Bela Bartok

With the ?Concerto for Orchestra ? Henle inaugurates a series of affordable study scores based on the text of the Bartók Complete Edition. When Bartók received the commission to compose this piece from Serge Koussevitsky in May 1943 it meant not only financial support but also an important creative impetus for the gravely ill composer. By October the five-movement concerto which Koussevitsky enthusiastically dubbed ?the best orchestral work of the last 25 years ? was already complete. The first performances in the winter of 1944 45 were also very successful. Nevertheless Bartók was moved to set down an alternate ending which thecomposer who passed away in September 1945 would never be destined to hear. Bartók specialist Klára Móricz includes both versions in her edition and summarises the history and transmission of the ?Concerto for Orchestra? in a fascinating foreword. A brief commentary section provides information about the principles underlying the edition.

Urtext (1932-1939). Bartók's Mikrokosmos has been one of the milestones in pedagogical piano repertoire for 80 years - and yet it is also far more than a "classical" piano primer. These 153 piano pieces, organized in ascending order of difficulty, engage not only with technical aspects of piano playing but also with the fundamentals of composition - from "Imitation and Inversion," "Ostinato," and "Free Variations," concerning compositional technique, to mood pieces and pieces with programmatic ideas such as "Notturno," "Boating," "From the Diary of a Fly," or the famous "Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm." Mikrokosmos first appeared in 1940 in six volumes. Based on volume 40 of the Bartók Complete Edition published in 2020(Z. 15040), the present Urtext edition offers the series gathered in three volumes. This edition includes Bartók's preface, exercises, and notes written for the first edition. Furthermore, it also features a preface and comments by the editor, which not only discuss the genesis and the compositional sources but also provide performers, teachers and pupils alike, with authentic and detailed information about Bartók's notation and the specific performing problems of Mikrokosmos.

Bartók’s 'Romanian Christmas Songs' are based on folk melodies that originated in a pagan celebration of the winter solstice and which he felt gave “the impression of a fiery war-like type of song ratherthan a pious and religious one”. Nevertheless he chose 20 melodies from this collection of “colinde” and published them under the title of “Christmas Songs”.In the first edition of 1918 theywere conceived for children’s hands and so were published “without octaves”; but in his revised edition of 1936 which we present here Bartók added an appendix featuring alternative “concertversions” confirming that these miniatures are also perfectly suited for public performance.This Urtext edition is based on that of the Bartók Complete Edition and for the first time integrates these concertvariants directly into the musical text. We also offer the original melodies and translations of the texts of these colinde to provide an insight into the origins of this rather different kind of Christmas music.

153 Progressive Piano Pieces-Bartok's Mikrokosmos set originates in his employment as Piano teacher and presents the student with 153 progressive pieces spread across six volumes. However the music does not only exist for teaching purposes but is also highly attractive to perform featuring the Balkan characteristics of Bartok's stunning harmonies and tonalities. Each piece approaches a different Piano discipline including dminished fifths crossing hands and chromatics. This edition has been written in English Portuguese Spanish and Japanese.

No. 1 The Prisoner-From the Four Hungarian Folksongs Bartok's The Prisoner is written for mixed chorus (SSAATTBB) a cappella.

Nr. 3 Mutter einen Mann-Taken from Four Hungarian Folk Songs this lively piece is arranged for Mixed Chorus a capella with English translation by Nancy Bush.