''Rhapsody'', Op. 1, Sz. 26, BB 36, is a composition for piano by Hungarian composer

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

. It was finished in 1904. A year later, he wrote a version for piano and orchestra. The catalogue number of this composition is Op. 1, Sz. 26. The initial full-length composition for piano eventually received a catalogue number BB 36a, whereas the second version, with piano and orchestra, received a catalogue number BB 36b.

Composition

The ''Rhapsody'' for piano was a very important work, especially for the fact that it was at that time when Bartók decided to begin his third list of compositions. In this stage, he decided to embark on a new period in his artistic career where he would mainly explore

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. This turned out to be the pivotal work from which he would develop a new direction for both his compositional style and his preoccupations as an artist. The Rhapsody was completed in late 1904 and was dedicated to Emma Gruber, who later became the wife of

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. ...

. Drafts for the composition are not extant. The virtuoso piano writing of the work's "elaborate textures and sectional contrasts" relates to the model of Franz Liszt. After five revisions and updates, Bartók also released a version for piano and orchestra in 1905 and a version for two pianos. In 1907, Bartók also composed a fourth version of the same piece, which was shortened by almost half of the total length of the composition.

Structure

The composition is in one movement and takes 21 minutes to perform, even though the shortened version takes only half of the total duration. Critics have frequently stated that the loose structure calls for two contrasting sections; however, it is not marked as such in the score. According to some critics, Bartók used a

Lisztian Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

style, with very elaborate and vast chords and long and vastly ornamented

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

and

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

s. The composition starts with a fourteen-minute Adagio molto, which goes on to a second section, marked Poco allegretto.

Reception

When Bartók decided to submit the composition as an entry in the composers' category of the Anton Rubinstein Competition in Paris, 1905, it received no official recognition. Critics have acknowledged that this was a first step for his later compositions. Critics have also praised the Lisztian character of the composition, even though the style that he would later develop is diluted. Reviewer Michael Morrison said: "This Rhapsody must be assessed as a finely crafted but derivative effort, whose length may not be fully justified".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhapsody, Op. 1 (Bartok) 1904 compositions 1905 compositions Piano compositions by Béla Bartók Solo piano compositions by Béla Bartók Compositions for piano and orchestra Bartok Concertante works by Béla Bartók