The String Quartet No. 5, Sz. 102, BB 110 by

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 ...

was written between 6 August and 6 September 1934. It is one of six string quartets by Bartok. The work is in five movements: Like the String Quartet No. 4 and several other works by Bartók, the piece is in an arch form. Additionally, the first movement, which is in a sort of

sonata form The sonata form (also sonata-allegro form or first movement form) is a musical form, musical structure generally consisting of three main sections: an exposition, a development, and a recapitulation. It has been used widely since the middle of t ...

, is itself arch-like, in that each section of

exposition Exposition (also the French for exhibition) may refer to: *Universal exposition or World's Fair *Expository writing *Exposition (narrative), background information in a story * Exposition (music) *Trade fair * ''Exposition'' (album), the debut alb ...

is given in reverse order during the recapitulation – the

melodies A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...

of each section are also inverted (played upside-down). Bartók himself pointed out that the keys used in the movement ascend in the steps of the

whole tone scale In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale (music), scale in which each Musical note, note is separated from its neighbors by the interval (music), interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two Complement (music)#Ag ...

: the exposition is in B, C and D; the

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

is in E; and the recapitulation is in F, A and B. The three middle movements are all in

ternary form Ternary form, sometimes called song form, is a three-part musical form consisting of an opening section (A), a following section (B) and then a repetition of the first section (A). It is usually schematized as A–B–A. Prominent examples inclu ...

, of which the third is in the unevenly-divided ''

aksak In Ottoman musical theory, ''aksak'' () is a rhythmic system in which pieces or sequences, executed in a fast tempo, are based on the uninterrupted reiteration of a matrix, which results from the juxtaposition of rhythmic cells based on the alter ...

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s typical of

Bulgarian folk music The music of Bulgaria refers to all forms of music associated with the country of Bulgaria, including classical, folk, popular music, and other forms. Classical music, opera, and ballet are represented by composers Emanuil Manolov, Pancho Vla ...

: for the main scherzo, and in the trio.Walsh, S.(1982, p.66) ''Bartók Chamber Music.'' London, BBC The last movement is again arch-like: Bartók described it as being in the form ABCB′A′ with a coda to round things off. The two slow movements, the second ''Adagio molto'' and the fourth ''Andante'' are great examples of Bartók's night music style: eerie dissonances, imitations of natural sounds, and lonely melodies. The work was commissioned by

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (October 30, 1864 – November 4, 1953), born Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist and patron of music, especially of chamber music. Biography Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's father was a wealthy wholesale ...

and is dedicated to her. It was premiered by the

Kolisch Quartet The Kolisch Quartet was a string quartet musical ensemble founded in Vienna, originally (early 1920s) as the New Vienna String Quartet for the performance of Arnold Schoenberg, Schoenberg's works, and (by 1927) settling to the form in which it was l ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on 8 April 1935 and first published in 1936 by

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is an Austrian classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, it originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market. The firm soon expanded to become one of t ...

Discography

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:String Quartet No. 5 (Bartok) 1934 compositions Compositions that use extended techniques Music commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge 5

Discography

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