Exploring the idiom of Béla Bartók's musical language in 44 Duos for Two Violins, its technical and pedagogical significance and correlation to his other string works

Abstract

This research explores the idiom of Béla Bartók’s (1881–1945) musical language in the 44 Duos for Two Violins (1931), examining their technical and pedagogical significance and their correlation to his other string works. Situated within a practice-based research approach, the study integrates three Artistic Projects, a Development Project, and a written commentary, to investigate the interaction between research, pedagogy, and performance.

Bartók is known for his incorporation of collected Eastern European folk music in his compositions, transforming their rhythmic, melodic, and modal characteristics. Understanding this musical language is central to interpretation. The research therefore focuses on the 44 Duos, the two Violin Rhapsodies (1928), and Concerto No. 2 (1938), demonstrating how simple settings of folk-influenced pieces used for pedagogical purposes relate to complex concert works and how these relationships inform interpretative decisions.

The first Artistic Project involves the complete performance and pedagogical analysis of the 44 Duos. Two further Artistic Projects develop connections between the 44 Duos and Bartók’s more advanced violin works, through an understanding of his compositional processes which enriching both transcription and performance practices.

Complementing these projects, the Development Project presents transcriptions of selected pieces from Mikrokosmos (1926-1939), a progressive collection for piano conceived with multiple pedagogical and artistic aims. Each work is reimagined for two violins, preserving musical integrity while adapting texture and technical demands to suit the idiomatic nature of duo violin composition. Supplementary simplified versions and exercises extend the pedagogical scope by addressing technical areas not fully covered in the 44 Duos. This prepares advanced students for Bartók’s more complex repertoire.

This research shows how pedagogical works, concert repertoire, and transcription practice form an interconnected artistic continuum, offering new insights into Bartók’s violin idiom and its application in teaching contexts and contemporary performance.

Date of Award	29 Jun 2026
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Supervisor	Andrea Gajic (Supervisor) & Amanda Bayley (Supervisor)