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Béla Bartók

Béla Bartók composed his 44 Duos (1931) at the request of Erich Doflein, a German violinist and teacher. In 1930, Doflein had asked Bartók for permission to arrange some of the pieces from the composer's piano collection For Children for violin duo, intending to use them as graded pieces for young violinists. Bartók instead decided to compose some original duos, and during the following year worked in close consultation with Doflein to produce them.

Like many of Bartók's pedagogical works, the Duos' purpose was twofold: first, to provide young musicians with structured technical studies, and second, to introduce young players to folk music. The Duos are comprised entirely of folk-inspired music whose geographical and cultural compass includes Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary, and other Slovak regions, as well as music from the Arabic world.

Though Bartók, like Stravinsky, had such a familiarity with the folk music of his native country that he could create original folk tunes without recourse to "authentic" source materials, the Duos are actually based on pre-existing ethnic melodies. While they share with works like For Children and Ten Easy Pieces a folk music-based pedagogical purpose, they perhaps have more in common with Mikrokosmos (1926-1939) in that above and beyond their practical use, both are possessed of undeniable musical interest and value. Like some of the pieces in Mikrokosmos, the Duos are constructed with considerable harmonic and contrapuntal sophistication, and, despite their use of folk tunes, are written in a distinctly modern idiom. Bartók fragments, develops, and manipulates his chosen folk tunes in the Duos, placing them within the context his own harmonic sense. The result is a collection suitable for young players -- the textures are simple, double stops are used only occasionally, and aside from some pizzicato passages, no special bowing or other playing techniques are required. Nonetheless, they are rife with aurally challenging bitonal passages, polyrhythms, and plenty of brash dissonances.

In 1932, Doflein published 32 of the Duos in his first-level book of violin pieces for students. Inspired by his pedagogical collaboration with Doflein, Bartók continued work on his own collection of graded pieces for piano, culminating in his monumental Mikrokosmos.