Fifteen Hungarian Peasant Songs, Sz. 71, BB 79 is a collection of short folk melodies arranged for piano by Hungarian 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...

. It was composed between 1914 and 1918

Structure

This collection of pieces consists of fifteen movements, and some of them are put into groups. A typical performance of this work should last between thirteen and fifteen minutes. The movement list is as follows:

• Four Old Tunes
  • I. Rubato
  • II. Andante - Poco sostenuto - Più andante (Tempo I) - Poco sostenuto - Più andante
  • III. Poco rubato - Sostenuto
  • IV. Andante
• V. Scherzo. Andante - Sostenuto, poco rubato - Tempo I
• VI. Ballad (Theme with variations). Andante - Più andante - Poco adagio - Più andante - Maestoso
• Old Dance Tunes
  • VII. Allegro
  • VIII. Allegretto
  • IX. Allegretto
  • X. L'istesso tempo
  • XI. Assai moderato
  • XII. Allegretto
  • XIII. Poco più vivo - Allegretto
  • XIV. Allegro
  • XV. Allegro - Più vivo - Poco più meno vivo

Some critics claim Bartók intended the work to be split into two parts: the first one would include the first six movements, and the second one would include the following nine movements. However, such division is not present in the original score.

Notable recordings

Notable recordings of this composition include:

Piano Solo	Record Company	Year of Recording	Format
András Schiff András Schiff András Schiff is a Hungarian-born British classical pianist, who has won a number of awards including the Grammy and made numerous recordings.- Biography :...	Denon Records Denon Records Denon Records was a Japanese record label owned by Denon, distributed by A&M Records from 1990 through 1992. This was a reissue program that included 390 jazz and classical music titles that were issued on compact disc.-Artists:*Eliane Elias*Peter Erskine...  / Brilliant Classics	1980	CD

External links