Romanian Folk Dances
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Romanian Folk Dances is a suite of six short piano pieces composed by Béla Bartók in 1915, based on seven fiddle tunes of the Romanian Folklore. It comprises of:
Contents |
[edit] 1. JOC CU BÂTĂ – Dance With Sticks
- Or a game played with a stick. From Mezoszabad, district of Moro-Torda, in Romania. Energetic and merry.
- (Allegro Moderato, m.m. 80, 57)
- Key: A minor
- Form: Binary
[edit] 2. BRÂUL – Waistband Dance
- The word actually means: a cloth belt worn by men or women. From Egres, district of Torontal, on the border between Yugoslavia and Romania. Happy and quick.
- (Allegro, m.m. 144, 25")
- Key: F# minor
- Form: Binary
[edit] 3. PE LOC – Stamping Dance
- Translation is “on the spot.” From Egres. Rather slow with a steady step and a melody notable from small intervals. Like bagpipe music.
- (Andante, m.m. 90, 45")
- Key: D minor
[edit] 4. BUCIUMEANA – Hornpipe Dance
- Dance from Butschum, the district of Torda-Aranyos in Romania. Graceful with a haunting melody.
- (Moderato, m.m. 100, 35")
- Key: Section A is in C Major, Section B is in A minor
- Form: Binary with 2 tunes
[edit] 5. POARCĂ ROMÂNEASCĂ – Romanian Polka
- Romanian Children’s Dance. Poarca is a game played by the country children. From Belenyes district of Bihar on the border between Hungary and Romania. Quick and lively.
- (Allegro, m.m. 152, 31")
- Key: D Major
- Form: Binary with 2 tunes
[edit] 6. MĂRUNTEL – Quick Dance
- A fast dance using very small steps and movements. From Belenyes.
- (Allegro, m.m. 146/Più Allegro, m.m. 152, 36")
- Key: D Major, modulates to G major
- Form: 3 tunes + coda
The playing time of all six should be 4 minutes and 15 seconds, as indicated by a footnote at the end of the sixth dance. Incidentally, this is not the sum of all playing times indicated hence before (the actual total is 3 minutes and 49 seconds).
