Bartók Sheet Music

Bartók Sheet Music and Biography

Béla Bartók was a Hungarian composer, pianist, teacher, and ethnomusicologist (someone who studies world music from all perspectives) born on 25th March 1881.

Being a teacher he would compose pieces for his pupils to play and the series of duets 44 Duos for Two Violins are examples of this. We have the first 24 pieces on our site, starting with Number 1 Teasing Song.

He showed talent on the piano at an early age and his mother started formally teaching him from the age of five. He composed short pieces including a piece called ‘The Course of the Danube’ which he performed two years later at his first public recital at the age of eleven.

Career

Bartók developed a large interest in folk music. In 1908 he travelled to the countryside with his friend and colleague Zoltán Kodaly. Here they collected and researched old Magyar folk melodies which they discovered had previously been categorised as gypsy music. They quickly incorporated these folk melodies into their own compositions. Bartók published many important studies of Hungarian and Romanian folk music.

As a pianist, he performed concerts in Europe and the United States introducing them to his new Hungarian music. He taught many pianists both foreign and Hungarian.

Marriage

Bartók married twice, first to Márta Ziegler for nearly fifteen years, they had one son. Shortly after his divorce at the age of forty-two, he married one of his students; Ditta Pásztory who was just nineteen. They also had a son.

Bartók died in New York on 26th September 1945 from complications of leukaemia.

Bartok Sheet Music Downloads and Further Reading

On music-scores.com we have the first 24 pieces of Béla Bartók 44 Duos for Two Violins Sheet Music in PDF format for you to download.

For further information on Bela Bartók take a look at Wikipedia or Britannica.