Wooden Prince

Available for 27 days

The world plunges into war, with Bartók's Hungary at the centre. 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, as the world plunges into a war with Hungary right at the centre, Bartók finds his “life’s purpose” of collecting folk songs challenged, to say the least. The Wooden Prince, Sz. 60 BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Thomas Dausgaard Village Scenes, Sz. 79 Budapest Radio Choir Budapest Radio Orchestra, György Lehel 5 songs Op. 15 Julia Hamari, mezzo-soprano Ilona Prunyi, piano Hungarian Folksongs (5), for voice & orchestra, BB. 108, Sz. 101 Magdalena Kožená, mezzo-soprano Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle Produced by Alice McKee for BBC Audio Wales & West