Romanian Folk Dances

Romanian Folk Dances (Hungarian: Román népi táncok), Sz. 56, BB 68 is a suite of six short piano pieces composed by Béla Bartók in 1915. He later orchestrated it for small ensemble in 1917 as Sz. 68, BB 76.

It is based on seven Romanian tunes from Transylvania, originally played on fiddle or shepherd's flute. The original name for the piece was titled Romanian Folk Dances from Hungary (Magyarországi román népi táncok) but was later changed by Bartók when Romania annexed Transylvania in 1918-1920.^[1] It is nowadays available in the 1971 edition which is written with key signatures although Bartók rarely ever wrote key signatures.^[2]

Structure

This set of dances consists of six movements and, according to the composer, it should take four minutes and three seconds to perform, but most professional pianists take up to five minutes. The list of the movements is as follows. The original Hungarian title will be in the first place, the most commonly known title in Romanian will be in the second place and the translation into English will be in parentheses:

	Second, fifth, and sixth Romanian Folk Dances Performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra
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• I. Bot tánc / Jocul cu bâtă (Stick Dance)
• II. Brâul (Sash Dance)
• III. Topogó / Pe loc (In One Spot)
• IV. Bucsumí tánc / Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum)
• V. Román polka / Poarga Românească (Romanian Polka)
• VI. Aprózó / Mărunțel (Fast Dance)^[3][4]

The melody of the first movement, according to Bartók, came from Mezőszabad (present-day Voiniceni) village that was part of Mezőcsávás (present-day Ceuașu de Câmpie) commune which was located in the Maros-Torda administrative county within Transylvania, and he first heard it when two gypsy violinists were playing it.^[5] The second movement is a typical dance from Romania called Brâul, for which traditionally a sash or a waistband was used. This melody came from Egres (present-day Igriș), in the Banat region.^[1] The third dance comes also from Egres (Igriș), but its theme is much darker and its melody recreates Middle Eastern instruments, such as the flute.^[6] The fourth dance came from Bucsony (present-day Bucium), in the district of Torda-Aranyos (today Alba county in Romania).^[7] The fifth dance is an old Romanian dance similar to the Polka and comes from Belényes (present-day Beiuş, in Bihor county), near the border between Hungary and Romania.^[8] The sixth and last dance is formed by two different melodies: the first one comes from Belényes (present-day Beiuș) and the second one comes from the then named Nyagra (present-day Neagra) village within the Palotailva (present-day Lunca Bradului) commune.^[9] Both on the orchestral version and on the original piano version, these two dances are performed without a discernible pause, the reason for which is anyone's guess.^[10]

Analysis

All of the movements are composed according to the rules of the musical modes, which state that all melodies are to be written according to a specific order of tones and semitones.

Other arrangements

Aside from the version Bartók wrote for a small orchestral ensemble, some of Bartók's friends wrote adaptations or transcriptions of this piece for several different ensembles. The following list shows some of the most published of them:

• Arthur Willner's version for string orchestra. It is a mere transcription with no modification on the original score other than appropriately orchestrating the piece for a string orchestra with violin I, violin II, viola, cello and double bass.
• Zoltán Székely's version for violin and piano. This is not just a transcription, but also an arrangement and adaptation of the piece for these two instruments, especially from the point of view of the violinist. Therefore, some of the slight adjustments Székely made on the original score were to transpose some of the songs: the second movement was transposed from D minor to F-sharp minor, the third from B minor to D minor and the fourth from A major to C major. He also repeated some sections, added bars and used several techniques from the violin such as artificial harmonics, double stops, and Sautillé.^[7]

Notable recordings

Notable recordings of this composition include:

Notable recordings of the arrangement by Zoltán Székely include:

See also

• Two Romanian Folk Dances
• Culture of Romania
• Béla Bartók
• List of compositions by Béla Bartók
• Transylvania

References

Further reading

• Hinson, Maurice. Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56, for the piano (Alfred Masterwork Edition). Alfred Publishing. ISBN 978-0-88284-864-8. 
• Kroo, Gyorgy. Guide to Bartok. Branden Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-8283-1559-3. 
• Suchoff, Benjamin (1993). Béla Bartók essays. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-6108-2. 
• Antokoletz, Elliott; Fischer, Victoria; Suchoff, Benjamin (2000). Bartók perspectives: man, composer, and ethnomusicologist. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512562-7. 
• Yeomans, David (1988). Bartók for piano. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-21383-9. 

External links

• Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 68: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project