Bartók’s Slovak folksong arrangements and their relationship to Stravinsky’s Les noces

Bartók left behind over 300 folksong arrangements. In the field of vocal music, three series are based on Slovak folksongs: Five Slovak Folksongs for male choir (1917, BB 77), Four Slovak Folksongs for mixed choir and piano (1917, BB 78) and Village Scenes (1924, 1926, BB 87). The series are strongly connected among themselves in terms of textual content, formal concept, and treatment of folk melodies. In Village Scenes, Stravinsky’s influence is unmistakable. Not only was Bartók “influenced” by Stravinsky but he also imitated and even “quoted” Les Noces (1923). The article examines the relationship between the two works using Bartók’s 1928 essay Hungarian Folk Music and New Hungarian Music as a point of reference