Violin Concerto No.2

When the Hungarian violinist Zoltán Székely asked Bartók to write a concerto for him the composer’s first impulse was to offer him a theme and variations. But Székely wasn’t happy with that idea and insisted on having the full-scale real thing. So, between August 1937 and December 1938, Bartók wrote one of the very few modern violin concertos that can compare in both quality and stature with the great 19th century examples of the form. The work was dedicated to the composer’s “dear friend” and first per­formed by Székely with Willem Mengelberg and the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam on 23 March 1939.

While ostensibly writing a traditional concerto, however, Bartók was also indulging himself in the variations he had wanted to write in the first place. He did this not only in the Andante tranquillo, which is in conventional variation form, but also in the outer movements: variation techniques play a considerable part in the organisation of the Allegro non troppo while the third movement, the Allegro molto, is a sort of variant of the first.

The main theme of the Allegro moderato – an attractively supple melody built mainly out of fourths in characteristic Hungarian syncopations – is presented by the solo violin on its first entry. But even this is a variant, or elaboration, of the basic melodic line plucked by lower strings in association with B major chords on the harp in the few bars of introduction. The second subject, a mysterious twelve-note melody introduced by the soloist in calmo tempo, is related both rhythmically and melodically to the main theme. Its peculiar harmonic personality seems at first to engage the interest of the orchestra, or at least that of the upper strings and woodwind, who offer variants on it. But the majority voice is obviously against it and the exposition ends on a note of derision from the trombones. The central section of the movement is basically a set of variations, although it is not formally set out as such and although it treats more than one theme at a time: the material of the movement is so well integrated that development of one theme implies development of at least one other. The recapitulation is much condensed – presumably to allow for the heroic large-scale cadenza, which begins with an intriguing study in quarter tones, and a coda long enough to be another development.

The theme of the Andante tranquillo is one of Bartók’s most captivating melodic inventions. The introductory bar for harp and strings sounds a little like Mahler but as soon as the soloist gives voice to the melody its Hungarian origin is unmistakable. It also lends itself well to Hungarian-gypsy treatment, as the elaborate violin recitative in the first variation and the virtuoso figuration in the fourth variation both indicate. The fifth variation is almost a scherzo movement in itself, and the sixth – incorporating a pizzicato canon for the orchestral strings – is an interesting example of Bartók’s poetic use of percussion colours.

The Allegro molto resembles the Allegro moderato in many ways. The short introduction, the main theme on the solo violin, the two vigorous subsidiary themes, all are variants of material from the equivalent points of the first movement. The second subject, for the violin quietly accompanied by harp and percussion, is another twelve-note melody. This time there is no violent opposition in the orchestra and it is the soloist who hastens to change the subject, breaking away in an energetic development which recalls some of the variants of the first movement. Bartók’s imaginative resources are apparently inexhaustible here. None of the themes is recapitulated in its original form and they are still being developed in the coda, which incorporates a short cadenza as well as an obviously culminatory version of the main theme.

Long believed to be Bartók’s only Violin Concerto, incidentally, it assumed its “No.2” on the discovery of the amorous concerto he had written for the young violinist Stefi Geyer in 1908 and which remained unpublished and unperformed until after her death in 1956.