Poster Bela Bartok using a gramophone to record folk songs (1908)
Bela Bartok using a gramophone to record folk songs (1908)
Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

Bartok the ethnomusicologist

In the early 1900s, Bela Bartok traveled the dusty back-roads of eastern Europe with a heavy Edison recording machine. He recorded thousands of folk songs that, in turn, inspired his own work. On this weekend's Performance Today, the Romanian Dances by Bela Bartok, from a concert by the Sinfonietta of Riverdale, New York.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Bela Bartok: Hungarian Folk Tunes, Volume 1 (selections)
Paul Galbraith, 8-string guitar
In Every Lake the Moon Shines Full
Delos 3236

Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV 1008
Alisa Weilerstein, cello
92nd Street Y, Kaufmann Concert Hall, New York City, NY

Piano Puzzler: This week's contestant is Jason Carr from Philadelphia, PA

Bela Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances
Sinfonietta of Riverdale; Mark Mandarano, conductor
Sinfonietta of Riverdale, Christ Church Riverdale, Riverdale, NY

Hour 2

Ludwig van Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 18, No. 4: Movement 4 Allegro
Miro String Quartet
Op. 18
Vanguard 1655

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 12, Op. 26 in A flat Major
Javier Perianes, piano
University of Georgia, Ramsey Concert Hall, Athens, GA

Maurice Ravel: Tzigane
Blake Pouliot, violin; Hsin-I Huang, piano
Performance Today Young Artist in Residence, Maud Moon Weyerhaeuser Studio, St. Paul, MN

Michael Ippolito: Nocturne for Orchestra
Nashville Symphony; Edo De Waart, conductor
Schermerhorn Symphony Center, Nashville, TN

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American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

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