Album insights
In 1907, Bartók visited the county of Csík in Transylvania, which was then part of the Kingdom of Hungary. Having recently fallen in love with the young violinist Stefi Geyer, to whom he was to dedicate his first violin concerto, he embarked on a two-month journey by train from her home on July 1 to collect folk music. In this region mainly inhabited by ethnic Hungarians known as Székelys, he encountered a vast number of melodies. Three small tunes were played for him in August 1907 by Áron Balog on a peasant flute. These tunes inspired Bartók's "Three Hungarian Folksongs from Csík County," which preserve the simple beauty of the melodies: the first two slow and flexible, the third faster and more even. The second and third songs are elaborated versions of two tunes: "Sír a kis galambon" ("When my little dove cries"), and "Októbernak, októbernak elséjen" ("October, the first of October").
Composed in 1915, the concise three-movement Sonatina has become one of Bartók's most beloved works, particularly in the orchestral version titled "Dances from Transylvania." The five folk melodies used in this piece were transcribed between February 1910 and April 1914 in Transylvania. The first movement, "Bagpipers," is derived from two Romanian bagpipers, and the opening melody, transformed by Bartók, represents a dance called Ardeleana, meaning "From Transylvania" in Romanian. The lively second movement and the subsequent "Bear Dance" were inspired by various musicians’ performances, leading to a lively and captivating composition.
Bartók began work on the "Three Rondos on Slovak Folk Melodies" in 1916, completing them in 1927. Fearing the disruption of World War I on his field studies, Bartók was relieved when he discovered he would not be drafted due to health reasons in November 1914. The melodies for the rondos were collected predominantly in Slovak regions of Northern Hungary between July 1915 and April 1916. The rondos, marked by a popular and straightforward style, deviate from Bartók's usual complexity. Each rondo showcases a unique tonal structure and thematic exploration, reflecting Bartók's experimental phase during this period.