# Bartok's Four Pieces for Orchestra (A Magnificent Early Work!)



## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

I almost forgot about this early orchestral piece by Bartok from 1912, around the same time as his ballet The Wooden Prince:





1. Prelude 00:00
2. Scherzo 08:18
3. Intermezzo 15:04
4. Marcia Funebre 19:32

BBC Symphony Orchestra, Nagy Zsolt﻿


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

It is true. Do we sometimes feel that Bartok's early works lacked distinction or distinctiveness and that you only find the "real Bartok" in his maturity? Or perhaps it is only me who has sometimes been guilty of that.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Early or late, it is a magnificent piece! Thanks for bringing it again to my attention . I have it coupled with the _Concerto for Orchestra_ with Boulez and the Chicago, a most excellent pairing of early and late.


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

I have the DG recording by Boulez on CD, as well as the Hungaroton version by Nagy which I linked to above. However, I think that the New York Philharmonic recording Boulez did on Sony Classical was the best of all:


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

I've always loved his early works like the tone poem "Kossuth" and the two suites for orchestra:


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

The Four Pieces are later than Bluebeard, which nobody really takes as immature Bartok, surely? They have an experimental modernist feel to them, (is that why Boulez recorded them not just one, but twice?) but one could also suggest this is the closest Bartok got to writing a proper symphony?

I like them very much - what's not to like, it's Bartok! - but I don't reckon Op.12 is among his most polished works. I think the earlier Suite No.2 is a finer piece. If you like those, you should check out Zoltan Kocsis' recordings of both of them on Hungaroton!


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