Robert L. Johnston
Lesson Plan on Bela Bartok
Aim:
Who was Bela Bartok and why is he one of the more
important music figures of the 20th century?
Instructional Objectives:
At the conclusion of the lesson, students will...
1. ...Have a biographical and nationalistic
understanding of Bela Bartok.
2. ...Have an understanding of his compositional
genres, periods and techniques, including the Fibonacci
series.
3. ...Have an aural recognition of Bartok’s
compositional signatures and periods and an introduction
into the integrated sound of 20th century music written in
traditional genres with use of folk material.
Motivation:
Listen to a short segment of one of the standard
works, such as Concerto for Orchestra, Music for Strings,
Percussion and Celeste or one of the three Piano Concerti.
Development/Procedures:
I. A biographical overview with historical
correlations
A. 1881-1945, born in Hungary, died in America.
B. Bartok was born within a year of Igor
Stravinsky. At that time, America was seeing the end of
the Indian Wars, only five years removed from the battle of
the Little Big Horn and less than twenty years removed from
the end of the Civil War. His birth is contemporary with
Southern Reconstruction.
C. Initially taught piano by his mother which led
to formal studies in Budapest. Professional career as a
pianist, composer, editor and collector of southeastern
European folk music. Many works were for or included an
important piano part.
D. Lived in Europe until the fascism of Adolph
Hitler and Benito Mussolini forced him to come to the
United States in 1940.
E. Died in 1945. Kept an apartment on the north
side of W57th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. There is
a plaque commorating his residency on the building.
F. Other events seen in Bartok’s lifetime
included the Industrial Revolution, the advent of the
airplane, WWI and the eventual downfall of the European
monarchies and social structures, the Russian Revolution,
and the rise of fascism culminating with the end of WWII in
the year of his death.
II.
Compositional life
A. Three major periods and influences
1. Early Bartok, beginning of compositional
life-1920’s
a. Diverse influences including
impressionism (Debussy), German Romanticism (R. Strauss and
Liszt) and folk music. Although these composers, as well
as Igor Stravinsky and his utilization of folk music in his
compositions, were influences, Bartok did not compose in
any particular style, such as impressionism, neo-classicism
or serialism (twelve-tone).
b. An example from this period would be
the
String Quartet No. 1, ca. 1908. This work features
traditional compositional techniques such as ternary (ABA’)
and sonata-allegro form, double cannon, interval expansion,
fugato, and use of ostinato.
***Listening Example String Quartet No. 1***
2. Advanced period, 1920’s-late 1930’s
a. Obscure tonal centers. This is
defined as the establishment of temporary tonal centers
rather than the use of traditional, functional harmony.
This was accomplished through use of pentatonic and modal
melodies. Many of these melodies were taken from folk
music and emphasized the tritone.
b. Asymmetrical rhythms, time
signatures and rhythmic groupings, i.e. - measures in 5, 7,
and 9 or asymmetrical groupings such as 3+2+3 or 1+3+1+3.
Many of these are again, derived from folk music,
particularly folk dances.
c. More advanced compositional
techniques, particularly for string players, including
ponticello (arco and pizzicato), glissandi (arco and
pizzicato), col legno, multiple stops and snap, or what has
come to be called
Bartok pizzicato.
d. An example from this period would be
the
String Quartet No. 4, 1928, which features many of the
techniques described above. The five-movement work is in
arch form with the middle movement being in ternary form.
***Listening Example, Music for Strings, Percussion and
Celeste***
II. Allegro, note driving rhythm, virtuosic piano
3. Late Bartok, late 1930’s-death
a. Characterized by simpler, more tonal
style with more listener friendly forms and melodies. It
is this body of work that includes the Concerto for
Orchestra, commissioned by the Boston Symphony and Sergei
Koussevitsky, a champion of contemporary music. Bartok was
near destitute and in poor health when Koussevitsky helped
revive his career with this com
mission.
b. An example from this period would be
the
Concerto for Orchestra, 1943. This work heavily features
five note scales, the tritone and folk-influenced dance
sections. There is also a parody of the Symphony No. 7,
“Leningrad,” by Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovitch.
***Listening Example, Concerto for Orchestra, II. Giuoco
delle coppie***
Note similarities between this and “older” music
B. Other influences and techniques
1. Folk music. Bartok began heavy study of
southeastern, Hungarian and Balkan folk music in 1905 with
his fellow Hungarian composer and contemporary, Zoltan
Kodaly. Both composers achieved a synthesis of eastern and
western styles and idioms.
2. Fibonacci series. Mathematical series
Bartok used to gauge the climaxes of his works, which
almost always occurred two-thirds of the way through the
work. The series starts with 1 and 2, which are added
together to get 3. 3 is added to 2 to get 5 and so on.
Therefore the series would be utilized to determine the
number of measures in the work and determine the two-thirds
point. (1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, etc.).
3. His own pianistic skills led him, in part
to write the virtuosic solo piano parts to the three piano
concerti.
C. General overview of works
1. Music for piano including the Mikrokosmos
(153 graded pieces for piano), six string quartets, three
piano concertos, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste,
Concerto for Two Pianos and Two Percussionists, Concerto
for Orchestra, The Viola Concerto and numerous suites for
different ensembles, including the Roumanian Folk Dances.
Materials of Instruction:
Various compact disc recording, easily cueable to
specific points in the work being studied.
Summary:
Bela Bartok, an important 20th century composer was
instrumental due to his use of folk music synthesized with
modern compositional techniques. He ranks as one of the
most important twentieth century composers along with Igor
Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg and Duke Ellington.
Assignment:
Listen to or borrow Bartok’s String Quartet No. 4,
noting the compositional techniques and folk influences as
relate to melody and rhythm.
Bibliography:
Rosenstiel, Leonie (General Editor), et al., Shirmer
History of Music. New York: 1982.
974 pp..
Gammond, Peter. The Harmony Illustrated Encyclopedia of
Classical Music. New York: 1988. 224 pp..
Miller, Hugh M..
pp..
History of Music.
New York: 1972.
247
Apel, Willi and Daniel, Ralph T.. The Harvard Brief
Dictionary of Music. New York: 1960. 341 pp..
Bela Bartok, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste and
Concerto for Orchestra from a 1988 London Records recording
featuring Charles Dutoit and the Orchestre symphonique de
Montreal.
Bela Bartok, Piano Concerto No. 3 from a 1990 Phillips
Classics recording featuring Stephen Bishop Kovacevich with
the London Symphony orchestra under the direction of Sir
Colin Davis (orig. recorded 1975).
Robert L. Johnston