Concerto for Orchestra

The latest volume of the Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition contains one of the most frequently performed orchestral works of the twentieth century, the Concerto for Orchestra. Not very long after its world premiere by Serge Koussevitzky on 2 December 1944 in Boston, it was already regarded as a ''classic'' of the concert repertoire.

In preparing the critical edition, all sources of the Concerto (including a previously unknown copy of the full score with Bartók’s corrections as well as two early sound recordings) were thoroughly examined. As a result, this edition is characterized by absolute authenticity regarding both the text of the score and its style of notation.

The volume includes a detailed essay on the Concerto’s genesis and reception, followed by notes for performers on Bartók’s notation and on performance problems specific to this work in English, Hungarian, and German.

Beyond presenting the entire source material of the work and discussing individual textual problems, the Critical Commentary includes an annotated diplomatic transcription of all of the sketches and the entire continuity draft of the Concerto, exhaustively documenting the genesis of this masterpiece.