Suite No.2
(1905-07, rev.1920/43) 4 BB40Four movements, for (small) orchestra
Duration: 35'
Scoring
2(II=picc).2(II=corA).2(I=Eb,II=bcl).2(II=dbn)-3.2.0.0-timp.
perc:gong/cyms/tgl/BD/tamb-2harps-strings
Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes
for the world.
Repertoire Note
Bartók saw the First Suite as ending his student apprenticeship, and the Second as a more mature and expressive work, with its last movement unveiling the simplicity of his new folk-derived style. In his final American years he arranged and, with his wife, performed a two piano version of this Suite (BB122). As Bartók did not ever get around to writing a full symphony, this work can well fill the after-interval symphonic slot. Alternatively, at about the same length as the Concerto for Orchestra, it can substitute for that work.
Note by Malcolm Gillies
