Скачать или смотреть Bartók - Three Etudes Op. 18 - Harry Rylance

While Bartók’s three etudes, composed in 1918, are not often included in concert repertoire these days, Bartók himself had every intention of them being played as part of his own concert repertoire. Of course, he also composed them with the development of a pianist's technique in mind, but much like Liszt, Bartók possessed remarkable pianistic abilities and thus had still envisioned them being performed in recitals. However, in a letter to a friend written a decade after the etudes' composition, he admits that “I cannot play the three Etudes. I haven’t played them – ever or anywhere – since 1918”, perhaps testifying to their difficulty.

There are influences from Debussy and Chopin in these works, especially when listening to the textures of the second etude. All three etudes also have echoes of a Lisztian bravura about them, which is not surprising considering the time Bartók spent having his pianistic skills being honed by István Thomán, a former pupil of Liszt. But there are also the undeniable signs of harmonic ambiguity and atonality, much like Schoenberg’s works at the time. This is emphasized by Bartók’s ability to still include a folk-song character in the etudes. The first etude is an ostinato-like machine in constant disjunct chromaticism with typically Hungarian accents, only stopping for breaths now and then much like a folk dancer stamping on the same spot before taking off again. The second has a much more mysterious and searching quality to it, similar to a night spent in a Hungarian countryside. The final etude picks things up with a quicksilver feel to it due to its rhythmic distortions and unpredictability, while its middle section contains a more humorous folk song.

00:10 - I. Allegro molto
02:43 - II. Andante sostenuto
06:23 - III. Rubato

Recorded at the Duke's Hall, London
Harry Rylance, Piano

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