Contrasts

Contrasts for violin, clarinet and piano, written by Bartók in 1938, was commissioned by Hungarian violinist Joseph Szigeti and jazz clarinettist Benny Goodman. Originally in two movements, it received its first performance by these soloists with the composer as pianist in New York in 1939. Bartók then added a central movement, and it was recorded by the same performers in 1940, prior to its first complete public performance. It is not exactly known why Bartók adopted this particular title for the work. Perhaps it reflects the composer’s interest in exploiting the very different timbres of a string and wind instrument. However, it could also refer to the sharply contrasting moods explored in each of its three movements. The first movement is entitled “Verbunkos”, a Hungarian recruiting dance traditionally used to lure people to join the army. It opens with plucked violin notes in march-like rhythms before the clarinet introduces the main melody (whose turn of phrase has an uncanny similarity to that of the “Marcia” second movement of Bartók’s String Quartet No. 6, written in the following year). A far more withdrawn mood characterises the atmospheric central movement “Pihenő” (“Relaxation”), with its eerie trills and intriguing allusions to Balinese gamelan music. At the opening to the final movement, “Sebes”, the violin employs different tuning for two of its open strings to create a strongly rustic flavour which acts as an enormously effective launching pad for the clarinet’s fast and furious main melody.