Structure
This set of dances consists of six movements and, according to the composer, it should take four minutes and three seconds to perform, but most professional pianists take up to five minutes. The list of the movements is as follows. The original Hungarian title will be in the first place, the most commonly known title in Romanian will be in the second place and the translation into English will be in parentheses:
- I. Bot tánc / Jocul cu bâtă (Stick Dance)
- II. Brâul (Sash Dance)
- III. Topogó / Pe loc (In One Spot)
- IV. Bucsumí tánc / Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum)
- V. Román polka / Poarga Românească (Romanian Polka)
- VI. Aprózó / Mărunțel (Fast Dance)
The melody of the first movements, according to Bartók, came from Mezőszabad, in the Maros-Torda (now Mureș County) section of Transylvania, and he first heard it when two gypsy violinist were playing it. The second movement is a typical dance from Romania called Brâul, for which traditionally a sash or a waistband was used. This melody came from Igriș, in the Banat region. The third dance comes also from Igriş, but its theme is much darker and its melody recreates Middle Eastern instruments, such as the flute. The fourth dance came from Bucium, in the district of Torda-Aranyos (today Alba county in Romania). The fifth dance is an old Romanian dance similar to the Polka and comes from Belényes, today Beiuş, in Bihor county near the border between Hungary and Romania. The sixth and last dance is formed by two different melodies: the first one comes from Belényes (called Beiuș in Romanian) and the second one comes from Nyagra (from the commune of Lunca Bradului). Both on the orchestral version and on the original piano version, these two dances are performed without a discernible pause.
Read more about this topic: Romanian Folk Dances
Famous quotes containing the word structure:
“The question is still asked of women: “How do you propose to answer the need for child care?” That is an obvious attempt to structure conflict in the old terms. The questions are rather: “If we as a human community want children, how does the total society propose to provide for them?””
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)
“For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“Women over fifty already form one of the largest groups in the population structure of the western world. As long as they like themselves, they will not be an oppressed minority. In order to like themselves they must reject trivialization by others of who and what they are. A grown woman should not have to masquerade as a girl in order to remain in the land of the living.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)