HUN-REN BTK ZTI - Bartók the Pianist

A temporary exhibition in the 2nd room of the Museum of Music History

organised by

the Bartók Archives
and the Museum of Music History of the
Institute for Musicology,
Research Centre for the Humanities,
Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Flyer of the Exhibition >

“Above all, I am thinking of his playing, of its nervous, sinuous, rhythmic resilience. Of the lyricism that he evoked in Evening in the Country, of the humor of his rubato in Un peu gris . . . ” – Joseph Szigeti

Based on original photographs, manuscripts and printed documents, the exhibition approaches the role of the piano in the life and art of composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist Béla Bartók (1881–1945). It presents a piano oeuvre unique among the leading musical innovators of the first half of the twentieth century. The child’s first piano lessons are conjured up just like the revered piano professor who also created some of the most lasting pedagogical works of the period, the For Children series (1908–11) and the Mikrokosmos (1932–39). But the conscientious editor of classical works by Bach, Mozart, Beethoven appears as much as the concert soloist and chamber music partner. The exhibition further emphasizes the decisive influence coming from rural musical folklore, especially instrumental folk music, without neglecting Bartók’s role as an advocate of contemporary avant-garde music.

Exhibition Opening - Photos by László Gombos >