bartók program notes:

sonata for two pianos and percussion (1937)

In January 1937, Paul Sacher and the Basel Chamber orchestra gave the première performance of Bartók´s Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta. Its success led to the commission, by May Sacher, of a piece for unspecified chamber ensemble, which Bartók fulfilled with this unusual quartet made up of two pianists and two percussionists. The musical role of percussion instruments had expanded greatly in the early twentieth century, providing modern composers both a source for new timbres and a connection to the musical traditions of Africa and, especially in the case of Bartók, the Far East. The use of cymbals, tam-tam, triangles and xylophone in this work are suggestive of Balinese gamelan, helping to create an exotic atmosphere. Bartók wrote:

These two percussion parts are fully equal in rank to one of the piano parts. The timbre of the percussion instruments has various roles: in many cases it only colors the piano tone, in others it enhances the more important accents; occasionally the percussion instruments introduce contrapuntal motives against the piano parts, and the timpani and xylophone frequently play themes even as solos. (Béla Bartók, Essays)

The première was given in January of 1938. Bartók and his wife, Ditta Pásztory, played the piano parts with percussionists Fritz Schiesser and Philipp Rühlig. After the performance, Bartók remarked that "the whole thing sounds quite unusual, but the Basel people like it anyway, and it had a tremendous success."

When preparing the piece, Bartók worried about the difficulty of the music, which requires great precision from the performers. Following the example set by his first two piano concertos (1926 and 1931), Bartók writes for the piano in a percussive style, rather than the lyrical approach typical of the romantic era. The first movement begins mysteriously, with convoluted counterpoint punctuated by sudden shimmering sonorities. The introduction builds up to the more energetic, main body of the movement, which centers on the pianos. The second, slow movement evokes the "night music" style of Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, and Out of Doors (1926). Bartók weaves a darkly sinuous texture around a repeating five-note motive, suggesting the murky ambiguity of a country night. The final movement is an ebullient folk dance, with a high-spirited quality far removed from the grinding conflict of the opening movement. The xylophone first presents the rondo theme, which returns in various, more complex guises throughout the movement. Ultimately, all accumulated tensions unexpectedly evaporate, leaving in their place a peaceful C major chord, colored by cymbals and snare drum, as the final gesture in this work

contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano (1938)

The initial idea for a clarinet-violin duo with piano accompaniment was suggested to Bartók by Hungarian violinist Jósef Szigeti, who was then living in the United States. In August of 1938, Szigeti arranged for the official commission (that is, the money), to come from clarinetist Benny Goodman. Their correspondence suggests that Goodman and Szigeti were expecting a piece that was rather different than the final result, one that was shorter with a more flashy, concertante character. "If possible", Szigeti wrote, "the composition should consist of two independent parts (with the possibility of playing them separately - like the First Rhapsody for violin) and, of course, we hope that it will also contain brilliant clarinet and violin cadenzas." Furthermore, it was desirable that each movement fit on one side of a 78 RPM record - a duration of three minutes.

At first, Bartók was unenthusiastic about writing for a "jazz" clarinetist, but listening to recordings of Goodman's trio seems to have won him over. By the end of September, Bartók had composed three movements that ran approximately seventeen minutes. In deference to the commission, he sent only the first and last movements to Goodman for the première, as Rhapsody - Two Dances, at Carnegie Hall in 1939. Only later that year did Bartók reveal the third movement. The complete, three-movement version was recorded by Goodman, Szigeti, and Bartók in 1940 with the title Contrasts.

Musical contrasts are generated between the instrumental timbres, changing moods and tempos, and a gamut of stylistic influences including Hungarian folk music, Romanian dance melodies, Bulgarian and Greek meters, jazz and blues. The first movement, Verbunkos, is based on the rhythm of a Hungarian recruiting dance. (Eventually, the Austro-Hungarian army found conscription to be a more effective recruitment tool.) It opens with pizzicatos which, according to Szigeti, were inspired by the blues movement of Ravel's Sonata for Violin and Piano (1927). Unlike that piece, there are only passing references to jazz here, such as the very the beginning of the movement. The second movement, Pihenö (Relaxation) is another example of Bartók's "night music" style. It evokes the atmosphere and sounds of a summer night. The third movement, Sebes, is a fast dance. The middle section features a complex, Bulgarian rhythm of thirteen beats divided into groups of twos and threes (3+2+3/2+3). Another striking feature is the use of scordatura (alternate tuning). At the beginning of the movement, the violinist plays a second instrument who's lowest string is tuned up to G# and highest string is tuned down to Eb. This allows the performer to play the interval of a diminished fifth on open strings. This interval is characteristic of central European folk music, although it often had a sinister connotation in western countries. It is also an essential interval in jazz and blues scales and functions as a bridge between the musical cultures that inform the entire work.