The Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116, BB 123, is a five-movement orchestral work composed by Béla Bartók in 1943. It is one of his best-known, most popular, and most accessible works.

The score is inscribed "15 August – 8 October 1943". It was premiered on December 1, 1944, at Symphony Hall, Boston, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serge Koussevitzky. It was a great success and has been regularly performed since.

Composition

The work was written in response to a commission from the Koussevitzky Foundation (run by the conductor Serge Koussevitzky) after Bartók moved to the United States from his native Hungary, which he had fled because of World War II. In 1943, while Bartók was in hospital suffering from what would later be discovered to be leukemia, he was visited by Koussevitzky, who wanted to inform him of the commission for him to write the work that became this concerto. It has been speculated that Bartók's previous work, the String Quartet No. 6 (1939), could well have been his last were it not for this commission. Bartók then wrote several other works afterwards, including his Sonata for Solo Violin and Piano Concerto No. 3.

;Woodwinds:

:

:

:

:

;Brass:

:4 horns

:3 trumpets

:3 trombones

:1 tuba

;Percussion:

:timpani

:side drum

:bass drum

:cymbals

:triangle

:tam-tam

;Strings:

:2 harps

:violins I, II

:violas

:cellos

:double basses

Musical analysis

The piece is in five movements:

Bartók makes extensive use of classical elements in the work; for instance, the first and fifth movements are in sonata-allegro form.

The original 1946 printed score also had an incorrect metronome marking for this movement. This was brought to light by Georg Solti as he was preparing to record the piece with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1980:

Despite Solti's assertion that thousands of earlier performances had been played at the wrong speed, both of Fritz Reiner's recordings—his 1946 recording with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (the first recording of the work) and his 1955 recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra—use the faster tempo Solti later recommended. Reiner had known Bartók since 1905, when they were fellow students at the Budapest Academy; it was Reiner, along with Joseph Szigeti, who persuaded Serge Koussevitsky to commission the Concerto.

III. Elegia

The third movement, "Elegia", is another slow movement, typical of Bartók's so-called "night music". It revolves around three themes derived primarily from the first movement. which had recently also been referenced in the "invasion" theme of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad". Whether Bartók was parodying Lehár, Shostakovich, or both has been hotly disputed, without conclusive evidence either way. The theme is itself interrupted by glissandi on the trombones and woodwinds.

:<score sound="1">

\new Staff \with {

instrumentName = "Cl. I "

}

\relative c {

\transpose bes c'

\set Staff.midiInstrument = #"clarinet"

\key c \major

\time 2/2

\tempo 2 = 94

\partial4 g4( f) e( d) c( bes-.) bes-. r4 \tuplet 3/2 { f'8( g f } e4) d( c) bes( a-.) a-.

r4 \tuplet 3/2 { e'8( f e } d4) c( bes) \tuplet 3/2 { a8( bes a } g4-.) g-.

r4 \tuplet 3/2 { d'8( e d } \tuplet 3/2 { [c8 d c] } \tuplet 3/2 { bes c bes }

\tuplet 3/2 { [a bes a] } \tuplet 3/2 { g a g } f4-.) f-.\stopTextSpan r2

}

</score>

In this movement, the timpani are featured when the second theme is introduced, requiring 10 different pitches of the timpani over the course of 20 seconds. The general structure is "ABA–interruption–BA." Columbia Records released a recording with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. 12-inch LP recording. Columbia ML 4973 (monaural). New York: Columbia.

  • In 1958, RCA Victor issued a recording with Fritz Reiner conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. 12-inch LP recording. RCA Victor LSC-1934
  • In 1956, Decca Records released a recording with Ernest Ansermet conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, also including Frank Martin's Concerto for seven winds, percussion, and string orchestra. Decca LXT 5305; London CS-6086; Decca Eclipse (stereo). London: Decca.
  • In 1959, EMI Records released a recording with Rafael Kubelik conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, also including Bartók's Two Portraits, Op. 5. 12-inch LP recording. HMV ASD 312 (stereo). UK: His Master's Voice.
  • In 1960, Columbia Records released a recording with Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, recorded at St. George Hotel, Brooklyn, New York, November 30, 1959. 12-inch LP recording. Columbia MS 6140 (stereo). New York: Columbia Records.
  • In 1962, RCA Victor released a recording with Erich Leinsdorf conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, made in Symphony Hall, Boston. 12-inch LP recording. RCA Victor LSC-2643. New York: RCA Victor.
  • 1963, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Ančerl. Dvorak Hall, Prague. Supraphon.
  • In 1965, Columbia Records released a recording with George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra, also including Leoš Janáček's Sinfonietta. 12-inch LP recording. Columbia ML 6215 (stereo). New York: Columbia.
  • In 1965, Decca Records released a recording with Georg Solti conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. 12-inch LP recording. Decca SXL 6212 (stereo).
  • In 1979, RCA Red Seal released the first digital recording of the work with Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra. RCA Red Seal ARC1-3421
  • Recorded in Orchestra Hall, Chicago in January 1981, Sir Georg Solti conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Digital recording, coupled with Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated by Ravel, Decca 417 754–2.
  • 2005: Iván Fischer (conductor) Budapest Festival Orchestra, Philips 476 7255
  • In 2012, Naxos Records released a recording with Marin Alsop conducting the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in addition to Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta. Digital recording. Naxos 8.572486.

Piano reduction

In 1985, Bartók's son Peter Bartók discovered a manuscript of a piano reduction of the score in the large body of material left to him upon his father's death. This version had been prepared for rehearsals of a ballet interpretation of the Concerto, to be performed by the Ballet Theatre in New York. This performance never took place, and the piano score was shelved. Soon after the discovery of this manuscript, Peter Bartók asked the Hungarian pianist György Sándor to prepare the manuscript for publication and performance. The world premiere recording of this edited reduction was made by Sándor in 1987, on CBS Masterworks: the CD also includes piano versions of the Dance Suite, Sz. 77 and Petite Suite, Sz. 105, which was adapted from some of the 44 Violin Duos.

References

Further reading

  • Fosler-Lussier, Danielle (2000). "Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra in Postwar Hungary: A Road Not Taken." International Journal of Musicology, vol. 9, pp.&nbsp;363–383.
  • French, Gilbert G. (1967). "Continuity and Discontinuity in Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra." The Music Review, vol. 28, pp.&nbsp;122–134.
  • Móricz, Klára (1993-1994). "New Aspects of the Genesis of Béla Bartók's 'Concerto for Orchestra': Concepts of 'Finality' and 'Intention.'" Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, T. 35, Fasc. 1/3, pp.&nbsp;181–219.
  • Parker, Beverly Lewis (1989). "Parallels between Bartók's 'Concerto for Orchestra' and Kübler-Ross's Theory about the Dying." The Musical Quarterly, vol. 73, no. 4, pp.&nbsp;532–556.
  • Suchoff, Benjamin (2000). "Background and Sources of Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra." International Journal of Musicology, vol. 9, pp.&nbsp;339–361.