Description

The two pieces included in this volume are transcriptions from Bartók's Ten Easy Piano Pieces, a collection created for educational purposes in 1908. While their themes evoke Hungarian and Slovak folk songs, they do not represent authentic folk melodies. Bartók noted in an American interview that An Evening in the Village is "an original composition" featuring themes of his own creation, yet styled after Hungarian-Transylvanian folk tunes. The piece consists of two themes: the first exhibits a parlando-rubato rhythm, while the second adopts a more dance-like quality, resembling the sound of a peasant flute. An Evening in the Village has gained popularity and is a favorite of Bartók's, who often performed it at recitals. In 1931, he also arranged it for orchestra as the first piece in Hungarian Sketches.