Béla Bartók

Béla Bartók is recognised as one of the most important composers of the 20th century * Style grew out of romanticism and nationalism to embrace new currents heard in Debussy's music * Inspired by Hungarian traditional songs and dances which he collected with Kodály * Incorporated folk modes and irregular rhythmic patterns into his highly original scores * Skills as a pianist are apparent in the novel keyboard writing of Piano Concertos Nos.1-3 and Mikrokosmos * A master of instrumentation, as heard in his ravishing 'night music' movements * Highly sophisticated musical structures often relying on proportional relationships * String Quartets Nos.1-6 are masterpieces of the genre * Works have been championed by the world's leading conductors and performers

Works by Béla Bartók include:
Divertimento (1939) for string orchestra
Concerto for Orchestra (1943)
Piano Concerto No.3 (1945)
Viola Concerto (1945)

"Of the three musicians who dominated the musical scene during the first half of the 20th century - Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Bartók - it is the Hungarian master who, despite his intellectual control, remained the nearest to the instinctual, the irrational in music, and thus to the Dionysian spirit in art." — Mosco Carner