Contrasts (Bartók)

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Contrasts (Sz. 111, BB 116) is a 1938 clarinet-violin-piano trio composed by Béla Bartók. It is based on Hungarian and Romanian dance melodies and has three movements with a combined duration of 17-20 minutes. Bartók wrote the work in response to a letter from violinist Joseph Szigeti, although it was officially commissioned by clarinetist Benny Goodman.

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[edit] History

Szigeti originally wanted Bartók to write a short piece with two movements and a total duration of 6-7 minutes. This was most likely so that a recording of it would be able to fit cleanly on a single gramophone record, with one movement on each side with capacity for approximately four minutes running time.[citation needed] The first version of the work, titled Rhapsody, received its premiere on 9 January 1939 at Carnegie Hall, with Szigeti, Goodman, and pianist Endre Petri performing. Bartók subsequently added a middle movement and changed the work's title to Contrasts. Szigeti, Goodman and Bartók first performed the final, three-movement work at Carnegie Hall on 21 April 1940, and subsequently recorded it for Columbia. Bartók published the work in 1942 and dedicated it to Szigeti and Goodman.

[edit] Structure

The work is in three movements:

  • Verbunkos - Recruiting Dance
  • Pihenő - Relaxation
  • Sebes - Fast Dance

Incorporated into the work are various Hungarian and Romanian dance melodies. The first movement begins with a lively violin pizzicato, after which the clarinet introduces the main theme, which is then varied. This theme is an example of the Hungarian dance and music genre "verbunkos", or recruiting dance. The genre of music was commonly played at military recruitings. The second movement is much more introspective and has a continuously shifting mood without a defined theme. The third is a frenzied dance that begins with a scordatura (G♯-D-A-E♭) violin section, after which the clarinet introduces the main theme. In the middle, there is a slower section in the time signature 3+2+3+2+3/8, after which the pattern of variations on the theme is resumed.

János Kárpáti has discussed the structural aspects of Contrasts in detail.[1] Szigeti recalled that Bartók had told him that the start of Contrasts had partial inspiration from the "Blues" second movement of Maurice Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Piano. F. Bónis has further noted the parallel between a short passage in the same Ravel movement and a passage in the first movement of Contrasts.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kárpáti, János (1981). "Alternative Structures in Bartók's Contrasts". Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae T. 23 (Fasc. 1/4): 201-207. 
  2. ^ Bónis, F. (1963). "Quotations in Bartók's Music. A Contribution to Bartók's Psychology of Composition". Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae T. 5 (Fasc. 1/4): 355-382. 

[edit] Sources

  • Kárpáti, János. Bartok's Chamber Music. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press (1976).

[edit] External links