Viola Concerto (Bartók)

Béla Bartók wrote his Viola Concerto (BB128) in July-August 1945, in Saranac Lake, New York, while suffering from the terminal stages of leukemia. It was a response to a commission by William Primrose. Along with the Piano Concerto No. 3, it is his last work, and he left it incomplete at his death.

The concerto was premiered on December 2, 1949 in Minneapolis, with Antal Doráti conducting, and William Primrose playing the solo part.

The work has been completed three times, once by Tibor Serly (1950); once by Peter Bartók (son of composer), Paul Neubauer, and Nelson Dellamaggiore (1995); and once by Csaba Erdelyi (due to copyright laws, the Erdelyi version is only available in retail stores in New Zealand and over the internet). The score suggests three movements with interconnecting passages, somewhat in the character of a ritornello, and this is how the completed versions run; however, Bartók mentioned in an unsent letter to Primrose that he intended the work to have four movements in all. The Scherzo movement, which would have been the 2nd, was cut out by the composer, but some passages in the manuscript could be part of this scherzo. Bartók did not complete either the instrumentation or even the final texture, and large passages are relatively devoid of detail. Stylistically, the work is similar to the piano concerto written at the same time: harmonically restrained, lucid, and with an elegiac quality which had always been a strong component of his music, but which intensified in his late years.

The Naxos Records label has released a CD recording featuring violist Hong-Mei Xiao and the Budapest Philharmonic (8.554183) containing both versions as a comparison.

Analysis (Serly edition)

Movement 1

This movement is in sonata form.

Exposition (mm. 1-81)

1st tonal area and Primary theme (mm. 1-40)The A diminished tonality implied by the beginning introduction is the first hint at a Bb tonal center. The Primary theme is a 4-bar Antecedent to an 8-bar phrase that is never presented fully.

2nd tonal area and "middle theme" (mm. 41-60)This starts off with one of the few cadences in the whole piece. C minor is the first key. This section has a denser texture, faster successive attack activity, and mostly scalar melodic motion (in contrast to the leaping melodic motion of the primary theme). This figure traverses through many tonal areas through the use of sequencing, ending with an extended B pedal (approx. mm. 52-61).

3rd tonal area, and Secondary theme (mm. 61-80)This starts on an E in the viola part, and with an E held in the bass, and ends with a D# trill in the solo viola part n measure 80.

Development (mm. 81-147) This begins with the primary theme from bar 1. This time, the 2nd Horn plays the first note. This Variation technique is typical of Bartok's works. He aspired to always avoid any literal repetition of thematic material, and altered subsequent repetitions by using techniques such as ornamentation, elaboration, varied instrumentation, and new harmonization. The primary theme is developed. In measure 87, the opening interval is a tritone, instead of a minor 6th. In measure 95, the viola part is inverted, with an implied starting pitch of B dim., which foreshadows the eventual C resolution in the coda. Measure 102 is in B Major. Measure 116 is an intervalic and harmonic inversion of measure 112

Cadenza begins in measure 127 Recapitulation (mm. 147-207)1st tonal area and Primary theme (mm.147-162)This time the primary theme is played by the flute while the viola noodles around. The chord is an F7 chord, giving further weight to the Bb tonality of the primary theme.

2nd tonal area and "middle theme" (mm. 162-185)Another good cadence starts this "middle theme." E minor is the first key. The mediant alteration from the C minor of the Exposition is interesting, because since this theme is between the primary and secondary areas, it is only harmonically shifted half way in the recap. This time the harmonic sequencing is by thirds instead of by fifths, as in the exposition. (c, g, d, a in expo. e, g#, c, a in recap).

3rd tonal area, and Secondary theme (mm. 185-207)This starts on an A in the viola part this time, which is the type of transposition one typically expects of the secondary theme in the recap of a sonata form piece.

Coda (mm. 207-230) This starts with the Consequent portion of the 8-bar theme from the opening of the piece. The opening viola line is pentatonic, in that there are no 'A's or 'D's. This is strongly in C with elements of both minor and major. The second half of the 4 bar phrase also has mode alteration like the second half of the measure 1 4 bar phrase did. This movement ends on a C major triad.

Movement 2

In the Serly edition, this movement begins with an introduction. This Lento Parlando introduction has been left out by the other editions, as it might have belonged to the incomplete or abandoned Scherzo movement.

Adagio religioso.

Movement 3

This movement also begins with an introduction. The fifth-based chord played at the beginning is repeated in the middle of the movement, when a folk melody is introduced.

References

* Malcolm Gillies: "Bela Bartók", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed June 25, 2005), [http://www.grovemusic.com (subscription access)]

* Maurice, Donald. "Bartók's Viola Concerto: The Remarkable Story of His Swansong" (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004) ISBN 0-19-515690-0