Béla Bartók was born on March 25, 1881 in Nagyszentmiklós, Austria-Hungary, and died September 26, 1945 in New York City.

“All peasant music deeply interests me, and my goal is to extract the essence from it.”
– Béla Bartók

Béla Bartók, along with his compatriot Zoltán Kodály, were both avid ethnomusicologists in addition to their burgeoning compositional careers. The two men traveled throughout Hungary and Romania with Edison phonograph recorders, collected recordings of folk tunes, and transcribed them. Their research would ultimately pave the way for a renaissance of Hungarian folk music in the twentieth century.

Bartók wrote the Romanian Folk Dances in 1915. Originally titled Romanian Folk Dances from Hungary, he changed the title when Transylvania, originally part of Hungary, became a permanent part of Romania in 1920. The work consists of six short dances:

1. Joc cu bâtǎ (Stick Dance): based on melodies Bartók had heard from two Romani fiddlers in the Transylvanian village of Mesőszabad. These tunes would accompany a dance by a solo male, who at the dance’s conclusion would jump so high that he could kick the ceiling.
2. Brâul (Sash Dance): based on a traditional circle dance where waistbands are traditionally worn. The tune comes from the village of Igriș in Romania.
3. Pe loc (In One Spot): also a tune from Igriș, this dance is done in place by a duo. This movement in particular features a much darker, more exotic melody that evokes instruments such as the nai (a Romanian pan flute).
4. Buciumeana (Hornpipe): from the Romanian village of Bucsum, this graceful tune suggests a more Balkan or even Middle Eastern character through its use of augmented seconds. The original tune is much faster than Bartók’s arrangement.
5. Poargǎ româneascǎ (Romanian Polka): a quick dance with changing meters, often danced by children. The tune is from Bélenyes, in western Romania.
6. Mǎrunțel (Fast Dance): two melodies, one from Bélenyes and the other from Nyagra, performed without pause. The fast dancing to accompany these tunes is often a courting dance done by couples.

Romanian Folk Dances was originally composed for piano alone but has since been arranged for many instrumental combinations. It was arranged here for cello and piano by the Italian-American cellist Luigi Silva.