Composer, ethnomusicologist, pianist, and teacher, Béla Bartók (1881 - 1945), composed his Piano Sonata in 1926. Generally, his music incorporates Hungarian folk-like rhythms and melodies through the implementation of 20th century modes. The year of 1926 was considered Bartók’s “piano year” when he underwent a change in the structure of his music from a Beethoven-like form to a compositional format of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750). The Piano Sonata is tonal but is thoroughly dissonant as it has no key center. Bartók turns the piano into a highly percussive-like instrument rather using it for the melodic and vocal quality; the implementation of consistent change of rhythmic meter, accents, and dynamic contrast adds to the percussive effect. The use of motives and phrasing in the sonata is evident however it can be difficult to identify the exact lines of these musical elements due to Bartók’s rigorous compositional style. Jihye Lee of the University of North Texas claimed, “Bartók’s Piano Sonata…is known for its integration of modernist language with traditional elements” (Lee 1). The first movement of the piece follows the western-classical tradition of sonata form and more so integrates music composition techniques such as contraction, diminution, counterpoint, and ostinato. Bartók admired the music of J.S Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), and the first movement of his Piano Sonata reflects the influence of form and structure from the Germanic tradition of music. This sonata is in sonata form and has an exposition, development, recapitulation, and coda adhering to the traditional sonata form of J.S Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven. A pianist needs to “MacGyver” their way through this sonata exploring the technical challenges it poses as well as the motivic presentations.

In the exposition, m. 1-13 is the framework which functions by connecting the competing melodic motives to the rhythmic motives. The right hand G#-A#-B is the “A” motive which then leads into the “B” motive in m. 2-3 in the bottom bass clef with G#-A#. Notice how Bartók adds the sforzando dynamic to the low B and F# notes in m. 4-6. Bartók then restates the “A” motive in the right hand of m. 7 with the notes C#-D#-E while sustaining the G#-A# motive in the left hand. The framework of m. 1-13 sets up the pickup to m. 14 where the first theme begins as an interjection. Notice how Bartók brings back the sforzando dynamic on the chords in the lower register consistently throughout the entire first theme. The inner B and C# voices in the treble clef work in conjunction with the notes in the bass clef closing resembling the framework rhythm and chord qualities. M. 21-35 restates the first theme but now Bartók is using a compositional technique called enlargement to expand the motive into a larger phrase archetype and he rhythmically displaces the motive in m. 24-28 then does the same idea in m. 31-35. M. 38-43 is a concluding statement to the framework as seen in m. 1 and m. 7. The end of m. 13 starting with the low B is the emergence of the first theme which concludes at m. 43.

M. 44 starts the transition section of the exposition. Bartók now implements notes being tied over the course of multiple measures as seen in the treble clef from m. 44-46, m. 46-49, m. 49-53, and m. 53-54. The tied notes and descending melodic phrases are key factors in identifying the start of the transition from the first theme to the second theme. M. 55 to 66 is the introducing of a new motive with dissonant semitone polytonality. The treble clef plays C#, D#, F#, G#, and A# (all black keys) whereas the bass clef has all white keys except for a low B-flat. Both hands are playing a pentatonic scale with the exception of adding a couple extra notes. Jihye Lee wrote an analysis for her doctoral of musical arts on Bartók’s Piano Sonata studying the origins and basis of what the composition is based upon. On page 20, she concluded, “semitone dissonances are prevalent in this section because the G natural conflicts with G# in m. 56”. I want to bring attention to this passage because Bartók is introducing the pentatonic scale which he has not used so far in the sonata. Bartók’s use of the pentatonic scale adds a different effect to the music especially with the highly dissonant semitone note distinction in both the treble and bass clefs. The third and final motive from the transition between the first and second themes is introduced between m. 67-75. The bottom treble clef interrupts in m. 67 with the fortissimo dynamic but quickly dissipates to a piano dynamic in m. 73 where as the top treble clef has sforzando up to m. 70 then Bartók adds fortissimo on the remaining treble clef chords.

M. 76 introduces the start of the second theme. The treble clef consists of a pentatonic scale with two extra notes (E#, F-double sharp, and B). The sixteenth note motive in beat two of m. 87 is a reminiscence of the motive seen in the treble clef of the third transition in m. 70-72. Bartók implements accents in the bass clef of m. 90-91 as a part of the folk-like character of this piece. M. 93-102 is an extension of the 2nd theme; it’s almost as if Bartók is “transposing” the motive from m. 75-86 to a different pitch. The lower treble clef or simply what the left hand starting in m. 93 plays a different group of notes opposed to in m. 76. We can consider m. 101-111 as Bartók spinning out because he has the same pattern in the lower treble clef and the upper treble clef is melodically and rhythmically increasing in tension.

M. 116-134 is a transition that concludes the exposition section. There is a lot going on in this transition in regard to polyphony, articulations, voicing, and dynamics. Bartók uses all three bar phrases with the exception of one four bar phrase. This transition introduces a new motive and it is very polyphonic based on Bartók’s use of using inner voices to project the melody. Notice how in the treble clef Bartók has conjoined the E flat and B flat interval into one stem and separated the A-G-F#-G melody from it. This is Bartók’s way of showing which voicing is important to bring out and specifically what the melody is. The bass clef melody revolves around the pitches of B flat-C-D flat-C; the three bar phrase ends with A flat-G-A flat. The two melodies are working in conjunction with each other while being articulated differently. For . 116-117, Bartók has the first two eighth notes notated with a slur and a staccato and the following two eight notes each have a staccato on them in the treble clef. Bartók ends the phrase with two quarter notes. The bass clef articulation is of complete contrast where the melody found in the tenor voice has a slur over it meaning it is to be played legato. The bass pitches of E flat and G both have a staccato on them. I want to bring attention to this passage with regard to Bartók’s unique implementation of articulations through staccato, tenuto and rapids changing dynamics from mezzoforte, piano, to forte.

M. 135 is the start of the development section because Bartók is introducing a new melodic motive in the treble clef and a new pattern in the bass clef. Basically, it’s new material we have not seen yet in the movement. This is how we are able to distinguish this is the start of a new section instead of calling it a transition or different passage title. A significant observation to make in identifying the development is Bartók’s use of the tritone. In m. 138, Bartók has written a four grace notes before the E flat note head. The grace note figure starts on note A and ends on the note head of E flat making a tritone or specifically a diminished 5th. From m. 138-142, Bartók has tied the E flat; he is recycling this idea as seen in m. 44-54 in a transition of the exposition. It is worth noting this signature of Bartók because he is introducing a unique type of polyphony in the treble clef. Although there is no definitive harmony establish here, Bartók is experimenting with the B flat-B flat-A flat motive above and below the tied E flat.

Jingyi Fu of the Nanjing Normal University stated, “the harmonic part of Bartok‘s piano sonata mainly includes three whole steps, two-degree stacked chords, four- and five-degree stacked chords, additional note chords, and symmetrical chords” (62). He utilizes the same motive in m. 145-150 with a tied F# and main motive of the development.

Bartók reuses the bass clef pattern seen in m. 135 again in m. 150-152 but this time he is using diminution to make the pattern into three notes instead of four notes. We can consider m. 155-171 as the climax of the development where Bartók is erratically changing time signatures from 2/8, 5/8, 2/4, and 3/4 adding to the build up into his false start of the framework to the recapitulation. Bartók must have not been having a good day when he wrote m. 155-171 as it is truly a pain in the ass to count.

M. 176 is the start of the recapitulation because Bartók is bringing back the dotted eighth-sixteenth-eighth note motive. However, Bartók composed an interjection in m. 180-181 using the same motive from m. 135 except with a different pitch. In m. 186, Bartók initiates another interjection with the dotted eighth-sixteenth-eighth note motive. M. 182 resumes the recapitulation and the pickup to m. 188 confirms we are in the recapitulation because it is the exact same material from m. 14-20 from the exposition. Throughout the recapitulation, Bartók is bringing back the low bass clef chords with the sforzando dynamics adding to the percussive and dissonant nature of this sonata. What makes the recapitulation akin and of contrast to the exposition is Bartók’s use of compositional techniques such as diminution in m. 203-208. The octave melody gets shorter and shorter. M. 211 is the second theme but Bartók only has it for six bars opposed to nearly twenty bars in the exposition.

M. 217 is the start of counterpoint. The motive in m. 217-218, m. 222-223 is the same from m. 1 of the movement. Beat one of m. 217 has the motive in the alto voice, beat two has the motive in the tenor voice, and beat one of m. 218 has the motive in the bass voice. M. 222-223 does the exact same idea through counterpoint. It it useful to note the tenor voice of beat two of m. 217 and beat one of 223 are to be played legato as noted in the first measure of the sonata.

M. 225-235 is Bartók taking material from the first theme of the exposition and contracting the rhythm by making the illusion the music is increasing in tempo however he is just filling in the eighth note rests with other filler notes or one could potentially call this embellishing. M. 236-247 is the transition to the coda. In this section, Bartók is playing around with the notes G-F#-E-D with regard to which octaves he is inputing the notes into. It would be wise to observe the change in scale at m. 245. One may assume m. 245 will have the same notes G-F#-E-D but Bartók pulls a sneaky by going to C-B-A-G then back to F#-E-D-C.

M. 247 is the start of the coda. This concluding section to the first movement incorporates motives and patterns from earlier passages in the movement. The bass clef G#-C#-D pitches in m. 250-258 are reused exactly from the first theme of the exposition. The sixteenth-sixteenth-eighth motive from m. 135 of the development is being reused again here in the coda. M. 255 is where Bartók pulls his signature move. He has a fortissimo on the low B of the top bass clef staff and the low bass clef staff has an augmented fourth chord with three notes every measure. M. 258 begins to rapidly pickup in intensity with the bass clef cluster chords now having four notes. The upper bass clef staff has the low B’s with four note cluster chords that have marcato on them. Bartók ends the movement with a striking glissando ending on a fortissimo cluster chord.

Béla Bartók’s Piano Sonata is known for its complex rhythms, erratic time signatures, and authentic folk-like melodies. His music incorporates Hungarian folk-like rhythms and melodies through the implementation of 20th century modes. Music pedagogues believe 1926 was a pivot point in Bartók’s compositional style as his music began to follow the form of Beethoven and J.S Bach. Bartók’s Piano Sonata follows the typical sonata form of exposition, development, recapitulation, and with a coda. The exposition contains framework, two themes, and transitions. The development covers mainly new material with hints of the frame work from the exposition. The recapitulation entails the exact pitches from the exposition however Bartók experiments with incorporating motives, melodies, and rhythms from previous sections - briefly. The coda concludes the first movement with a very bold statement through cluster chords, erratic rhythms and articulations, as well as a glissando. The Piano Sonata is tonal but is profoundly dissonant as it has no key center. Bartók turns the piano into a highly percussive instrument. The use of consistent change of rhythmic meter and accents adds to the percussive effect. Bartók’s Piano Sonata follows the western-classical tradition of sonata form and more so integrates music composition techniques such as contraction, diminution, counterpoint, and ostinato. Bartók admired the music of J.S Bach and Beethoven, and the first movement of his Piano Sonata reflects the influence of form and structure from the western-classical Germanic tradition of music.

References

Fu, Jingyi. “Analysis of Artistic Features and Performance Skills of Bartok’s Piano Sonata.” Frontiers in Art Research, 61-65, 2, no. 7 (n.d.): 62–62.

https://doi.org/https://francis-press.com/uploads/papers/iMlBnK6t9iUNlV3DyDdP4mulyMujPB5ssTKEo49v.pdf.

Lee, Jihye. “A Linear Analysis of Piano Sonata (1926) Sz. 80 by Béla Bartók: The Genesis and Development of the Composition,” 2023.

“Piano Sonata, Sz.80 (Bartók, Béla).” IMSLP. Accessed May 3, 2024.

https://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Sonata%2C_Sz.80_%28Bart%C3%B3k%2C_B%C3%A9la%29.