Béla Bartók

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Béla Bartók (b. Nagyszentimiklos, Hungary, 25 March 1881; d. New York 26 Sept. 1945) was a famous Hungarian composer. He showed great talent as a pianist at an early age. He became very interested in folk music and travelled a good deal in Hungary and other countries such as Romania, collecting folk songs which the country people sang. He often used them in his music. He wrote orchestral music, chamber music and piano music. His six string quartets are among the most famous ever written. He wrote some easy piano music (Mikrokosmos for people learning the piano, as well as some pieces which are difficult to play. His Concerto for Orchestra is great fun to listen to. Bartók’s harmonies and lively rhythms were sometimes quite new to classical music and some audiences found them difficult to understand at first. Sadly he was very poor when he died.