Radio 3

Bartók faces a big decision: stay in Hungary or leave forever? Béla Bartók was regarded as one of Hungary’s greatest composers. His fellow countryman, the pianist Andras Schiff, called him “one of the giants in the history of music.” But he was also one of the founders of what we now call ethnomusicology, spending much of his time immersed in peasant life, collecting folk songs. As around him Europe was torn apart by conflict, Bartók found relief in rural life and took inspiration from these traditional tunes, incorporating them into his own compositions. In today's programme, Donald Macleod finds Bartók facing big decisions: whether to part company with his wife: and whether to stay in Hungary, the country whose music he’d dedicated a lifetime to, or leave it behind. 44 Duos for Two Violins, BB 104, Sz. 98 Andras Keller, violin Janos Pilz, violin Out of Doors, Sz. 81 Radu Lupu, piano Mikrokosmos, Book V Cédric Tiberghien, piano String Quartet No. 6, Sz 114 Heath Quartet Piano Concerto No. 3, BB 127, Sz. 119 Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, piano BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda Produced by Alice McKee for BBC Audio Wales & West