Pianist Andrew Rangell, in his own notes to this fine release of folk-influenced Eastern European piano music of the early 20th century, distinguishes three modes of interaction with folk music available to composers of the time: they could present it straightforwardly, adorned, or indirectly, not explicitly quoted but present nonetheless. The music here can be placed loosely in those categories: Bartók in the first (although the Piano Sonata, Sz 80, falls more readily into the second); Kodály, where folk tunes are filtered ...
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Pianist Andrew Rangell, in his own notes to this fine release of folk-influenced Eastern European piano music of the early 20th century, distinguishes three modes of interaction with folk music available to composers of the time: they could present it straightforwardly, adorned, or indirectly, not explicitly quoted but present nonetheless. The music here can be placed loosely in those categories: Bartók in the first (although the Piano Sonata, Sz 80, falls more readily into the second); Kodály, where folk tunes are filtered through an Impressionist haze, in the second; and Janácek in the third. But the interesting thing is that all three tendencies are present to a greater or lesser extent in all the music, and Rangell's specific program is ideally suited to the attuning of the ear to this music and to the way these composers were listening to each other. Janácek is not always considered a direct ancestor of Bartók, but hearing this music makes the relationship clear. Even listeners unconvinced by...
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