The multi-arts performance called Mezőség-Mikrokozmosz focuses on the movements of Béla Bartók's piano works Mikrokosmos and the melodies of Mezőség, that inspired the composer. The abstract visual depiction of the peasant world, contemporary theatre that is both verbal and movement-focused, and authentic dance and music culture are all organically integrated with the movements of Bartó's piano works. Now, we'll provide some fascinating information concerning the latter.
Bartók wrote the 153 movements of the series he called Mikrokosmos and published in six volumes, between 1926 and 1939. Written for the learner of the piano, they are not only an introduction on how to play the instrument, but open up the very universe of music.
Composer Ferenc Farkas wrote about Mikrokosmos in 1940: ‘It is a miniature model of the world, the whole world of a great artist, condensed into six volumes, with all its problems and achievements, fashioned with a stubborn consistency – as well as with the visionary instinct of the genius.’
Bartók liked to play pieces from Mikrokosmos at his own piano concerts, and Aladár Tóth, an eminent music critic of the period, noted that these miniatures echo the composer’s great works, and consequently ‘admit the listener into the innermost shop of his art.’
The Mikrokosmos may be interpreted as a series of pieces in many different styles, representing a small world, or it may be interpreted as a world, a musical world for little ones, for children,’ Bartók said in a radio interview in 1945.
Bartók has been a major influence on jazz musicians; Chick Corea’s Children’s Songs, for instance, are closely related to the musical world of Mikrokosmos.
+1George Crumb, one of the most original composers of contemporary American music, paid tribute to Béla Bartók in a monumental series, Makrokosmos, which he composed between 1972 and 1979.
