Touch 2022

7 Pieces from Mikrokosmos
No. 1: Bulgarian Rhythm
No. 3: Perpetuum Mobile
No. 5: New Hungarian Folk Song
No. 7: Ostinato
Composed by: Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Performers:
Hazel Pak
Wang Yuchen

Programme notes:
Béla Bartók was a Hungarian composer and a virtuoso pianist. His early works revealed the influence of Liszt, Brahms and Strauss, but most of his compositional inspiration came from exploring Hungarian and Romanian folk music. Bartók’s Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107, BB 105, is a collection of 153 progressive solo piano pieces written between 1926 and 1939 ranging in difficulty from beginner to advanced levels. It is published in six volumes, and is considered to be an important work in the pedagogic piano repertoire. In 1940, before emigrating to the United States, Bartók decided to arrange seven pieces from Mikrokosmos for two pianos so that he could perform the pieces with his concert-pianist wife, Ditta Pásztory. He retained the original form and substance of these seven pieces, but enriched their textures and contrapuntal interplay.

No. 1, Bulgarian Rhythm, is inspired by the bracing, uneven dance meters in Balkan folk dance. It is a lively piece with an ostinato (repetitive) bass that underpins a Hungarian folk tune with an exotic character.

This is followed by no. 3, Perpetuum Mobile (Perpetual Motion), which features a driving rhythm. The music has a rather nervous and percussive character. The piece is written loosely in rondo form, and the music grows slightly more intense towards the middle sections.

No. 5, New Hungarian Folksong, is an arrangement of a native song from the Southwestern Somogy region, on the Croatian border. This moderately paced work features a two-verse pentatonic melody. It opens with a simple melody with chordal accompaniment. As the music progresses, the rhythm and texture becomes more complex, and thus the music becomes more intense and exciting towards the end.

The finale to this set of 7 is titled Ostinato. As the title suggests, it opens with a series of repeated chords which provides the rhythmic drive that underpins an oriental melody. This piece is written loosely in cyclic form, whereby variations of essential motifs featured in the opening are later presented at different registers of the piano throughout the piece. As a rhythmic and thrilling work, Ostinato gives a flamboyant finish to this set of Seven Pieces from Mikrokosmos.

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