Bela Bartok (20th Century Composers) (20th Century Composers)

This biography covers the full range of the work of B??la Bart??k (1881-1945), from his early explorations of Hungarian folklore to his Third Piano Concerto, composed on his deathbed in the United States. Illustrated throughout with contemporary photographs of people and events, the book brings a reclusive creator strikingly to life and explores inextricable links between Bart??k's life, his music, and the turbulence of two world wars.


B??la Bart??k is part of Phaidon s successful 20th Century Composers series, which presents authoritative and engaging biographies of the great creative musicians of our time, augmented by striking visual material and essential reference information. This edition of the book features a whimsical new cover by Jean-Jacques Semp??, the world-renowned illustrator and cartoonist.

The 19th century saw the flowering of modern nationalism as the various peoples of Europe who had previously been culturally silent began to make themselves heard. Along with the invigorating effects on art, nationalism also led to provincialism and occasional bigotry. Examining Bartók, author Kenneth Chalmers uncovers an intellectual whose research into folk music was genuinely nationalistic and, at the same time, broad-minded. Bartok's research covered not just Hungarian sources; it also reached out to other European ethnic groups--even as far as North Africa. Just as Bartok's nationalism managed to be cosmopolitan, his compositions served as a contemporary idiom that escaped the sterile orthodoxy of serialism. Chalmers's portrait of this proud and withdrawn man captures his single-minded commitment to his music and explains why Bartok's works are among the most accessible contemporary scores to enter the repertory after WWII.