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Festival in Brussels Celebrates Composer Béla Bartók’s Legacy and Music


Béla Bartók in 1927

A three-day Bartók Festival began in Brussels on Wednesday, organized by the local Liszt Institute, the Béla Bartók Archive in Belgium, and the Bartók Archive in Budapest.

Running from September 25 to 27, the festival includes professional lectures and concerts featuring music composed by or inspired by Béla Bartók.

Zsófia Kovács, director of the Liszt Institute in Brussels, highlighted that 2024 marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Denijs Dille, a Flemish Catholic priest and a leading Bartók scholar. Dille played a key role in establishing the Bartók Archives in both Budapest and Brussels, whose collections are considered among the most important resources for Bartók research.

The festival opened with a symposium dedicated to Dille, featuring lectures by Belgian musicologist Carl Van Eyndhoven, music historian László Vikárius, and Belgian pianist Gilbert De Greeve. On Thursday, a traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the Béla Bartók statue in Brussels will be held, led by Hungarian Ambassador Tamás Iván Kovács. This will be followed by a chamber performance of Bluebeard’s Castle, with Diána Hajdú, Péter Cser, and István Dénes. The festival will conclude on Friday with a jazz concert titled Bartók Electrified, performed by the Párniczky Quartet, showcasing Bartók’s influence on jazz music.

The event highlights Bartók’s lasting impact on both classical and modern music across different genres.

Fact

Béla Bartók (1881-1945) was a pioneering Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist whose work revolutionized 20th-century music. His compositions blend traditional folk music, especially from Hungary and Eastern Europe, with modernist elements, creating a unique, complex style. Bartók’s use of rhythm, dissonance, and modal scales, along with his integration of folk themes, helped shape contemporary classical music. His major works, like Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta and Concerto for Orchestra, influenced future composers, pushing boundaries in tonality and structure.

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Via MTI; Featured Image: Wikipedia





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