Divertimento for Strings
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

THE STORY

The infectious energy of Béla Bartók’s Divertimento for Strings contrasts the dark circumstances under which it was composed. The year was 1939 and Bartók was horrified at the rise of Nazism and the influence of fascism in his native Hungary. An opportunity for distraction came in the form of a commission to write a work in the style of previous generations of composers—complete with an invitation to work in a chalet in the Swiss Alps.

Bartók leapt at the opportunity and finished the work in 15 days. He wrote to his son, “Somehow I feel like a musician of the olden time; the invited guest of a patron of the arts… The newspapers are full of military articles, they have taken defense measures on the more important passes etc. - military preparedness. I am also worried about whether I shall be able to get home from here if this or that happens. Fortunately I can put this worry out of my mind if I have to…”

LISTEN FOR

• The irregular rhythms in the first movement: Bartók intentionally tries to fool the ear of the listener, writing in disjointed rhythmic patterns to confuse the sense of pulse
• Muted strings and discordant harmonies in the second movement creating an eerie atmosphere that Bartók named “night music”
• The juxtaposition of soloists and the ensemble in the third movement, in which Bartók imitates the Baroque compositional style

INSTRUMENTATION

Strings