Bartók's Hidden Narrative: The Composer’s Recordings of 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs 

Authors

  • Ron Atar Author

Keywords:

Bartók, Bartok, Performance

Abstract

In Bartók’s recordings of his compositions, there is a considerable gap between the written notes and the musical sounds. This is also characteristic of twentieth-century recordings by other composer-performers, like Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Francis Poulenc. However, the gap is particularly significant in Bartók’s renditions. Bartók believed that conventional musical notation was unable to express his exact intentions; hence the advantages of recording over written composition, especially when a composer performs his own work. 

Author Biography

  • Ron Atar

    Ron Atar received his PhD in 2007. He wrote his dissertation, Analysis of Béla Bartók's Performances to Selected Composition, at Bar-Ilan University under the supervision of Prof. Judith Frigyesi. Parts of his PhD dissertation were presented in the framework of international conferences in Budapest and London. He was awarded the British Library Sound Archive’s Edison Fellowship for the years 2008-9. His current research deals with the interpretation of Bartók’s orchestral compositions during the last decades from the perspective of the composer's notation and his written and recorded legacy.

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Published

2025-01-23

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2013)

Section

Articles