Béla Bartók

Sonatina

Béla Bartók often used musical material from his folk music collections for his compositions. His Sonatina, originally written for solo piano in 1915, was based on songs that he collected in Transylvania. The three movements (1. Bagpipers - Molto moderato, 2. Bear Dance - Moderato, and 3. Finale - Allegro vivace) were orchestrated by Bartók in 1931. Shortly before Bartók's orchestral transcription was finished, violinist Gertler Endre's transcript for violin and piano was completed. Gertler and Bartók knew each other personally and, in fact, first made each other's acquaintance as a result of their shared experience with their respective transcriptions.