Bartók: Melody in the Mist, from Mikrokosmos, Vol 4 No 107

 Playing Bartók

Playing Bartók’s music is a challenge at every level, whether you’re studying one of his easier pieces or one of the harder ones. He was a concert pianist and teacher, as well as being one of the 20^th Century’s most significant composers.

We know that he was meticulous about editing his music, so we have to be careful to do exactly what the score says if we are to make the most of his masterful understanding of the piano.

Mikrokosmos is a series of graded piano pieces progressing from easy to beyond Grade 8 standard.

The first thing to look out for is the metronome mark – and to get used to the tempo that Bartók has set. What we learn from the metronome mark, 46 dotted minim beats to the minute, is that we have to think of the tempo as a slow one-in-the-bar. We have to feel the beat as a dotted minim, so we are not counting three crotchet beats. We do have to make sure, though, that the crotchets are not rushed, and have a leisurely feel to them.

We can always be sure that Bartók means exactly what he says in the dynamics, and the challenge in bar 4 is to achieve a beautiful, rounded tone for the forte. There should never be anything harsh about the sound we produce in this piece. The full, rounded forte sound is produced by sinking into the keys, and making use of the full depth of travel in a firm, controlled way. A useful way of doing this is to put your body weight through your fingertips by leaning slightly forwards.

The pedalling and the articulation work very closely together in this piece. Only pedal where Bartók marks it, and observe the slurs exactly. At the beginning, the print is a bit squashed up, so the pedalling isn’t immediately obvious in the ABRSM exam book. The cluster in bar 3 is marked with ties which don’t appear to go anywhere. This is a way of showing that the sound should continue into the next bar, held with the pedal. Let go of the D in the left hand before you play the C, so that the pedalling joins it to the C in bar 5. This is a completely different effect to joining the D to with C with legato fingering, and Bartók is very particular in the way he has marked it. The gap between the minim G in bar 6 and the dotted minim G in bar 7 should be subtle. This G in bar 7 has to be caught with the pedal so that it sounds into the next bar. The articulation and pedalling work together in the same way in bars 12 to 15.

At bar 28, the melody is more emphatic, but don’t overdo it! Think of it as being more deliberate, and you should get it about right.

The tone-clusters (chords) should always be played legato with the hands, joining left to right without a gap.

The ending is interesting – you will have to let go of the bass G to play the clusters in the left hand. You may have to let go of the G in the right hand to play the clusters there too. Just before you let the pedal up for the last bar, press the G’s silently. Once the pedal is up, you will hear the G’s continuing.