Bartók Interview from the Ask the Composer series
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- Опубликовано: 20 авг 2008
- Bartók is interviewed by David LeVita
Composer: Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Radio Show: Ask the Composer series
Recorded: July 2, 1944
This was recorded on July 2, 1944 during a radio broadcast of a live performance by his wife Edith Pásztory-Bartók at the Brooklyn Museum, as part of station WNYC's "Ask the Composer" series. 
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I can´t believe it,,,,,, I listened the Bartok´s voice
First time to hear him speak. His English is very clear and easy to understand. What a brilliant gentleman.
He makes me sooo proud of being hungarian!!!! (Kodály as well)
Béla Bartók talked on 10 foreign languages, including the English language, of course.
I also think that it is a priceless recording - and his English is absolutely not bad, yet, he had a strong Hungarian accent. His words and thoughts are well understandable. He is one of the greatest Hungarians.
Awesome post. Thank you. Previously I had heard only a small bit of this on the video "After the Storm."
The greatness of this man is almost incomprehensible- having loved and studied his music for over 35 years, it only becomes more meaningful and beautiful over time.
One feels fortunate to know his music in such an age as this, when that calibre of musicianship and humanity is actually despised by the vast majority.
How encouraging to see his work gain popularity despite all that!
I cannot express my gratitude for this: the voice of Bartok is great as him.
Despite him being one of my favorite composers, This almost breaks my heart to listen to because he was so sick before he died, and this was 1944 (he died in 1945). If you've ever read Cooper's biography on him it talks about it. I was in tears T.T great interview tho;)
There's so much else one could comment about, his command of English is so impressive! Thanks for this wonderful posting!
Bartok's music has been a part of my life since high school. I'm hearing him speak for the first time asides a recording where he announces the names of a number of piano pieces including Mikrokosmos. He is one of my favorite composers.
This is one of the most amazing videos ever. To hear one of my most favourite composers talk is truly exciting!!
Thank you SO much for posting this - can't believe I'm hearing Bartok's voice............Amazing!
I never knew that Bartok could speak English so well - including pronunciation - I wonder if this is also (somehow) a sign of a person's musical talent in general; language itself is composition and intonation, afterall.
Fourth string quartet - played it tonight in NYC. A towering achievement.
It is such a pleasure to hear about the master himself talking about his compositions.
I just love when he says (around 1.23) - "similar to the...bear's voice" - its just so sweet, maybe a little sad, and funny! at the same time.
Don , thanks for posting. Indeed one of the greatest musical geniuses of the 20th century if not the most brillant. the very last concert i saw with SF Symphony last March (2017) with MTT conducting included Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. I know the score from past studies and have always loved this piece commissioned not long before he died. Instant standing ovation and magnificant peformace. My third time of hearing this work live. A great showpiece for the orchestra and MTT really milked the strings playing all like Primashes passionality playing the rich Magyar themes.
This is wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing this! Bartok was a genius.
He had a very pleasant voice.
Oh god....This!!!! Bartok is my homeboy, fellow Hungarian...to hear him...just simply amazing...Thanks sososo very much for uploading!!
Thank you for uploading. What an unexpected treasure!!
one can imagine better the personality of the great artist, if one listens to his voice. yes, his voice fits in the picture I formed of him in my mind by playing his music and reading his biography, although his style of speaking is different how I imagined it. however it was a great and exciting experience to hear these legends come closer to us, to our time by hearing them speak
I hear Bartok's voice for the first time! Wow!
Incredible to hear the master' voice!!!
Wow! It really is like hearing the voice of a musical god before me! Nice recording quality and impressive English (to me at least), considering he wasn't the most cosmopolitan of composers. What a great teacher he would have been, though, I suppose Mikrocosmos covers the diadactic angle.
I agree with everyone else, Thank you so much for posting this. Great to hear the voice of the genius.
amasing, thank you for the post! finally something of value!
so moving............ I didn't know this even existed.... a million thanks!!!!
RUclips better not take this down!!!
thank you very much for uploading this gem.
It is a great pleasure to hear in his own words what has been described in papers by Bartok and his colleagues.
Wonderful document !!! Thanks!!!
Thank so so much for uploading this, you are so generous ! :) I love Bartok .
My God!! His voice 💮
Actually, this is the first time that I heard Béla BARTÒK’s voice 😮 😮 🤍🤍🤍
Thanks for uploading this!
Great to hear his voice
This guy is awesome :)
Bartok speaking in English and Penderecki in German, I would never have guessed that there is a place out there somewhere to hear that ! /:)
Very interesting, thanks for posting!
The "Transylvanian Evening" that he mentioned is no. 5 of the "Ten Easy Pieces" that you recently uploaded.
I have a recording of Bartok playing a Brahms piece together with his wife (I think on two piano's), but the sound quality is so poor that it's not worth it to put on YT.
Absolutely fascinating. Thank you for posting. I believe there are fragments of Bartok playing his own second concerto out there somewhere. Does anyone have these?
Bartok's cough sounds very much like the beginning of his cancer. How sad.
I like the way he responds to the expression, "abstract music." correcting it to "absolute music," non-programmatic music." As if most music isn't "abstract."
I think he is referring to the process of music composition. I'm not sure but i think "absolute music without program" reffers to the way many composers organize their work. It can be understood in the case of Mozart, for instance. Many works by Mozart are not "absolute" music because Mozart was chained to the commissions of aristocracy and therefore he was under pressure and it affected to his music. But that's just an example.
Absolute music would be the music that comes from a very wild and unconcious state of mind, for example The Rite of Spring is a good example of absolute music. The suite opus 14 they are talking about is also an example, as Bartok tells that it was composed in an style of "bones and muscles" (that is, improvising directly on the piano and letting go for the music)
JulianJules Mozart was classical symmetry as the Greek art revival and less ornamented traditions of rich Italian chamber music tradition. absolute descriptor came afterwards
Incorrect. Absolute music is simply music that is non-representational.@@Soytu19
Amazing.
Unfortunately,you also hear his Illness,very sadNice to hear him Speak.
The way he says no
Barók and Lugosi are the two greatest Béla ever. :D
Cool!
It was common to script interviews in those days, and I think that is what we are hearing here. Sad to hear the coughs of a man with one year left.
meraviglioso ascoltare il commento di Bela Bartok. Fondamentale per la compensione della sua musica.
Is it possible to buy a book with the text?
Many thanks for your reply.
Roberto
cheers, i have an exam on this soon.
The "Microcosmos" that he talks about towards the end, is the standard learning-repertoire for young children that they must master (hundred-fiftyfive pieces) in Hungary's training of elite pianists - imagine.
@keeelane not at all. I was using one definition of "abstract;" you were using another. both are in the dictionary.
Keith Emerson, the most excellent rock keyboard of all time, was profoundly influenced by Bela Bartok.
@tonytrilex
That's not an accident. Béla Lugosi was from Hungary as well.
Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly was the "Ask a Composer" series?
I like how he pronounces "two" hahah. What a genius.
Can you tutor me who is bela bartok okay thanks 🤔
@keeelane To take myself as an example, in common parlance I'm called an abstract painter. This doesn't mean I don't exist, keeelane, it means my work is non-figurative, consisting of formal elements, shapes, colors, brush strokes, etc. etc. "Abstract" doesn't mean non-sensory, nor should it in music.
the piece, that is........
wow, you can really tell how sick he is in this recording.
Why is it that the interviewer calls him Doctor Bartok?
He was a honorary doctor of the University of Columbia.
@bbbartolo well, music "isn't" abstract, since you are able to hear it. you making something abstract is a projection of your own mind.
@bbbartolo you missed my point
how could he die in poverty? inconceivable.
@Czeppelin after Bella Emberg.
His accent like Albert Einstein's. :)
Four
Ditta Pásztory - that was the correct name of his wife, not Edith.
Not true. She was Edith, but everyone called her Ditta, its like her short name)))
He sounds like Dracula
Too bad I cant hear him speak hungarian,he would have spoken more clearly that way too,due to his bad english.
Is that all you can sum up about Béla Bartók listening to the tape? Hm? @konzolmester
are accent romanesc....asa vorbeste un roman engleza....inconfundabil
No, this is Hungarian accent, Bartók was Hungarian.
@@xbqchm it's true!🇭🇺 but he also spoke Romanian and a bunch of other languages
I wish there were more "realistic" musicians such as Bartok and less romantic fastasy composers such as Liszt or any other romantic composers. I like much more the "simple" style, it is music that talks very sincerely and that's good for me.
What do you mean by "realistic musician"?
+Bruno Soares It's already what Bartok himself says when he talks about the simpler and more transparent style. I just called it "realistic" style, as, once one gets get used to it, it's really music that talks very sincere and clearly. Check out his 14 bagatelles for solo piano if you want to learn more about it.
Yeah, but Liszt is a romantic composer.. and being a fantasy and romantic composer in the romantic period it's completely realistic...You pick a bad example..Bartok refers to the later romantic period. Bartok is a modernist composer and when he says "a more realistic and transparent style" he is talking about his time. Look at the first of this bagatelles for example, it's a completely realistic piece for the modernist period, but I doubt that a piece using two different keys would sound realistic in the romantic period..It is stupid compare this two composers in the way you did.
***** It is not stupid at all, and all you demonstrate is that you don't understand what i meant.
Maybe you meant like how he keeps the integrity of folk music, pentatonic sounding and phrases without sounding gimicky like Chopin's folk music arrangements. Nothing wrong with Chopin but that's what makes Bartok more modern sounding other than being modern.
Absolute music without program