One of my very favourite pieces of music, Piano Concerto no. 3 by Béla Bartok (1881-1945), performed here by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Simon Rattle, with Andras Schiff as the soloist:
The mini fugue section starting at 0’50, introduced by the piano and then picked up by strings, is sublime.
In fact, I love all three movements of this piece. The second movement is so serene and still (the piece was a gift from Bartok to his wife, written in his final days, and in many ways can be seen as a farewell letter to her, or to life), and makes a marvellous contrast with the explosive start to the final movement, given here.
Bartok is one composer that I’m not sure I’ll ever learn to love. He composed some amazing pieces, but I’m just not one for the sort of intentional randomness that made up his style.
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