EDITION ZEZA REPRINT SERIES

The Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 is a five-movement musical work for orchestra and one of Bartok's best-known, most popular and most accessible works.

I. Introduzione. Andante non troppo - Allegro vivace
The first movement, Introduzione, is a slow introduction of Night music type that gives way to an allegro with numerous fugato passages. This movement is in sonata allegro form.

II. Giuoco Delle Coppie. Allegretto scherzando
The second movement, called Game of Pairs, is in five sections, each thematically distinct from each other, with a different pair of instruments playing together in each section.

III. Elegia. Andante non troppo
The third movement, Elegia, is another slow movement, typical of Bartók's so-called "Night music". The movement revolves around three themes which primarily derive from the first movement.

IV. Intermezzo Interrotto. Allegretto
The fourth movement, Intermezzo interrotto, consists of a flowing melody with changing time signatures, intermixed with a theme parodying the song "Da geh' ich zu Maxim" from Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow, as the composer's pianist friend György Sándor has made clear.

V. Finale. Presto
The fifth movement, Finale, marked presto, consists of a whirling perpetuum mobile main theme competing with fugato fireworks and folk melodies. This is also written in sonata allegro form.