Béla BARTÓK (1881-1945)
Complete works for violin - Vol.2
Sonata for violin Sz117 [29:38]
44 Duos for two violins (Books 1-4)
Sz98* [50:10]
Antal Zalai (violin); Valery Oistrakh (violin)*
rec. Westverkerk, Schiedam, The Netherlands, 30 November-1 December 2011
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9270 [80:08]
The creative urge is so powerful that even when faced with imminent
death, when most ordinary people would be arranging their affairs, seeing
loved ones for the last time, or having a last fabulous holiday or, at the
very least, taking it easy, some artists feel driven to defy death with some
final creative utterances, working right up to the end.
There are many examples of this and this disc contains a major one
in the shape of Bartók’s Sonata for solo violin Sz117 an
estimable four movement work lasting almost half an hour. Written in early
1944 for the then rising star Yehudi Menuhin and premièred when the
composer had less than a year to live, it is hugely complex and challenging.
Though there are no overt references to the folk music that Bartók
had been collecting for so much of his life. That said, there are
similarities in the construction of the melodies to Dalmatian and
Serbo-Croatian folksongs which he had been editing for several years. This
is music that repays repeated listening. Brace yourself for the very first
hearing being a relatively difficult one for the ‘uninitiated’.
At first it sounds stark and extremely serious in nature but after a while
it reveals itself as extremely melodic and very beautiful. Its seeming
complexity gives way to gorgeous sonorities that cancel out those first
bleak impressions. One sure reason for the work’s success is the close
cooperation that there was between the composer and its dedicatee. Menuhin
made many suggestions which helped make it more “playable”.
After a massive chaconne-style movement recalling Bach, whose solo sonatas
and partitas Bartók clearly had in mind, there follows a fugue-like
one. Then comes a mellower sounding melodia and a final folksy presto
completes the sonata. Malcolm MacDonald in his pithy booklet notes ably
describes the individual movements. In the end the more often you hear it
the more you will respond to its wonderful musical message that life is not
over until the fat lady has sung, taken her bow and the curtain has come
down.
The rest of this amply filled disc comprises Bartók’s
44 Duos for two violins Sz98. Here we are firmly back in familiar
territory with music that shows his endless fascination with folk roots. The
titles given to almost every one show what a wealth of material he had
collected. These Duos perform a unique role in ensuring that these melodies
did not disappear with the folk musicians whose traditions often die along
with them. With this work the composer demonstrates his amazing ability to
express so much in such short pieces. Each of them is a brilliant tiny
diamond that glitters in a wondrously inventive way. Any listener who has
travelled to Hungary, Romania and Central and Eastern Europe in general and
admires its rich folk heritage that is so often played out in restaurants
from Prague to Istanbul will recognise the sound-world of which these duos
form part. Thanks to Bartók’s brilliance you can imagine a folk
group of two violins, viola, double bass and cimbalom playing these pieces
with the two violins here able to capture those harmonically fascinating
sounds. MacDonald again explains the details of the work which he states is
surely the cornerstone of the duo violin repertoire. It’s not as if
there is an over-supply. It’s worth adding that the Duos were composed
at the behest of Erich Dorflein a music teacher who requested a work to
demonstrate his new method of teaching the violin. Graded in terms of
complexity MacDonald further explains that they were not intended by
Bartók to be played as a whole set but suggested that they be
arranged in groups of six or so. That said, they are so wonderfully melodic
that hearing them all is not at all taxing. It’s as rewarding as
hearing only a few at a time. The origins of the melodies include many
cultures: Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Ruthenian, Serbian, Wallachian,
Ukrainian and Arab. They include songs and dances for almost every festive
occasion from wedding and harvest songs to children’s games and
lullabies. Each and every one shows the composer’s lifelong admiration
for the folk music of the people and his determination to preserve its
heritage and use it in pursuit of a ‘solution to the harmonic crisis
that had plagued 20th century music’ as MacDonald puts it.
While I am writing these words I am listening to track 40 which is duo no.36
Szól a duda (bagpipes) and smiling at Bartók’s
facility in representing something as unique as bagpipes on two violins in
an entirely convincing way. These duos are superb in the enjoyment they give
on each listening. I could never tire of hearing them.
The violinists on this disc have the music in their veins. Antal
Zalai is Hungarian and Valery Oistrakh is the latest in a line of brilliant
violinists from that illustrious family with David his grandfather and Igor
his father. Zalai performs the Sonata with the right degree of reverence and
skill to produce a wonderful performance and the two give a simply dazzling
account of the duos.
Once again Brilliant Classics have done the listening public a great
service in allowing an ever wider audience to get to know less often
performed repertoire at value for money prices. They are to be
congratulated.
Steve Arloff
These duos are superb in the enjoyment they give.