Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Major

Bartók completed the second of his three piano concertos in 1931, five years after his first. The earlier work’s concentrated severity and relentless dissonance had made it a difficult experience for audiences, and Bartók later said that he had consciously devised his Piano Concerto No. 2 to be more approachable. As before, the music combines tight-reined melody (derived from the folk music of Bartók‘s native Hungary) and driving rhythmic energy; however, the material now explores a wider range of contrasting moods and sonorities than in the First Piano Concerto, and the overall design is more expansive. The solo piano part is extremely difficult to play, demanding huge reserves of power, stamina and quicksilver virtuosity, and indicating how formidable a pianist Bartók was; he himself gave the Concerto’s first performance in Frankfurt in 1933. Like some of his other works from this period (for instance, the Fourth and Fifth string quartets), the Concerto is designed in an arch form: two fast outer movements flank a central one, which itself has two slow outer sections separated by a very fast, scherzo-like central episode. In the first movement the orchestral strings are silent, with only wind and percussion accompanying the piano, so that maximum contrast is set up with the second movement’s strikingly atmospheric opening. Here the muted strings play very quiet, chorale-like phrases, alternating with passages for the piano in duet with the solo timpani.