Hungarian Folk Song Research: A Discussion on the Systematization of Hungarian Peasant Melodies

Author: Béla Bartók [Hungary]
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: Bartók (1881-1945) was not only a distinguished Hungarian pianist and world-renowned composer of the 20th century but also an important folk music researcher. His academic achievements have long been recognized and acclaimed globally. From 1904, when he first encountered true Hungarian folk music, to his death in 1945, Bartók devoted over forty years to collecting, organizing, and researching tens of thousands of folk songs and instrumental pieces from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and other regions. Due to his rigorous work ethic and scientific approach, he achieved groundbreaking research results. In the early 20th century, Bartók and Kodály jointly announced the discovery of authentic Hungarian folk songs, which had a significant impact on both the Hungarian music scene and the global music theory community. Bartók was one of the most important composers of the 20th century and one of the most accomplished scholars in the field of comparative musicology. This work is the culmination of the author's long-term research on thousands of Hungarian folk songs he personally collected and transcribed. It holds great significance for understanding Hungarian folk music and also provides valuable insights for folk music learners and researchers in China to learn from Bartók's comparative research methods. It is currently one of the few classic translations of ethnomusicology in China. The book includes over 80 pages of musical examples recorded by the author in his unique style.