CXLIX. BARTÓK, Béla: Romanian Folk Dances

CXLIX. BARTÓK, Béla (1881-1945)

Romanian Dances (1915)
1. Bot tánc / Jocul cu bâtă (Stick Dance)
2. Brâul (Sash Dance)
3. Topogó / Pe loc (In One Spot)
4. Bucsumí tánc / Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum)
5. Román polka / Poarga Românească (Romanian Polka)
6. Aprózó / Măruntel (Fast Dance)
Hélène Grimaud, piano
(5:37)

Bartók wrote an amazing amount of music for the piano -- ranging from works for beginners (see XVI) to beautiful arrangements of Hungarian and Romanian folksongs -- some which he would later orchestrate, allowing the music to bloom in a more colorful descriptive palette.

This is #5 -- Romanian Polka, a powerful, jittery dance: