Rhapsody No.1 for violin and piano

In 1928, in return for the support they had given him in the past, Bartók indulged two violinist friends by dedicating a Rhapsody to each of them – the first to Joseph Szigeti, who gave the first performance with the composer at the piano in Budapest in 1929, the second to Zoltán Székely. Like the early Rhapsody Op.1 they are both based on the lassú-friss (slow-quick) form associated with the verbunkos and adopted by Liszt in the second of his Hungarian Rhapsodies.

Of the two, the First Rhapsody is probably the more entertaining. It is divided into two distinct parts, the first based on a characteristic Rumanian verbunkos tune in heavy dotted rhythms and, in the middle section a more intimate Hungarian melody which immediately inspires a beautifully embellished variation. The Friss section begins with a melody which, experts assure us, is a characteristic Romanian dance from the Temes region. The same region is the source also of the next theme which fluctuates playfully in tempo and involves the violinist in a variety of folk-fiddle techniques. Bartók introduces two more tunes and still more folk-instrumental sounds as the dance whirls on – either to a recall of the opening verbunkos tune and a cadenza or, according to the version chosen by the performers, a more conventionally brilliant ending.

Bartok: rhapsody no.1

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Rhapsody No.1 for violin and piano

Lassú: moderato

Friss: allegretto moderato - allegro molto

Bartók was always an admirer of Liszt, even when he couldn’t approve of the source of the melodies he chose for his Hungarian Rhapsodies. They were not true folksong, Bartok would point out, but an amalgam of peasant music with city and gypsy styles. Bartok’s own Rhapsody, Op.1, for piano and orchestra, a Hungarian rhapsody in all but name, was an early tribute to Liszt; the two violin Rhapsodies written 24 years later are another. They are a tribute also to Zoltán Kodály, who had recently demonstrated in Háry János and the Dances of Marosszék that instrumental folk music and even the popular verbunkos (which had originated in the 18th century as a recruiting dance) were just as valid sources of inspiration for a conscientious Hungarian composer as the true Magyar folksong Bartók had so painstakingly collected and so fruitfully absorbed in the period since the Rhapsody, Op.1.

After a year’s sustained hard work on the Third and Fourth String Quartets, Bartók was ready towards the end of 1928 to indulge two of his favourite violinists in two frankly popular virtuoso pieces. Joseph Szigeti and Zoltán Székely had both made arrangements of Bartók piano works and both were now rewarded with the dedication of a Rhapsody for violin and piano (or violin and orchestra: the two versions were written more or less simultaneously).

Like the Rhapsody, Op.1, they are based on the lassú-friss (slow-quick) form associated with the verbunkos and adopted by Liszt in the second of his Hungarian Rhapsodies. Of the two, the First Rhapsody (the one dedicated to Szigeti) is probably the more entertaining. It is divided into two distinct parts, the first based on a characteristic Rumanian verbunkos tune in heavy dotted rhythms and, in the middle section a more intimate Hungarian melody which immediately inspires a beautifully embellished variation. The Friss section begins with a melody remarkably similar to the Shaker song used by Copland in Appalachian Spring. Experts assure us, however, that it is a characteristic Romanian dance from the Temes region, the source also of the next theme which fluctuates playfully in tempo and involves the violinist in a variety of folk-fiddle techniques. Bartók introduces two more tunes and still more folk-instrumental sounds as the dance whirls on - either to a recall of the opening verbunkos tune and a cadenza or, according to the version chosen by the performers, a more conventionally brilliant ending.