Bartók Béla

Japanese: バルトーク - ばるとーく（英語表記）Bartók Béla

Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, and pianist. He collected and studied folk songs from Hungary and neighboring countries, and established a unique style of composition that combined the results of his folk song research with the traditions of Western art music and the new techniques of the early 20th century. He is one of the most representative composers of the first half of the 20th century.

[Noriko Masuyama]

Life

Born on March 25th in Nagyszentmiklós (now part of Romania). His father was the headmaster of an agricultural school and an avid amateur musician, but died of illness at the young age of 33 in 1888. After that, the family moved frequently, and his mother, who was a skilled pianist, supported them by working as a music teacher. Bartók showed musical talent from an early age, and at the age of 11, he was able to play his own piano pieces and Beethoven's sonatas at public concerts. In 1898, he was admitted to the Vienna Conservatory, but he followed the advice of his friend Dohnányi, who was four years older than him, and studied at the Budapest Conservatory from 1899 to 1903. During his time at the Conservatory, he studied composition under Hans Kössler (1853-1926) and piano under Thoman Istvan (1862-1940). While he was recognized as an excellent pianist, he was also an admirer of R. Strauss, and continued to search for his own music as a composer. Inspired by the growing national independence movement in his graduation year, he wrote the symphonic poem Kossuth, based on the life of a Hungarian national hero, which was a great success. In 2005, he participated in the Rubinstein Competition in Paris, but only came second to Backhaus in the piano category and did not win any prizes in the composition category.

Meanwhile, in the same year, inspired by Kodály, with whom he shared a lifelong friendship, he began to collect and study Hungarian peasant music together. From then on, he continued to collect folk songs, traveling throughout Hungary and neighboring Romania, Slovakia, and North Africa, until World War I made his research activities impossible. In 1907, he was appointed piano professor at his alma mater, and served in that position for nearly 30 years, while also touring Europe and the United States. In 1911, he founded the New Hungarian Music Society with Kodály and others, in an attempt to secure a venue for young composers to present their works, but failed. His opera "Bluebeard's Castle," which he composed in the same year, was also not well received, and he devoted himself to studying folk songs and composing piano pieces based on them, such as "Romanian Folk Dances" (1915). In 1937, the ballet "The Scarecrow Prince" premiered with success, and his growing fame abroad also improved his standing in Hungary, so in 1943 he was commissioned to compose "Dance Suite" for the 50th anniversary of the annexation of Budapest. After taking a break from writing for a while to reflect, he reached the peak of his creative career with the Piano Sonata and Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1946, and produced one masterpiece after another, including String Quartet No. 5 (1934), "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta" (1936), "Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion" (1937), and Violin Concerto No. 2 (1937-38).

In 1939, despairing over the political situation under Nazism, he wrote String Quartet No. 6 as a farewell song, and then defected to the United States in October of the following year. At first, he led a miserable life due to illness and a lack of understanding of his work, but in 1943, he wrote Concerto for Orchestra at the request of conductor Koussevitzky, and regained his creative drive. However, this was short-lived, and he died of leukemia in New York on September 26, 1945, leaving Piano Concerto No. 3 and Viola Concerto unfinished.

[Noriko Masuyama]

Characteristics of the work

Bartók initially turned to folk music out of political interest as a musical practice for the nationalist movement, but he soon became aware of the vitality of folk music, and extracted its components, such as its sound structure and rhythm, to form the basis of his own musical idiom. In his mature works from the 1930s, he integrated the unique idiom he had acquired in this way with the logical formality of traditional Western music, and added an extremely individualistic sense of balance to create music that is sophisticated and full of tension. His style gradually changed from (1) a period of study in which he showed late romanticism influenced by Brahms, Liszt, Wagner, and then R. Strauss, (2) an early period in which he found his way in folk music and impressionist music, which he discovered at the same time, and further incorporated the cutting-edge techniques of Schoenberg and others, bringing out rough and dissonant sounds, (3) a middle period in which he fused the results of his folk music research with the influence of contemporary music to establish his own style, and (4) a later period in which he showed a clear neoclassical tendency after moving to the United States. His works include three stage pieces, many orchestral pieces including a concerto, many piano pieces including educational pieces such as "Mikrocosmos" (1926-39), chamber music such as six string quartets, which are considered to be the greatest masterpieces of the 20th century, and folk song arrangements for solo and choral voices. He is also highly regarded for his achievements as a pioneer in folk music research, and has written many books on folk music.

[Noriko Masuyama]

"The Portrait of an Artist: Letters and Records of Bartok," translated and edited by Hani Kyoko (1970, Tomiyama Publishing)" ▽ "Bartok's Musical Essays," translated by Iwaki Hajime (1992, Ochanomizu Shobo)" ▽ "Bartok's Music and Life," written by H. Stevens and translated by Shida Katsujiro, Uyama Naoaki, et al. (1961, Kinokuniya Shoten)" ▽ "Bartok's Compositional Techniques," written by E. Lendvai and translated by Tanimoto Kazuyuki (1978, Zen-On Music Publishing)" ▽ "A Look at Bartok's Life Through Photographs and Documents," edited by F. Boenisch and translated by Degawa Samio (1981, Kokusai Bunka Publishing)" ▽ "The Story of Bartok," written by Szekely Yulia and translated by Hani Kyoko and Okuma Shinko (1992, Ongaku No Tomo Sha)" ▽ "Bartók - His Life and Works" revised new edition by Paul Griffiths, translated by Wada Dan (1996, Tairyusha)" ▽ "Bartók's Chamber Music" by Janos Karlparté, translated by Ehara Nozomi and Ito Nobuhiro (1998, Hosei University Press)" ▽ "The Tragedy of Bartók's Final Years" by Agatha Fassett, translated by Nomizu Mizuho (2000, Misuzu Shobo)" ▽ "Bartók - The Peripheral Composer Who 'Discovered' Folk Song" by Ito Nobuhiro (Chuko Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

ハンガリーの作曲家、民族音楽学者、ピアノ奏者。ハンガリーとその周辺諸国の民謡を収集・研究し、民謡研究の成果と西欧芸術音楽の伝統、20世紀初頭の新技法を融合した独特の作風を確立。20世紀前半を代表する作曲家となっている。

［益山典子］

生涯

3月25日ナジセントミクローシュ（現ルーマニア領）に生まれる。父は農業学校の校長で熱心なアマチュア音楽家だったが、1888年33歳の若さで病死。以後一家は転々と居を移し、ピアノの巧みな母が音楽教師をして生活を支えた。幼少時より楽才を示したバルトークは、11歳で自作のピアノ小品やベートーベンのソナタを公開演奏会で弾くまでになった。98年ウィーン音楽院の入学許可を得たが、4歳年長の友人ドホナーニの勧めに従い、1899～1903年ブダペスト音楽院に学ぶ。在学中ハンス・ケスラーHans Kössler（1853―1926）に作曲、トマーン・イシュトバーンThoman Istvan（1862―1940）にピアノを師事。優秀なピアニストと評価される一方、作曲面ではR・シュトラウスに心酔しながら、自己の音楽を求めて模索を続けた。卒業の年、民族独立運動の高まりに刺激を受けて、ハンガリーの国民的英雄の生涯を題材にした交響詩『コシュート』を書き、大成功を博した。05年にはパリのルビンシテイン・コンクールに参加したが、ピアノ部門ではバックハウスに次ぐ第2位にとどまり、作曲部門でも入賞を逸した。

　一方、同じ1905年、終生変わらぬ友情を抱き合ったコダーイに啓発され、共同でハンガリー農民音楽の収集研究を始める。以後第一次世界大戦で調査活動が不可能になるまで、ハンガリー国内をはじめ近隣のルーマニア、スロバキアや北アフリカを回り、民謡採集を続けた。1907年母校のピアノ教授に任命され、30年近くその職にあるかたわら、欧米各地に演奏旅行を行う。11年コダーイらと新ハンガリー音楽協会を設立し、若い作曲家たちの作品発表の場を確保しようとしたが失敗、同年作曲のオペラ『青ひげ公の城』も受け入れられず、民謡研究と『ルーマニア民俗舞曲』（1915）など民謡に基づくピアノ曲の作曲に没頭した。17年バレエ『かかし王子』が成功裡(り)に初演され、また国外での名声の高まりによってハンガリーでの立場も好転し、23年、ブダペスト併合50年祭のために委嘱を受けて『舞踏組曲』を作曲。その後一時筆を休めて熟考したのち、26年のピアノ・ソナタやピアノ協奏曲第1番を皮切りに創作の絶頂期を迎え、弦楽四重奏曲第5番（1934）、『弦楽器と打楽器とチェレスタのための音楽』（1936）、『2台のピアノと打楽器のためのソナタ』（1937）、バイオリン協奏曲第2番（1937～38）など傑作を次々に生み出した。

　1939年、ナチズム支配の政治状勢に絶望、弦楽四重奏曲第6番を決別の歌として書き上げたのち、翌年10月アメリカに亡命。初め自作への無理解と病気のため悲惨な生活を送ったが、43年指揮者のクーセビツキー依頼の『管弦楽のための協奏曲』を書いて創作意欲を回復した。しかしこれもつかのまで、ピアノ協奏曲第3番とビオラ協奏曲を未完に残したまま、45年9月26日ニューヨークで白血病のため没した。

［益山典子］

作品の特徴

バルトークは、当初、民族運動の音楽面での実践として政治的関心から民謡に向かったが、やがて民謡のもつ生命力に目覚め、その音組織やリズムなどの構成要素を抽出して自己の音楽語法の基礎に据えた。1930年代円熟期の諸作品においては、こうして獲得された独特の語法と、西欧伝統音楽の論理的形式感が統合され、さらにきわめて個性的な均衡感覚が加わって、精緻(せいち)で緊張に満ちた音楽がつくりあげられている。作風は、(1)ブラームス、リスト、ワーグナー、ついでR・シュトラウスから影響を受けた後期ロマン派様式をみせる習作期、(2)民謡と同時期に知った印象主義音楽とにより自己の活路をみいだし、さらにシェーンベルクらの当時最先端の技法を取り入れて、荒削りで不協和な響きを前面に出した初期、(3)民謡研究の成果と同時代の音楽からの影響を融合させ、独自の語法を確立した中期、(4)渡米後の平明な新古典主義的傾向が著しい後期、としだいに変化していった。作品には、舞台作品3曲、協奏曲を含む管弦楽曲多数、『ミクロコスモス』（1926～39）など教育用作品を含む多くのピアノ曲、20世紀の最高傑作に数えられている六つの弦楽四重奏曲などの室内楽曲、ほかに独唱や合唱のための民謡編曲がある。また民族音楽研究の先駆者としても業績が高く評価されており、民謡に関する著作を多数残している。

［益山典子］

『羽仁協子訳・編『ある芸術家の人間像――バルトークの手紙と記録』（1970・冨山房）』▽『岩城肇訳『バルトーク音楽論集』（1992・御茶の水書房）』▽『H・スティーヴンス著、志田勝次郎・宇山直亮他訳『バルトークの音楽と生涯』（1961・紀伊國屋書店）』▽『E・レンドヴァイ著、谷本一之訳『バルトークの作曲技法』（1978・全音楽譜出版社）』▽『F・ボーニシュ編著、出川沙美雄訳『写真と資料でみる――バルトークの生涯』（1981・国際文化出版社）』▽『セーケイ・ユーリア著、羽仁協子・大熊進子訳『バルトーク物語』（1992・音楽之友社）』▽『ポール・グリフィス著、和田旦訳『バルトーク――生涯と作品』改訂新版（1996・泰流社）』▽『ヤーノシュ・カールパーティ著、江原望・伊東信宏訳『バルトークの室内楽曲』（1998・法政大学出版局）』▽『アガサ・ファセット著、野水瑞穂訳『バルトーク晩年の悲劇』（2000・みすず書房）』▽『伊東信宏著『バルトーク――民謡を「発見」した辺境の作曲家』（中公新書）』