Bartok

Bartok, like many composers, had multiple periods to his musical career. His first period, lasting from 1907 to 1917, was strongly influenced by folk music. This can be heard in Allegro Barbaro, which was composed in 1911. He uses scales from both Hungarian and Romanian folk tunes. Hungarian folk music is largely based off of the pentatonic scale, while the Romanian folk tunes are based more off of chromatic scales. This piece begins in a "Tempo Giusto" style, which has a quicker and more biting sound. The middle section might be considered Parlando Rubato because it is slower, with a thinner texture, and chant like melody. Throughout the entire piece, however, the melody remains very similar, filled with a lot of half steps and ornamentation similar to the many folk songs Bartok was so familiar with.

Bartok's second period was from 1918 to 1935. It was at the beginning of this period that he composed Op. 20, in 1920. In this opus was Bartok's improvisations on Hungarian peasant songs. These are, like mentioned before, largely structured on the pentatonic scale. The harmonies are much more dissonant in this work than in Allegro Barbaro, which is characteristic of his second period. The texture is much sparser and he accentuates the biting sound.