Allegro barbaro bela bartok biography

1911 solo piano piece by Béla Bartók

Allegro barbaro, BB 63 (Sz. 49), composed in 1911, is one of Béla Bartók's most famous and frequently performed solo piano pieces.

The composition is typical of Bartók's style, utilizing folk elements. The work combines Hungarian and Romanian scales; Hungarian peasant music is based on the pentatonic scale, while Romanian music is largely chromatic.

Allegro barbaro bela bartok biography

The title is a jab at Bartók's critics who called him a 'barbarian'.^[1]

History of the composition

Allegro barbaro was composed in 1911, but the first performance didn't occur until 1921.^[2] According to Maurice Hinson, editor, Bartók premiered the piece in February 1913 in Kecskemet, Hungary.

Like many of Bartók's compositions, there are several different editions of Allegro barbaro. The piece was performed in private by Bartók many times by memory before he even started to notate the music. In many early printed versions of the compositi