Unifying stylistic syntheses in the late compositions (1939–1945) of Béla Bartók

Abstract

Bartók’s later works from the years 1939–1945 present an impressive synthesis of his musical innovations. Beginning with the Divertimento and Sixth String Quartet (both composed in 1939), the Hungarian composer starts with a freely tonal, neo-Classical foundation. Above this initial compositional level he then superimposes Beethovenian formal structures gleaned from the latter’s opp. 53 and 135, in addition to a prominent Stravinsky quotation from The Rite of Spring, part two. In both works Bartók achieves an impressive large-scale cyclical unity, frequently through wholetone scalar integration. The Concerto for Orchestra (1943) blends pervasive quotation techniques with analogous cyclical intervallic patterns, such as major third cells on F–A–D4. One is again distinctly reminded of the F Major Divertimento. Like the latter work, the Concerto is especially notable for its expansive codas, which function in the manner of Beethovenian second developments. Similarly, the Sonata for Solo Violin (1944) fuses neo-Bachian counterpoint with the expansive forms of the Concerto for Orchestra. Finally, the interrelated last two Concertos for piano and viola (both penned in 1945) present a cumulative synthesis of Bartókʼs later style, emphasizing the tertial (and modal) degrees of VI and flattened VI. Here, too, we encounter elaborate quotational systems that distantly recall the 1910s and 1920s music of French composers as Debussy, Ravel and Satie.