Throughout
history, nationalism has affected the music of many composers. Defined as
“devotion and loyalty to one’s own country,” nationalism takes on many guises
in music. While some composers use folk songs from their native lands, some may
write music to reflect the visual images of their homeland. This month, Clef
Notes travels to different areas across the globe, examining how composers use
nationalism in their music. This week, we begin with Hungary.
Bela
Bartok (1881–1945) is known as a talented pianist, composer, teacher, and one
of the first practicing ethnomusicologists. He grew up in a musical family,
studying piano and composition at the Hungarian Royal Academy of Music in
Budapest where he later returned to teach. He had a passion for the folk music
of Hungary, Romania, and the surrounding areas, and spent much of his time
collecting peasant songs and dances. Many of these were edited and made into
collections. Bartok also arranged folk tunes and wrote some of his own works
based on these traditional tunes.
Staccato and Legato from Mikrokosmos is just one of many examples
of a piece Bartok wrote that combines folk peasant music of the region with
classical tradition. It contains qualities attributed to J.S. Bach, but also a
melody that mirrors ideas used in Hungarian songs.
Bartok
spent part of his life working at the Academy of Sciences as an
ethnomusicologist. There, he worked alongside another prominent Hungarian
musician, Zoltan Kodaly. We will learn more about him next time!
