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Bartk:MusicforStrings,Percussion&Celesta(1936)

Background:

BlaBartk(18811945)wasoneofthetwentiethcenturysleadingcomposerswriting
worksinallformsandgenres,includingoperas,concertos,choralworksandsixstring
quartets.Alongsidehisworkasacomposer,heiswellknownforhiscollectionand
analyticalsurveyoffolkmusicfromhisnativeHungaryandfurtherafield.

MusicforStrings,Percussion&CelestawascommissionedbytheconductorPaulSacherto
celebratethetenthanniversaryoftheBasleChamberOrchestra.Itwaswrittenin1936,
andthefirstperformancewasgivenbytheBasleChamberOrchestra,conductedby
Sacheron21January1937.
Thetitleoftheworkisslightlymisleading,sincethecelestaisnotspeciallyusedmore
importantthantheothertunedpercussioninthework:piano,harp,xylophoneand
timpani.Thestringorchestraisdividedintotwogroupsofequalsizethatareplacedon
oppositesidesoftheplatform.

Somedifferentformsofanalysis:

TheMusicforStrings,Percussion&CelestaisoneofBartksmostchillinglyatmospheric
scores.Theextraordinaryfirstmovementreachesacentralmirrorpointandthenbegins
tounwindintheoppositedirectionbothbackwardsandupsidedown!whilethe
thirdtypifiesBartksthingsthatgobumpinthenightstyleofwriting.(David
Ashman,SleevenotestoEMIClassics575620)

Thefirstmovementisaslowfugue.Itstimesignaturechangesconstantlyanditis
writtenwithoutkeysignature.ItisbasedaroundthenoteA,onwhichthemovement
beginsandends.Itbeginsonmutedstrings,andasthevoicesenterthetexturethickens
andthemusicbecomeslouderuntiltheclimax.Mutesarethenremoved,andthemusic
becomesgraduallyquieterovergentlecelestaarpeggios.Themovementendswiththe
fuguesubjectplayedsoftlyoveritsinversion.(Wikipedia)

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Analysis:

Aisthetonalcentreofthemovement(infactthetonalcentreoftheworkasawhole),
anditbeginsandendsonA.Themovementisafuguebasedonachromatic,irregular
fourphrasedtheme,withnointervallargerthanathird,andcontainedwithintherange
ofafifth.Thefirstphraseofthethemebeginsintheviolas:

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Successivecanonicentriestakethethemebothwaysaroundacircleoffifths:uptoE,
downtoD,upagaintoB,downagaintoGetcuntilbothcirclesreachthetritone
oppositeofAE(bar44).
Inpursuingbothofthesecycles,Bartkincludesentriesbasedonalltwelvepossible
chromaticpitches
Aschemeshowinghowthedifferententriesworktogether:

Stage1 Stage2 Stage3 Stage4

Bar:1 4 8 12 16 26 27 33 34 35 44

A E B F C G (D)
A D G C F B E

Bartkvarieshismaterialinfourstages:

Stage1:Thisisaformalfivepartexpositioninwhichthefullsubjectisplayed
withminimalvariation.
Stage2:Herethefullsubjectisplayedinaclosestrettoofentries(atthetritone
CF).
Stage3:Hereonlyphrasesfromthesubjectarepresentedintheirindividual
parts,sometimeswithaccompanyingechoeffects.
Stage4:HeresubjectfragmentsaredevelopedbeforethefinalstatementonEis
reached.

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Atbar56wereachtheclimax,accentuatedbytheloudestdynamiclevelandthemost
openharmony,withEplayedinrepeatedoctavesbyalltheviolinsandviolas.Aloud
bassdrumstrikeemphasisesthisclimax.
HowdoesBartkreturntothehometonalityofAfromthismostdistantpoint?He
retraceshisstepswithhissubjectnowininversion(mirrorimage)usingthesame
techniqueofcirclesoffifthstoreturntoA:

Stage4 Stage3 Stage2 Stage1

Bar:56 58 61 62 64 65 68 69 72 73 77

E A D F B E A
B F C G D

Thereturnisabbreviatedwithsuchasperfectsenseoftimingthatwithoutanyaudible
hurrying,homebaseisachievedwithinbarelytwentybars.
SomeoftheentrieswithinStage3arenominalwithBandFbeingrepresentedintheir
turnbythestronglypulsatingrhythmjustheardattheclimaxandtheD entryonly
playingpartofthesubjectsfourthphrase.
Atbar77,accompaniedbyglisteningcelestaarpeggios,Bartkhasboththethemeandits
inversionplayedsimultaneouslythreeoctavesapart:

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Themovementendswithamicrocosmofitself,asviolinsplayscalesincontrarymotion
fromAouttoEandbacktoAagain:

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Thepitchcontentoftheworkderivesfromasimpleasymmetricalscalewhichalternates
betweenminorthirdsandminorseconds:

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Isthereahigherprinciplegoverningthismovementsconstruction?Inthe1940sitwas
suggestedthatanumberofBartksworksweregovernedbytheGoldenSectionor
Fibonacciseries;asimpleadditiveseriesassociatedwiththisprinciple:

1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89

ThenumbersofcrucialbarsinthefirstmovementofMusicforStrings,Percussion&
CelestalookverysimilartotheFibonacciserieswhichbringsuptheimportantquestion:
Issuchanobservationvalidorhelpfulinourunderstandingofthismusic?WasBartk
awareoftheGoldenSectionwhilstcomposingthiswork,orisitpurelyanexampleof
naturalgrowthprinciplesinaction?