Bartók composed a large number of piano pieces for children, and this set of eighty-five pieces represents the first work in which his research into Eastern European folk song makes a significant, stylistically integrated appearance in his music. The pieces are based specifically on Hungarian and Slovakian folk music, and in most cases Bartók left the original melodies intact. This treatment of melody accords with Bartók's stated intention for these little pieces: he wrote them "in order to acquaint the piano-studying children with the simple and non-Romantic beauties of folk music." Indeed, many of the Hungarian children who first played these pieces would probably have recognized some of these melodies, as they were borrowed from children's songs and games. While For Children was composed relatively early in Bartók's career, its abandonment of the Romantic aesthetic in favor of the simple sincerity of folk music is an important aspect of Bartók's mature style.

These folk song settings are strongly tonal pieces, their simple melodies set with generally unambiguous harmonies. This may not have originally been the case: Bartók, after composing and submitting a small set of children's pieces to his publisher, received a harshly critical letter in response, in which he was advised that in the future "the rules of classical harmony...be even more strictly observed...without any modernization." Most of the pieces in For Children are in the major mode, but there are a number which are modal, featuring aeolian, dorian, mixolydian, phrygian, and lydian melodies. There are also several tunes with pentatonic melodies, and a few with a mixed modal orientation. The benefit, as far as Bartók was concerned, of giving these pieces to young piano students, lay in their non-diatonic tonalities; instead, children would be exposed to relatively unusual scales and their resultant harmonic structures, thus gently preparing their ears for contemporary music. This was one of Bartók's principal aims as a pedagogue, to compose music for children using contemporary idioms in order to make the music of the twentieth century available to them.

While some of Bartók's other "educational" music, such as the Mikrokosmos, progress in difficulty from simple two-part pieces to pieces designed for the concert stage. For Children has no particular order, nor are its pieces technically very difficult. The challenge with these pieces is not technical but purely musical, as Bartók does not simply set folk melodies using traditional Western harmonic idioms. Instead, the harmonic support for these melodies is derived from the melodies themselves: as a result, when melodic, intervals are verticalized into chords, the underlying harmony often consists of chords built out of fourths, seconds, and sevenths, instead of the usual thirds and fifths. There are moments in For Children where the simplest of melodies are supported by the most complex, dissonant harmonies, and even a few cases of bitonality. Some cynical musicologists have suggested that the nobility of purpose in these pedagogical pieces—that is, to introduce children to folk music, and by extension non-Western, contemporary musical idioms—is offset by Bartók's other unspoken purpose: to introduce piano students to his own new musical language.

© All Music Guide

Vol.1-2 (Hungarian)

Like Volume 1, this second leg of the four that comprise the original version of For Children consists of 21 pieces. In all there are 85 in the 1908 - 1909 edition, and 79 in the 1945, Bartók having removed several works containing themes inaccurately recorded or not of genuine folk origin. He also reduced the number of volumes from four to two, but even recordings of the revised version often still divide the works into four volumes.

This second volume offers its share of memorable melodies in the same kind of straightforward, simple arrangements heard in the works in the other three volumes. Among the more outstanding melodic pieces here is No. 26, Go Round, Sweetheart, Go Round, a work whose beguiling nostalgia is enhanced by Bartók's deft though uncomplicated harmonies. Chorale, No. 30, and White Lady's Eardrop, No. 34, also feature memorable themes, the former sounding hymn-like and celestial, and the latter, one of three incarnations of the folk tune used here by Bartók (the other two appear in song arrangements entitled The Snow is Melting), is passionate and sorrowful in its exotic character.

Speaking of the exotic, Pentatonic Tune: Mother, Dear Mother, No. 31, divulges far-Eastern flavors in its rhythmic elements which accompany an otherwise Hungarian-sourced melody. Stars, Stars, Brightly Shine, No. 33, is less foreign in its homesick nostalgia, but does carry the ear North in its Grieg-like loveliness.

This volume, like the others, also contains a number of pieces having a child-like manner, be it in its playfulness or naïveté. One Ought to Go to Debrecen, No. 22, has a charming innocence in its regretful character, while Jest, No. 27, deftly mixes the mischievous with the naïve.

Although the title of this collection is "For Children," it contains arrangements of folk songs delving into adult subjects or activities. Drunkard Song, No. 38, is the most obvious example here, but its music is simple and colorful, easily grasped by both young and old.

Volume 2 also gives the listener a reasonable balance of joyful and sad works. Dance Song: You Must Walk This Way, That Way, No. 23, is spirited in its happiness but for a brief, dubious detour toward near the close which leads back to happiness and a quite joyful ending. When I Go Up Buda's Big Mountain, No. 37, also conveys a sense of joy in its playfulness, but tempers it with an elegance of expression and sense of subtlety. On the darker end of the emotional scale, Water, Water, Water, No. 24, is sorrowful and slightly detached and the ensuing Three Apples and a Half is gentle in its sad nostalgia.

As is typical of the pieces throughout the set, most in this volume are very short, lasting a half-minute to a minute, with the aforementioned Chorale and the colorful, Do You Go, Darling? I Should Think So, No. 41, being the longest with a duration of about two minutes.

© Robert Cummings, All Music Guide

Vol.1-2 (Hungarian) - 1.Allegro (Children at Play)

As many listeners know, Bartók was a connoisseur of folk music, collecting, arranging, and using its materials in his compositions. Children at Play is the first of 21 pieces that comprise volume one of his four-volume collection of piano works entitled For Children, one of his first major efforts to popularize Hungarian folk songs. There are 79 pieces in the entire collection, each relatively easy to perform and quite straightforward in presenting its melodic material.

Children at Play is playful and charming in its jaunty, happy tune and simple harmonies. The writing is rather sparse, the melody coming in single notes in the upper register, with the gentle harmonies blending in from the middle of the keyboard. The piece lasts a mere half-minute and does not have a strong ethnic character to its thematic wares, sounding as much American or Russian as Hungarian. This is a fine little work to lead off this important series.

© All Music Guide

Vol.3-4 (Slovakian)

Unlike Mikrokosmos, For Children is not a progressive set of piano compositions, neither increasing gradually in technical challenge nor substantially advancing in expressive depth. Still, the last two volumes, especially the Fourth, do seem to have a bit more sophistication in their harmonies and thematic wares. There are 22 folk tune arrangements in Volume 3, the most in any volume in either version of the collection. The first version of For Children (1908 - 1909) contained 85 pieces, and Volume 3 retained all its 22 in the 1945 pruning by Bartók, which reduced the number for the entire set to 79.

As usual Bartók sprinkles this volume with music of varying moods and styles. The first three pieces are child-like both in music and in title, which is certainly not always the case in this collection. If There Were Cherries (No. 1) is joyous in its sort of music-box sound world, while the ensuing Kite Settled on the Branch charmingly conveys the frustration and sorrow a child might experience losing his kite in the tree. Under the Tree (No. 3) returns to the merry kind of music in No. 1.

At the other end of this volume are two works in this mold, Game of Tag: Don't Go at Dawn, No. 20 and, despite the title, Pleasantry: She Flew Down and was in Tears, No. 21. The latter offers playful music that turns toy-like in the middle section and in the reprise of the main theme. In between, the two Round Dances, Nos. 6 and 9, feature both freshness and innocence in their happiness.

Naturally, there is a fair share of sad music here, as well. Sorrow, No. 7, is simple in its sparse scoring but quite touching in its sweet grief, while Funeral Song: In the Barracks of Mikulas, No. 10, is among the darkest creations in the entire set, with its gloomy Largo melody and lonely accompaniment. The ensuing Mother of My Lover is nearly as mournful but does have a melodic sweetness to its sadness, not present in the preceding work.

Lament, No. 16, is another example of melancholy music, but interestingly veers close to a Negro Spiritual American sound in its Hungarian folk character. The ensuing The Girl Was the Priest's Maidservant, contains one of this volume's more memorable themes, a nostalgic creation whose sweet melancholy captivates the listener.

The Hungarian folk character colorfully emerges, of course, in a number of pieces in this volume. No. 8, Dance Song: Hey, Two Pigeons Sit on the Tower of Presov, is festive in its folkish colors until it peters out in the latter moments of its charming half-minute life, while Bagpipe Tune I: Dance, Maiden, Dance, No. 15, has a hearty peasant-like character in its stomping rhythms.

Most pieces here last from a half-minute to a minute, with the colorful Variations: Flew the Peacock, Flew, No. 5, the longest, lasting nearly two and a half minutes.

© Robert Cummings, All Music Guide

Vol.3-4 (Slovakian) - 25.Allegretto (Scherzando)

Bartók had great respect for folk music and believed that his work assembling and arranging it was as important as his endeavors in original composition. Scherzando Allegretto features one of those beguiling melodies that musicians and listeners could hardly mistake for anything other than a folk tune.

It has an air of innocence and of the country about it, with its chipper, sunny character and lively, youthful theme. Yet, beneath its seemingly shallow veneer, there is a wistful manner in the descending trajectory of the music and in the hesitant, ambiguous closing chords. It is as if a cover of gray, if not dark clouds suddenly moved into the scene. This gentle, lovely work lasts barely 40 seconds, but will offer ample rewards for the listener.

© All Music Guide