Hungarian and Romanian Folk Music

Today is the birthday of Bela Bartok, in 1881, in Austria-Hungary (now Romania). He is considered one of the greatest composers of the 20th century, and was very important in using and creating a lot of folk music. Unfortunately, I don't really know any pieces by him, nor have I listened to much of his music. I think this was partly due to my first piano teacher not liking his music at all, and at the time, I agreed because it sounded too modern to my ears.

I've recently heard parts of his piano concertos, and found them really interesting and fun to listen to. Here's his third concerto, parts 1, 2, and 3, played by a fellow Hungarian, Andras Schiff. It is definitely modern, but has some really nice moments.

Here's some recordings of the composer himself, playing a lovely little Sonatina, and a darker piece, Allegro Barbaro.

Here is a lively and interesting version of his Romanian Folk Dances, another popular piece.

Well, I've never listened to so much Bartok in my life as tonight. I liked what I heard, surprisingly. I think I'll do some more listening in the future!