Bartok's concerto for orchestra analysis fourth movement Intermezzo interrotto

CRITERION ONE

Bartok’s concerto for orchestra is in a variation of arch rondo form

C
Interruption

B B’

A A’

Section A B C-interruption B’ A’
Bars 1-42 43-60 61-118 119-126 127-151

Rondo form is very common in classical music and is usually found in its simplest form of
ABACA as is found in “Blue Rondo a la Turk” on the Dave Brubeck Time out album

Arch rondo form is normally ABCBA but in Bartok’s concerto for orchestra’s Intermezzo
interrotto the secondary A and B sections are slightly different from their parent sections
Also in arch rondo form there isn’t usually an interruption section between C and secondary B
section

Each section has its own theme with slight variations in the B’ and A’ sections on their original
themes

Section A’s theme is played by the Oboe in bars 4 through to 12

This melody is light and flowing with rapidly changing key signatures and is meant to be
representative of the carefree life of a small town in hungry
The four note motif at the beginning of the piece almost immediately sets the tonal center of B-
A#-E-F#

Sections B’s theme is played by the viola’s from bars 43 through to 50

The Viola’s legato theme is very flowing and relaxed with the harps plucking notes in the
background to get a very relaxed nice feeling going
Section C’s theme is played by the Clarinet from bars 79 through to 84

Section B’’s theme

Section A’’s theme

Tonality

Literal repetition

Imitation

Thematic Development

Transposition
Duration
Beat
Meter
Rhythm

Dynamics

Tone colour

Articulation
CRITERON TWO
The role of instruments
Instrument Oboe
Melody Whenever the Oboe makes
an appearance as it does
with the section A theme it
is usually very happy
bouncy and light usually
accompanied by a drone
from the violins or French
horn In section B the oboe
disappears only to make a
light happy return in the A’
section and then fades away
and comes back with a
vibrato dramatic return in
the interruption section
The oboes also feature at
112 when they join the rest
of the instruments with a
chaotic chromatic fall
Before a final flourish at the
144 and a triplet finish at
the end
Duration The beat of the oboe stays
(beat/meter/rhythm) somewhat consistent
throughout the entire piece
changing only at the
interruption after section C
Dynamics
Articulation
Violin
The violins have the main
melody for the first three
bars at the beginning before
fading into a nice mellow
drone under all the other
instruments that are little
solos everywhere thus
creating a nice soothing
feeling of peace
The Violins only really
“come into their own” in the
B section and even then it’s
a very low melody that they
have so they sound similar
to previously as before
fading back into obscurity a
short while A’
At 75 their drone stops and
is replaced by a staccato
repetitive rhythm that
creates rhythmic instability
that resounds through the
rest of the piece
They pick up the melody
again at 118 before dieing
out yet again at 127 taking
up once again their erratic
pizzicato rhythms and
joining the rest of the
orchestra at the end for the
triplet
The violin changes
depending which section its
in
A majority of the time the
violins drones long notes
with the viola’s and other
instruments
CRITERION THREE
Analyzing recorded versions
Version Las Angeles
Melody The Las Angeles version
has the melody brought out
fighting for dominance
among the other
instruments solo or no
giving it an uncommon
growl that makes it stand
out from the orchestra
Duration The Las Angeles version is
somewhat faster then the
Chicago traveling at a
cracking pace and feels like
its pulling you along for the
ride
Dynamics The Las Angeles orchestra
while paying some heed to
Dynamics seems to try to
stick to one Dynamic level
fortissimo
Tone Colour The Las Angeles orchestra
seems to create their tone
colour through playing very
strongly and with feeling
Articulation The Las Angeles orchestra
seem to have harder sharper
articulations then the
Chicago version
CRITERON FOUR
Chicago
When the soloists appear in
the Chicago version the
orchestra draws back and
lets them have the
dominance of the piece, the
Chicago piece does seem be
more sensitive to the
character of the melody and
what Bartok is trying to
achieve through this piece
The Chicago is a bit slower
then the Las Angeles
traveling at a more leisurely
pace
The Chicago orchestra
seems to stick somewhat
more rigidly to the exact
Dynamic marking on the
score then the Las Angeles
orchestra
The Chicago orchestra
seems to be more in touch
with Bartok’s intention for
this piece and it shows
through the music they
produce
The Chicago orchestra has
softer articulations that
harden when told to by the
music such as in the
interuption