Bartok Kossuth

[Alan Howe]

I have just discovered Bartok's very Straussian early symphonic poem, Kossuth. A great wallow in parts, but also full of vigorous material. How pervasive Strauss' influence was in this period (early years of the 20th C)! And what a compositional technique and understanding of the orchestra Bartok had right from his earliest years...

[eschiss1]

Have you heard his recently reconstructed E-flat symphony? Same general style...
(not commercially recorded yet afaik - oddly!)
Eric

[Kriton]

I agree, Alan, it is an amazing piece! I have only the Hungaroton recordings (old & new Bartók series), can you tell me which one you've heard, and whether it's recommendable?

Fun thing is, a lot of Strauss-influenced early symphonic poems from composers who became famous for very different compositional styles exist. Even funnier is that I like most of those pieces better than actual Strauss. Kossuth holds an important place among them, other examples may include, from the top of my head, Weberns amazing 'Im Sommerwind', Nielsen's Symphonic Rhapsody and Szymanowsky's Concert Overture.

Every one of those pieces shows us how much influence Strauss had on entire generations of composers, at least when they started out to compose.

And then to realize Kossuth is one of many Straussian Bartók pieces, most of which are lost...

[Alan Howe]

I have Ivan Fischer with the BFO on Philips. Utterly superb in every way.