Béla Bartók ~ 8 Hungarian Folksongs (Nyolc magyar népdal) Sz. 64, BB 47

Béla Bartók ~ Eight Hungarian Folksongs (Nyolc magyar népdal) Sz. 64, BB 47 Eszter Kovács (soprano), Ádám Fellegi (piano) 001 Fekete fod 00:00 002 Istenem, Istenem 01:39 003 Asszonyok, asszonyok 03:04 004 Annyi banat 04:12 005 Ha kimegyek 05:31 006 Toltik a nagyerdo utjat 06:53 007 Eddig valo dolgom 08:41 008 Olvad a ho 10:42 "Bartók himself supplied the dates of composition listed, but actually the first five date to 1907, and their sources can be traced to the composer's collection of folk tunes from the Transylvanian Csik district. The last three come from the years 1916 - 1917, when Bartók collected them from Hungarian soldiers. The first song, "Black Is the Earth," has a nostalgic manner, and features piano accompaniment with many upward runs, as though it were sweeping the sonic air clean for the melancholy vocal line. The text recounts the agonies of a young woman whose lover has abandoned her. Marked Adagio and lasting a minute and a half, this song has a delightful charm in its sweet sadness. "My God, Make the River Swell" follows and also features a melancholy mood, though here there is more frustration and anger in the music. The young girl in the text bemoans her parents' selection of her bridegroom, asserting he is "a worthless soldier." This song, marked Andante, is one of the shorter ones in the set, lasting about a minute. No. 3, "Wives, Let Me Be One of Your Company," is also brief, with a duration of less than a minute. It is lively (Allegretto) and colorful, and the text's three verses are light and comical, about a young unmarried woman's fretting over her single status. "So Much Sorrow" is the ensuing song, again a melancholy outpouring, barely lasting longer than the previous item. Here, the rueful nature of the music has a casualness, as if the pain of its words (about a man or woman who must depart home because of ridicule and deceit) is somehow bearable. The melody line (Sostenuto, rubato) is lovely in its gentle sadness. The fifth song, "If I Climb," is vigorous (Allegro) in its march-like gait. The piano dominates the middle and closing sections here, turning the music even more playful and chipper. The text tells of a young man's thoughts about his sweetheart. The next song is the first from the 1916 - 1917 group collected from soldiers, and is entitled "They Are Mending the Great Forest Highway." Its text tells of youths being conscripted for war and spilling their blood on the roads. The music is dark and slow (Sostenuto), the vocal line sorrowful and yearning in its soaring but grieving melody. Also marked Sostenuto is the penultimate item in the set, "Up to Now My Work." The vocal line is emotionally cool in its expression of the heartrending misgivings of a young man who must leave his wife and family to go off to war. Yet, its gray colors and seeming lack of feeling are touching on a subtle level, owing to the sparse harmonies and profound loneliness of the music. "The Snow Is Melting" concludes the set. Marked Allegro moderato, it is vigorous but full of frustration in its expression of a soldier's lamenting his departure from his fiancé and return to the barracks." Source: Robert Cummings in http://www.allmusic.com/composition/h... Artwork: Endre Balint.