0301 Bartok&Balkans Program Notes
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Program Notes – Joana Genova & Friends, Bartók and the Balkans PROGRAM NOTES Béla Bartók is considered one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. He was one of the founders of the field of ethnomusicology, the study and ethnography of folk music. Although he made his living mainly as a pianist and teacher, he is now recognized primarily for his compositions and his ethnological work. During his lifetime Bartók collected and classified more than 14,000 folk melodies of Hungarian, Slovak, Rumanian, Croatian, Turkish, Bulgarian, and North African origin. Much of his original work, done with his friend and colleague Zoltán Kodály, took place in the years preceding World War I. After the war, the changing political map of Eastern Europe made it increasingly difficult to travel to the various ethnic regions that they found so rich in folk heritage. In their collection process, they first jotted down melodies by hand, but later began to use Edison cylinders to record songs and dances. Bartók was particularly drawn to the Rumanian folk traditions because he felt that the Rumanian groups had been more isolated from outside influences and were therefore more authentic. He also attracted the variety and colors of instruments used in the Rumanian music– violins, peasant flutes (panpipes), guitar, and bagpipes. The outbreak of war restricted collecting, but it was during this time that Bartók formalized various settings of folk songs and dances for the piano. Román nepi táncok, a set of six Rumanian dances, was written in 1915, arranged for violin and piano the next year, and for salon orchestra in 1917. The material had been collected in 1910 and 1912 among the Rumanians living in areas of what was then Hungary. The first dance, Dance with Sticks or a game played with a stick is from the Maros-Torda region. It is merry and energetic with a gaily syncopated melody. Bartók reported that it was played to him by two Rumanian Gypsy violinists from Màramaros. The second dance Bràul involves the use of a waistband worn by men or women. It is gay and quick. The lovely third dance, in which the violin imitates the sound of a rustic flute, while the piano acts as a drone, translates roughly into ‘on the spot’, undoubtedly a dance in which participants do not move from a certain location. The Hornpipe Dance from Buscum is graceful, with a haunting melody. Next is a Rumanian Polka from Bihar. Poarca is a game played by the country children. Finally, the last movement is made up of two fast dances using very small steps and movements. Bartók’s six String Quartets are now looked upon as worthy successors to the Quartets of Beethoven. They were composed throughout his career, from an unpublished early work dating from 1899 and not part of the Six, to the Sixth quartet composed in 1939. The Second Quartet was written over an unusually long period of time for Bartók; from 1915 to 1917. However the date ascribed to the work by the composer can be treated with some latitude. Bartók was living in Rakoskeresztur, Hungary, during this time and the hardships of the war years hung heavily on him. He was compelled to interrupt his work on the Second String Quartet and several other compositions during this period. String Quartet No. 2 was first performed on March 3, 1918 by the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet 1 Program Notes – Joana Genova & Friends, Bartók and the Balkans and was dedicated to them. The violin melody of the first movement is very similar to the opening melody of the Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 written several years later. The principle element of this movement is contained in the dynamic exposition of the first two bars. This dynamism, a key component of Bartók's technique, is intensified and then recapitulated in a calmer, more modified melodic line that still retains its initial tension. In the second movement, the Rondo and Theme variations are united so that the Rondo is presented as a series of variations, each recapitulation taking place on a higher plane. The drum like note repetitions of this movement as well as the theme's melodic pattern recall Arab folk music. In the third movement, we hear for the first time the Eastern European folk-lament rhythms that so characterize Bartók's later work. The 2nd string quartet is a most expressive, truly romantic work, intense in feeling, and it remains one of the most beautiful pieces Bartók has ever written. Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin studied for two years at the State Academy of Music majoring in Piano under Ivan Torchanov and Music Theory under Professor Dobri Hristov, Professor Pavel Stefanov and Professor Nikola Atanassov (1923-25). He graduated from the State Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Vienna in 1929 as a student of the vocal pedagogue T. Lierhammer. Concurrently he studied composition with Y. Marx. After his graduation he taught Singing at the State Academy of Music (1929-36) and assisted Professor Lierhammer in Vienna. In 1938 he returned to Bulgaria and in 1940 he joined the staff of the State Academy of Music as a lecturer. He became full professor (1944), was elected Rector (1948-54) and Dean of the Opera Studies Faculty (1960-74). He worked as a vocal pedagogue at the Conservatories of Peking, Tientsin and Shanghai (1955-58). He composed two operettas; cantatas; chamber music; 50 solo songs; songs for mixed, equal voices and traditional music choir, etc. In the 1940s and 1950s he wrote his best chamber-instrumental works including his Pastoral for flute and piano, Sevdana for violin and piano (which later was transcribed for other instruments), as well as the songs The Blue-eyed Girl, the cycle Bachelor Songs, etc. They are among the emblematic musical-poetical repertoire for the Bulgarian performers Professor Petar Christoskov is one of the most prominent, outstanding and artistically manifested Bulgarian performers, also known for his competent, demanding and goal-oriented teaching. He was born in Sofia in 1917 and started studying violin since early childhood. He graduated from the State Academy of music as a student of the renowned Bulgarian violinist Sasha Popov. Between 1940 and 1943 Christoskov specialized in violin and chamber music at the Berlin Academy of Music with Gustav Havemann and Hans Malke and was an active performer in Germany and Austria. After his return to Bulgaria, Christoskov became concertmaster of the Sofia Philharmonic and started teaching at the State Academy of Music in 1945. A brilliant solo violinist with an impressive concert career, in 1950 the 33-year old virtuoso unexpectedly discovered his indisputable talent for composing. He began composing small format, well- structured, ingenious etudes for violin, filled with primal energy and instrumental glamour. Gradually his first cycle of 12 caprices was completed and published in 1953. Written in typically Bulgarian national intonation and rhythm, varied in character and highly accessible, the caprices rapidly gained popularity. They are often performed at competition and concerts by every young generation of Bulgarian violinists. 2 Program Notes – Joana Genova & Friends, Bartók and the Balkans Rachenitza is a dance in a 7/16 rhythm. Each dancer has its own combination of figures, movements and the performers compete against each other by inventing more complicated steps, speeding up the tempo, and dancing as long as they can. When exhausted, the dancers slow down. After a brief rest they suddenly begin dancing with even greater speed. Short Toccata is a virtuosic piece featuring fast-moving, lightly fingered passages showing off the dexterity of the performer's fingers. Pancho Vladigerov is arguably the most influential Bulgarian composer of all time. He was one of the first to successfully combine idioms of Bulgarian folk music and the West European art music tradition. Part of the so-called second generation of Bulgarian composers, he was among the founding members of the Bulgarian Contemporary Music Society and marked the beginning of a number of genres in Bulgarian music, including the violin sonata and the piano trio. In 1912 Vladigerov and his twin brother, the violinist Luben Vladigerov, were enrolled at the Staatliche Akademische Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. After his graduation in 1920 Vladigerov became music director at Deutsches Theater and worked with the famous director Max Reinhardt. In 1932 he decided to return to Sofia where he was appointed professor in Piano, Chamber Music and Composition at the State Academy of Music, which is now named after him. Vladigerov composed in a variety of genres including an opera, ballet, symphonic music, five piano concertos, two violin concertos, chamber music including string quartet, trio (violin, cello and piano), works and transcriptions for violin and piano and numerous opuses for solo piano, folk song concert arrangements for voice and piano/orchestra, songs for voice and piano and many others. Shumen Miniatures, Opus 29 The cycle Shumen Miniatures (1934), was inspired by the birth of Vladigerov’s son, Alexander. Shumen is the name of the town in which Vladigerov and his brother Luben spent their childhood. The dedication in French, A mon chere enfant Sachi, and the choice of six pieces suggests some influence of Debussy’s Children’s Corner. The resemblance is only superficial, though, since Vladigerov’s miniatures possess a unique national Bulgarian flavor. Written in only two weeks, the six pieces form a beautiful collection of children’s miniatures. Each piece has its own charm and character, united by simplicity of form and similar musical devices. Song is influenced by non-measured Bulgarian folk songs and bears some characteristics of improvisation. Humoresque is lively and bright in character but also elegant and lyrical.