Béla Bartók

Born: 25. March 1881 (Nagyszentmiklós, Magyar Királyság, today Sânnicolau Mare, Romania).

Died: 26. September 1945 (New York, New York, USA).

Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer, pianist, ethnomusicologist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music.

He is considered one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century; his vast production reveals a daring and restless harmonic instinct that is affected by his passionate studies on Hungarian folk songs. Typical elements of Béla Bartók style (derived from Hungarian, Transylvanian and Romanian folklore) consists in the use of irregular rhythms and a clear preference for obsessive rhythms. His compositions have sonorities, sometimes abstract, but often harsh, rough and barbaric.

Married to the pianist [a=Ditta Pásztory-Bartók]. His 2nd son, [a=Peter Bartok] became a recording engineer.