44 Duos for Two Violins
Encyclopedia
44 Duos for Two Violins, Sz. 98, BB 104 is a series of duets composed in 1931 by Hungarian
composer Béla Bartók
.
countries, but harmonic and rhythmic freedom is evident throughout the whole piece.
In 1936, Béla arranged 6 of these duos for piano, under the title Petite Suite
.
Dissonant harmonies are present throughout the whole piece, but it is not until the eleventh piece that polytonality
is introduced. This work is specially well-known for its rhythm, its dissonances, its canons and inversions, and its variety in using the whole gamut of the violin.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
composer Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
.
Composition
Béla Bartók did not intend this work to be played in performances, but rather to be useful as a work for young students. The work was commissioned by Erich Dorfein, a German violinist and teacher, for he asked if Béla would arrange some of the pieces from the For Children series. He composed other works in this period that were meant to be pedagogical, such as Mikrokosmos. This intention for educative works was exploited by the fact that he was a teacher himself, then he chose to write works for his pupils to play. Nevertheless, all songs and dances included in this series are based on folk music from many Eastern EuropeEastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
countries, but harmonic and rhythmic freedom is evident throughout the whole piece.
In 1936, Béla arranged 6 of these duos for piano, under the title Petite Suite
Petite Suite (Bartók)
Petite Suite, Sz. 105, BB 113 is a reduction for piano of six of Bartók's well-known 44 Duos for Two Violins, arranged by the composer in 1936.- Structure :...
.
Structure
This work is divided in four books, and the series of pieces advances in difficulty. The first and the second book should suit a student with a basic level, while the third book would be for an intermediate level, and the fourth book for an advanced level.
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Dissonant harmonies are present throughout the whole piece, but it is not until the eleventh piece that polytonality
Polytonality
The musical use of more than one key simultaneously is polytonality . Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time...
is introduced. This work is specially well-known for its rhythm, its dissonances, its canons and inversions, and its variety in using the whole gamut of the violin.