Rhapsody No. 1 (Bartók)

Rhapsody No. 1, Sz. 86, 87, and 88, BB 94 is the first of two virtuoso works for violin and piano, written by Béla Bartók in 1928 and subsequently arranged in 1929 for violin and orchestra, as well as for cello and piano. It is dedicated to Hungarian virtuoso violinist Joseph Szigeti, a close friend of Bartók, who gave the first performance of the orchestra version in Königsberg on 1 November 1929, with Hermann Scherchen conducting the orchestra (Kenneson 1994, 127).

Bartók evidently composed both rhapsodies purely as a personal gesture, rather than on commission, and did so without telling anyone until they were both completed (Walsh 2005, 235). According to the violinist Zoltán Székely, he and the composer met one day in 1928 and, after chatting for a time, Bartók suddenly announced that he had a surprise for him, and produced the manuscripts of the two rhapsodies, which no one else had previously seen. "One is for you; one is for Szigeti," Bartók told him. “You may choose which one you like for the dedication.” Székely chose the Second Rhapsody, but quickly added, "that doesn’t mean that the First Rhapsody was already dedicated to Szigeti!" (Kenneson 1994, 113).

Both rhapsodies exemplify a mode of composition using peasant-music sources, described by Bartók as taking an existing melody and adding an accompaniment together with some introductory or ending material, in such a way that the newly composed matter is strictly secondary—never competing with the folk material for prominence. This was acknowledged in the scores of the early editions, which bore the subtitle "Folk Dances" (Walsh 2005, 235–36). Bartók's objective was to transplant the entire style of Eastern-European fiddle playing into the Western concert context. In order to further this project, he insisted that Szigeti listen to the original field recordings from which the melodies were transcribed (Laki 2001, 141). The Rhapsody uses the same slow–fast (lassú—friss) paired movements of the popular Hungarian verbunkos (recruiting dance) found in the earlier Rhapsody for Piano of 1904, and to which he would later return in the first movement of Contrasts in 1938 (Losseff 2001, 124). Bartók specified that each of the movements can be performed separately—not only the fast second movement but also the more serious slow opening movement of each rhapsody (Walsh 2005, 235).

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