Sz. 77
  • Transylvanian Dances (1931) Sz. 96 (orchestration of Sonatina)
  • Hungarian Sketches (1931) Sz. 97 (orchestration of five pieces from piano collections)
  • Nine Hungarian Peasant Songs (1933) Sz. 100 (orchestration of the latter nine songs from Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs)
  • Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta (1936) Sz. 106
  • Divertimento for String Orchestra (1939) Sz. 113
  • Concerto for Orchestra (1943) Sz. 116

5.2. Concertos

  • Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra (1904) Op. 1 Sz. 27 (orchestration of Rhapsody for Piano)
  • Scherzo for Piano and Orchestra (Burlesque) (1904) Op. 2 Sz. 28
  • Violin Concerto No. 1 (1907-1908) Sz. 36
  • Piano Concerto No. 1 (1926) Sz. 83
  • Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 (1928) Sz. 87 (orchestration of Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No. 1)
  • Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 (1928, revised 1944) Sz. 90 (orchestration of Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No. 2)
  • Piano Concerto No. 2 (1930-1931) Sz. 95
  • Violin Concerto No. 2 (1937-1938) Sz. 112
  • Concerto for Two Pianos and Percussion (1940) Sz. 115 (arrangement of Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion)
  • Piano Concerto No. 3 (1945) Sz. 119 (orchestration completed by Tibor Serly)
  • Viola Concerto (1945) Sz. 120 (unfinished, completed by Tibor Serly)

5.3. Stage Works

  • Opera Bluebeard's Castle (1911) Op. 11 Sz. 48
  • Ballet The Wooden Prince (1914-1916, revised 1931) Op. 13 Sz. 60 (concert suite also exists)
  • Pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin (1918-1924, revised 1931) Op. 19 Sz. 73 (concert suite also exists)

5.4. Chamber Music

  • String Quartet No. 1 (1908-1909) Op. 7 Sz. 40
  • String Quartet No. 2 (1915-1917) Op. 17 Sz. 67
  • Violin Sonata No. 1 (Vn. & Pf.) (1921) Sz. 75
  • Violin Sonata No. 2 (Vn. & Pf.) (1922) Sz. 76
  • String Quartet No. 3 (1927) Sz. 85
  • Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No. 1 (1928) Sz. 86 (dedicated to Joseph Szigeti)
  • Rhapsody for Cello and Piano No. 1 (1928) Sz. 88 (arrangement for Pablo Casals)
  • Rhapsody for Violin and Piano No. 2 (1928, revised 1944) Sz. 89 (dedicated to Zoltán Székely)
  • String Quartet No. 4 (1928) Sz. 91
  • 44 Duos for Two Violins (1931) Sz. 98
  • String Quartet No. 5 (1934) Sz. 102
  • Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (1937) Sz. 110
  • Contrasts for Violin, Clarinet, and Piano (1938) Sz. 111 (dedicated to Szigeti and Benny Goodman)
  • String Quartet No. 6 (1939) Sz. 114
  • Sonata for Solo Violin (1944) Sz. 117 (dedicated to Yehudi Menuhin)

5.5. Piano Works

Bartók, being a pianist and educator, composed a large number of piano pieces, including pedagogical works.

  • Rhapsody for Piano (1904) Op. 1 Sz. 26
  • 14 Bagatelles (1908) Op. 6 Sz. 38
  • 10 Easy Pieces (1908) Sz. 39
  • 2 Elegies (1908) Sz. 41
  • For Children (1908-1910) Sz. 42 (based on Hungarian and Slovak folk songs, highly regarded pedagogical work)
  • 2 Romanian Dances (1910) Op. 8a Sz. 43
  • 4 Dirges (1910) Op. 9a Sz. 45
  • 3 Burlesques (1911) Op. 8c Sz. 47
  • Allegro barbaro (1911) Sz. 49 (title is a sarcastic response to critics calling him a "young Hungarian barbarian")
  • The First Term at the Piano (1913) Sz. 53
  • Sonatina (1915) Sz. 55
  • Romanian Folk Dances (1914) Sz. 56
  • Romanian Christmas Carols (1915) Sz. 57
  • Suite, Op. 14 (1916) Sz. 62
  • 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs (1918) Sz. 71
  • 8 Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs (1920) Op. 20 Sz. 74
  • Piano Sonata (1926) Sz. 80
  • Suite Out of Doors (1926) Sz. 81
  • 9 Little Piano Pieces (1926) Sz. 82
  • Mikrokosmos (1926-1939) Sz. 107 (a six-volume progressive piano method and collection of short pieces)

5.6. Vocal Music

  • 3 Songs in Folk Style (1904) Sz. 24
  • Hungarian Folk Songs (1906-1907) Sz. 33
  • 5 Songs (1915) Sz. 61
  • 5 Songs on poems by Endre Ady (1915) Sz. 62
  • 8 Hungarian Folk Songs (1908-1916) Sz. 64
  • Village Scenes (1924) Sz. 78
  • 3 Village Scenes for Chamber Orchestra and Female Chorus (1926) Sz. 79 (orchestration of three songs from Village Scenes)
  • 4 Hungarian Folk Songs (1930) Sz. 93
  • Cantata Profana (1930) Sz. 94
  • 5 Hungarian Folk Songs for Voice and Orchestra (1933) Sz. 101

6. Catalogues

The cataloguing of Bartók's works is somewhat complex due to his own inconsistent use of opus numbers. Bartók assigned opus numbers to his works three times, with the last series concluding with the Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1, Op. 21 in 1921. He discontinued this practice because of the difficulty in distinguishing between original works and ethnographic arrangements, as well as between major and minor works. Consequently, his works are now primarily identified by catalog numbers assigned posthumously by scholars.

Since his death, three primary attempts have been made to catalogue his extensive output:

  • Sz. numbers**: The first and still most widely used system is András Szőllősy's chronological catalogue, which assigns Sz. numbers from 1 to 121.
  • DD numbers**: Denijs Dille subsequently reorganized Bartók's juvenilia (Sz. 1-25) thematically, assigning DD numbers from 1 to 77.
  • BB numbers**: The most recent catalogue is by László Somfai, a chronological index identifying works by BB numbers from 1 to 129. This system incorporates corrections based on the comprehensive Béla Bartók Thematic Catalogue.

7. Discography

Béla Bartók, along with his contemporary Zoltán Kodály, undertook an extensive program of field research to capture the folk and peasant melodies of Hungarian, Slovak, and Romanian-speaking territories. Initially, they transcribed melodies by hand, but later they adopted Thomas Edison's wax cylinder recording machine, which proved crucial for its accuracy and objectivity.

Compilations of Bartók's own field recordings, interviews, and original piano performances have been released over the years, primarily by the Hungarian record label Hungaroton. These recordings offer invaluable insight into his interpretations of his own works and the folk music he collected.

Notable releases of Bartók's performances include:

  • Bartók at the Piano (Hungaroton 12326, 6-CD set, 1994)
  • Bartók Plays Bartók - Bartók at the Piano 1929-41 (Pearl 9166, CD, 1995)
  • Bartók Recordings from Private Collections (Hungaroton 12334, CD, 1995)
  • Bartók Plays Bartók (Pearl 179, CD, 2003)
  • Bartók: Contrasts, Mikrokosmos (Membran/Documents 223546, CD, 2007)
  • Bartók Plays Bartók (Urania 340, CD, 2008)
  • Bartók the Pianist (Hungaroton HCD32790-91, 2 CDs, 2016)

In 2014, Tantara Records released a compilation of field recordings and transcriptions for two violas. On 18 March 2016, Decca Classics released Béla Bartók: The Complete Works, the first-ever comprehensive compilation of all of Bartók's compositions, including new recordings of previously unrecorded early piano and vocal works. However, this 32-disc set does not include any of the composer's own performances.

8. Memorials

Béla Bartók Memorial House in Budapest
Béla Bartók Memorial House in Budapest
Statue of Bartók in Makó, Hungary
Statue of Bartók in Makó, Hungary

Numerous statues, memorial houses, plaques, and other honors have been established worldwide to commemorate Béla Bartók and his profound contributions to music and ethnomusicology.

  • A statue of Bartók stands in Brussels, Belgium, near the central train station in Spanjeplein-Place d'Espagne.
  • In London, a statue stands outside Malvern Court, south of the South Kensington tube station. An English Heritage blue plaque, unveiled in 1997, commemorates Bartók at 7 Sydney Place, where he stayed during performances in London.
  • The house where Bartók spent his last eight years in Hungary, at Csalán út 29 in the hills above Budapest, is now operated as the Béla Bartók Memorial House (Bartók Béla Emlékház). Copies of the statue located within this memorial house are also found in Makó (the closest Hungarian city to his birthplace), Paris, London, and Toronto.
Statue of Bartók inside the memorial house in Budapest
Statue of Bartók inside the memorial house in Budapest
  • In New York City, a bust and plaque are located at his last residence, 309 W. 57th Street, inscribed: "The Great Hungarian Composer / Béla Bartók / (1881-1945) / Made His Home In This House / During the Last Year of His Life".
  • A bust of Bartók is situated in the front yard of the Ankara State Conservatory in Ankara, Turkey, next to a bust of Ahmet Adnan Saygun.
  • A bronze statue of Bartók, sculpted by Imre Varga in 2005, is displayed in the front lobby of The Royal Conservatory of Music, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
  • In Timișoara, Romania, a bronze bust of Bartók stands in the Anton Scudier Central Park within an "Alley of Personalities" established in 2009. His birthplace, Sânnicolau Mare, is approximately 36 mile (58 km) northwest of Timișoara.
  • A statue of Bartók, also sculpted by Imre Varga, stands near the Seine river in the public park at Square Béla-Bartók, 26 place de Brazzaville, in Paris, France. In the same park, the fountain/sculpture Cristaux, designed by Jean-Yves Lechevallier in 1980, is a sculptural transcription of the composer's research on tonal harmony.
  • An expressionist sculpture by Hungarian sculptor András Beck is located in Square Henri-Collet, Paris 16th arrondissement.
  • A statue of him also stands in the city center of Târgu Mureș, Romania.
  • A seated statue of Bartók is situated in front of Nákó Castle in his hometown, Nagyszentmiklós.
  • Bartók has a star on the Walk of Fame on Karlsplatz-Passage in Vienna.
  • The minor planet 4132 Bartók is named in his honor.