Romanian Folk Dance No.2 - Peasant Costume

Description

Bartók's Romanian Folk Dances are a set of six short pieces he put together for piano in 1915 from Romanian folk melodies he had collected in Transylvania. He later arranged them for small orchestra, and they have become widely loved. The second, "Brâul" (Sash Dance), is one of the shortest in the set.

It is in 2/4. A folk melody is presented over a simple accompaniment and moves forward by repeating short phrases. The melody carries the distinctive scale colour of folk music, a sound that does not sit wholly within major or minor. Its range is narrow, from D2 to C5, and fits comfortably on a 61-key keyboard.

Rated beginner, it is a very short piece of about 13 seconds and 106 notes in this data. The task is to bring out the lift of the beat and the accents of a folk dance within its brief phrases. With so few notes, check how melody and accompaniment are divided between the hands with the hand colours, and start by slowing the playback to learn the melody. Playing it together with the other pieces of the set shows where it stands within the group of six.

A broad collection of standalone piano pieces not belonging to any specific set, offering hundreds of varied character pieces to explore and compare.