Bartok’s major contribution to classical music is generally considered to be his faithful examination/transcription of folk music styles, and this is no more evident than in these pedagogical studies for two violins. Brief sketches, all under two minutes in length, and veering from bucolic to violent, these morsels display a range of technical challenges to their interpreters, and offer an intriguing insight into the transcriptive methods of their author, in particular, and folk music appropriation in general.
They are performed here by sisters Angela and Jennifer Chun, who display a faithful understanding both of Bartok’s musical world and of the sources of his inspiration. They take us on a musical tour through Eastern Europe, with individual pieces based on tunes from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Transylvania and Ukraine, among others, exposing a range of instrumental techniques and melodic inventions – from jerky country-folk-esque dances to more open, modal dirges. There’s a general sense of familiarity to these styles for modern listeners but it was Bartok, through works such as this, that initially brought this music exposure. While their brevity may frustrate intensive listening, there is enough invention and vitality here to inspire further investigations into these trans-cultural snapshots.
Joshua Meggitt
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