This evening I happened to come across a documentary about Jacqueline Du Pre, who was an incredibly talented cellist who sadly died of MS while only in her early 40s. I’ll have to admit that I wasn’t a big fan of Jacqueline Du Pre, not because I didn’t appreciate her enormous talent, but mostly because of the choice of music she played.
This brings me onto Bela Bartok and a Dutch violinist called Janine Jansen. During his lifetime, Bela Bartok had a constant struggle against poor health and financial difficulties. Bartok never received much recognition when he was alive. He was ridiculed by the press and on the rare occasions when his works were performed they were not well received. It’s part of the ‘Bartok tragedy’ that it was only after his death in 1945 that his work became popular. Bartok was fascinated by folksongs and dances in his native Hungary. He collected these from peasants and Gypsies during his pioneering ethno-musicological field trips through eastern Europe from 1910 to 1914. His analytical study of folk music resulted in a symphonic work called’ Rumanian Folk Dances’. Rumanian Folk Dances has six movements. Here’s Janine Jansen performing the complete Rumanian Folk Dances at the Prinsengrachtconcert in Amsterdam in 2005…
Can never hear that high, minor-key third dance without being bowled over by a sense of the profound mystery and melancholy of things. Unique, extraordinary invention, and so short and transitory. Always a must-hear for me, any time the Dances are played.
Thanks for those. Wonderful stuff, even more so that the venue is a stone’s throw from where I was born. That third one’s also my favourite – you described it perfectly Rhis.
And speaking of Romanian music, here’s another favourite of mine, Enescu’s Romanian Rhapsody no.1. Here’s the piano version by the composer (which I’ve tried playing, though with rather less success than this performance, especially the later parts…)
Are you familiar with the Portuguese concept of ‘saudade’, Rhis? If not, you should look it up, but essentially, it’s the bittersweet melancholy that comes from the loss of something or someone and the simultaneous celebration of it having been. It infuses much Portuguese art.
Yeah, there are little similarities like that in the harmonies. The dances were indeed written for the piano initially but are actually quite easy. The transcription for violin looks like it’s much more difficult.
