Portrait of a Young Girl

Now that we've been eased into listening to Bartok, (see my previous post on Romanian Folk Dances!), let's listen to something a bit more obscure. The piece of music we are about to listen to may sound a bit strange to the untrained ear. While the piece remains tonal, it still uses all twelve tones to create a strange and discordant piece of music.

Sketches

Bartok's Sketches, (Op 9b), Sz. 44, BB 54, I. Portrait of a Girl, is a short character piece depicting a young girl. It may seem like a stretch, but just go with it!

Listen

Listen for syncopated rhythms that seem to be randomly faster or slower than what they should be. These quick jolts of notes remind me of a young girl--fickle and carefree. We get some darker versions of this towards the end of the piece perhaps to show an evolving childhood or a change of perspective. However, listen to the very last few notes. They are quick and just as fickle as ever. The young girl seems to be carefree once more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKwm0AF_d1k