Uploaded November 2016 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Pianist: Gábor Gabos
Rhapsody, Op. 1, Sz. 26, BB 36, was written for solo piano by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók in 1904. A year later, he wrote a version for piano and orchestra. The catalogue number of this composition is Op. 1, Sz. 26. The initial full-length composition for piano eventually received a catalogue number BB 36a, whereas the second version, with piano and orchestra, received a catalogue number BB 36b.
The compositions is in one movement and takes 21 minutes to perform, even though the shortened version takes only half of the total duration. Critics have frequently stated that the loose structure calls for two contrasting sections; however, it is not marked as such in the score. According to some critics, Bartók used a Lisztian style, with very elaborate and vast chords and long and vastly ornamented scales and arpeggios. The composition starts with a fourteen-minute adagio molto, which goes on to a second section, marked Poco allegretto.
Pianist: Gábor Gabos
Rhapsody, Op. 1, Sz. 26, BB 36, was written for solo piano by Hungarian composer Béla Bartók in 1904. A year later, he wrote a version for piano and orchestra. The catalogue number of this composition is Op. 1, Sz. 26. The initial full-length composition for piano eventually received a catalogue number BB 36a, whereas the second version, with piano and orchestra, received a catalogue number BB 36b.
The compositions is in one movement and takes 21 minutes to perform, even though the shortened version takes only half of the total duration. Critics have frequently stated that the loose structure calls for two contrasting sections; however, it is not marked as such in the score. According to some critics, Bartók used a Lisztian style, with very elaborate and vast chords and long and vastly ornamented scales and arpeggios. The composition starts with a fourteen-minute adagio molto, which goes on to a second section, marked Poco allegretto.
