Sonatina

Bela Bartok’s Sonatina for piano consists of five different folk tunes. In a radio broadcast of the Sonatina in 1944, Bartók described the piece: “This sonatina was originally conceived as a group of Rumanian folk dances for piano . . . The first movement, which is called “Bagpipers”, is a dance—these are two dances played by two bagpipe players, the first by one and the second by another. The second movement is called “Bear Dance”—this was played for me by a peasant violinist on the G and D string, on the lower strings in order to have it more similar to a bear’s voice . . . And the last movement contains also two folk melodies played by peasant violin players.” Includes: I. Dudások (Bagpipes) Allegretto * II. Medvetánc (Bear Dance) Moderato * III. Finale. Allegro vivace.