Béla Bartók’s Sonatas for Violin and Piano are among the most profound and expressive works not only in chamber music but in the history of music. These works are suggestive self-confessions that carry the late romantic spirit of Bartók’s music – evidenced by the stunning virtuosity of both instruments – but are also unsurpassably modern and daring. The composer’s relentless self-reflection sheds light on the most hidden stirrings of the human soul, universal emotions made palpable through myriad musical gestures.

Bartók is also a dreamer of reality: he takes his listeners into a trance-like state, pushing the limits of the human nervous system to a kind of self-analysis, a psychological abyss. The extreme colours and almost hallucinogenic chords of his music go beyond the art of the French Impressionists. His use of form draws deeply from the classical style, while his voicing recalls the influence of the baroque, most notably Bach.

Bartók’s unique musical world, illuminated by the lantern of a genius, can perhaps be said without exaggeration to be a musical mediation of the constant re-creation of the world. This music captivates the listener again and again.

Márta Ábrahám, Mustang violin (manufactured by Bence Holló)
László Borbély, Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano, Hamburg