Hungarian composer Béla Bartók (1881—1945) has a wider catalog of orchestral music than most people suspect. It is an enriched series of suites and individual pieces that flow directly from his famous folk music researches. These are often orchestrations on various Bartók piano pieces. The Romanian Dance, for orchestra is the orchestral version of the first (Allegro vivace) of the Romanian Dances (2), Op. 8a, for piano, Sz. 43 in the Szekely listing of Bartók's works and BB 56 in the newer Bartók Béla Thematic Catalogue. Neither dance was a setting of a genuine folk song or dance. It is an early example of Bartók composing melodies that are original with him not yet fully exhibiting the characteristics of a particular national style, a feature that would be the cornerstone of his distinctive sound. The orchestration is fully accomplished and in the rather lush style Bartók used at the time. He was then composing the opera Bluebeard's Castle and the very rhythmic, driving Allegro barbaro is also a work of 1911. Pounding bass drum beats mark the rather primitive melody's rhythmic profile, establishing a mood similar to that of the Rhapsodies for violin. The harmonies are built around drone chords with unusual sonorities. This piece is something of an orphan among Bartók's music. It's less than five minutes long, the shortest independent work in Bartók's canon. While immensely entertaining in its pounding primitivism, it also strikes the listener as needing a few other movements to go with it.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.