Par BARTOK BELA. These six dances form the final culmination of Bartók ’s “Mikrokosmos” (HN 1408-1410), that work of the century comprising over 150 pieces. He dedicated this grouping, collected under its own title, to the famous English pianist Harriet Cohen. Inspired, this specialist for contemporary music found in them “a whole world of music” and championed the pieces. Bartók himself added the dances to his concert repertory early on, though initially in a reduced form that omitted the fifth dance, which was not composed until the end of 1939 as one of the last works of the collection. Our practical, standalone Urtext edition of these six dances also featuresan early version of the concluding piece and supplies interesting background details about Bartók ’s own recital practice. This edition’s musical text is based on that of the Bartók Complete Edition. / Nakahara, Yusuke / Répertoire / Piano

The Boosey and Hawkes Bartók Edition showcases brand new stylish arrangements of highlights from the leading twentieth century composer for developing musicians to learn and enjoy.Bartók for Violin features selected highlights from Bartók's most popular pedagogical repertoire including For Children, Mikrokosmos, Romanian Folk Dances, Romanian Christmas Carols and others, arranged for violin with piano accompaniment by Hywel Davies. An accompanying audio CD features demonstration and backing tracks. / Violon Et Piano

Bartók is regarded as one of the most important composers of the 20th century. He became famous both as a music teacher and as an ethnomusicologist. Being a trained pianist, his relation to the piano certainly was very special and is reflected in numerous piano works.This comprehensive collection of selected piano works by Bartók is a rich source of his most beautiful pieces, including the two complete volumes For Children. / Piano

Béla Bartók's series of piano pieces For Children, based on folk melodies, was written around the end of the first decade of the 20th century. The pieces were published shortly afterwards by the Hungarian publisher Károly Rozsnyai. That first publication was in four volumes, the first two containing a total of 42 pieces based on Hungarian folk tunes, the third and fourth containing 43 pieces based on Slovakian folk tunes.In 1943, whilst in the United States, Bartók prepared a revised version of the collection for the publishers Boosey and Hawkes. The revisions were minimal: two Hungarian and four Slovakian songs were eliminated, there were a few minor alterations incorporating new ideas, some of the pieces previously written with accidentals had key signatures added, a few pieces were rewritten with changed meters - some fingerings were added or changed.The composer prepared the revised 1943 edition by using copies of the first edition on which he marked minor changes - where the changes were more extensive, fresh manuscript was written and a new version engraved. However, much of the engraving of the first edition was preserved in the 1943 edition. Publication took place in 1946, after the composer's death - it is not known if he saw final proofs prior to printing.The revised edition was published in two volumes, which now have been published together as one volume for the first time. / Piano