Recommended Sheet Music, Bartók’s Complete Choral Works

Based on the Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition (a collaborative project between Henle Verlag and Editio Musica Budapest), Bartók's complete choral works are now available in this set of three cloth-bound volumes combined in a slipcase. Distinguished by absolute authenticity regarding musical text and style of notation, alongside superior engraving and print quality, this new edition is an attractive collection for Bartók fans and choral enthusiasts.

The lyrics in this Urtext edition are in the original languages as well as the translations authorised by the composer himself. Literal English translations can be found in the appendix alongside early and alternative versions of the works. Informative prefaces (in Hungarian, English, and German) and detailed editorial comments (in Hungarian and English) are also included. The comments give an overview of the textual and compositional sources and provide detailed information on the performance practice of Bartók's choral works. The collection has been printed on high-quality and environmentally friendly paper, and all volumes are also available as individual paperback editions. Find out more below.

Individual Paperback Volumes

Other New & Bestselling Béla Bartók Publications

Mikrokosmos

Bartók's Mikrokosmos first appeared in 1940 in six volumes and has been one of the milestones in pedagogical piano repertoire for eighty years. These 153 piano pieces, organized in ascending order of difficulty, engage not only with technical aspects of piano playing but also with the fundamentals of composition. Mikrokosmos includes pieces concerning compositional technique such as Imitation and Inversion, Ostinato, and Free Variations, alongside mood pieces and pieces with programmatic ideas such as Notturno, Boating, From the Diary of a Fly, and Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm. Based on volume forty of the Bartók Complete Edition published in 2020, this Urtext edition offers the series gathered in three volumes. This edition includes Bartók's preface, exercises, and notes written for the first edition. Furthermore, it also features a preface and comments by the editor, which not only discuss the genesis and the compositional sources but also provide performers, teachers, and pupils alike, with authentic and detailed information about Bartók's notation and the specific performing problems of Mikrokosmos. All three books are available below.

Music for Stringed Instruments, Percussion and Celesta, BB 114

In 1936 Béla Bartók was commissioned by his Swiss patron Paul Sacher to write the Music for Stringed Instruments, Percussion and Celesta. What Bartók created was nothing less than one of the greatest masterworks of the 20th century that beguiles the listener through its extraordinarily refined construction and lushly expressive rhythms and melodies.

Also remarkable is that Bartók jotted down the four-movement orchestral work very rapidly and without a short score. Breitkopf’s new edition is based on the autograph, on the first editions of the conducting and pocket score, and in particular on the composer's personal copy of the pocket score, in which Bartók later entered the corrections that he had discovered - alterations that were taken into consideration for the first time in this new edition.

Divertimento BB118

In the summer of 1939, Béla Bartók travelled to Switzerland to compose the Divertimento for String Orchestra within the two weeks in which he enjoyed the hospitality of his patron Paul Sacher. The Divertimento is Bartók's highly original contribution to this traditionally entertaining genre of music. The title and three-part structure with two dance-like, vital outer movements allude to Mozart's time, whereas the cheerful alternation between solo group and tutti in the final movement tie up with the Baroque concerto grosso principle. Only the burnished glow of the middle movement suggests that Bartók found little of comfort in the world of his time just a few days before the outbreak of World War II.

This Breitkopf Urtext edition is based on Bartók's autograph and the first edition of the score, which he meticulously revised. Subsequent emendations noted by Bartók in his personal copy were taken into account.