{"id":37098,"date":"2023-12-20T16:31:56","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T15:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/f1d3c705-c22a-4e64-85e2-572d550ad2be"},"modified":"2023-12-20T17:41:09","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T16:41:09","slug":"bartok-folk-music-alchemist","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/bartok-folk-music-alchemist\/","title":{"rendered":"Bart\u00f3k: folk music alchemist"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By BBC Music Magazine\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 20 December 2023 at 15:31 PM<\/p>

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In an article on the influence of peasant music on modern music, B\u00e9la Bart\u00f3k once declared: \u2018The right type of peasant music is most varied and perfect in its forms. Its expressive power is astonishing, and at the same time it is devoid of all sentimentality and superfluous ornaments… A composer in search of new ways cannot be led by a better master.\u2019 <\/p>

For Bart\u00f3k, the \u2018right type\u2019 of music was not the sophisticated urban style of the gypsies, which Brahms and Liszt had mistaken for genuine Hungarian folk music, but the less refined traditional melodies that had been passed down through the generations in rural communities.<\/p>