Bartok and Gypsy music by Marta Sebestyen, Muzsikas and Takacs Quartet

Having always felt intimate with Bartok's as well as gypsy music of the roma, I've thoroughly enjoyed playing this recording, loud. It helps to have recently read "Bury Me Standing"- comes from the saying, 'Bury me standing, I've been on my knees all my life'.

"The acclaimed Takacs String Quartet joins the Hungarian folk ensemble Muzsikas (with singer Marta Sebestyen, whose inimitable voice you may recall haunting the soundtrack to "The English Patient") to celebrate Hungarian composer Bela Bartok…

When the members of the Takacs Quartet and Muzsikas combine for a concert, they delight in making clear the connections between Bartok's own music and his folk-music obsessions. For example, they alternate movements from some of Bartok's best-known pieces (Romanian Folk Dances, String Quartet No. 4) with the real village dances he collected in the field — both the actual old scratchy records and their own live versions thereof…"

Tracklist / Concert program
Bartok: Violin Duos

Track 01
- Torontal Dances (Muzsikas)
- "Ardeleana" (historic Bartok field recording)
- Duo No. 44

Track 02
- "Shoe of My Horse" (Marta Sebestyen)
- Duo No. 28
- Duo No. 32
- "Jocul Barbatesc" (Marta Sebestyen)

Track 03
Bartok: Sonatina (with traditional tunes)

- Bagpipes (Takacs Qt.)
- Bear Dance (Takacs Qt.)
- Bear Dance from Gyimes (Muzsikas)

Track 04
Traditional: Ballad of the Murdered Shepherd

Track 05
Bartok: Romanian Folk Dances (with source tunes)

- Bota es Invertita (Muzsikas)
- Stick Dance (Takacs Qt.)
- Waistband Dance (Takacs Qt.)
- "Pe Loc" (Muzsikas)
- Hornpipe Dance (Takacs Qt.)
- Romanian Polka (Takacs Qt.)

Recordings
May 6 2009
Jordan Hall, in Boston

Artists
Takacs String Quartet (Takács Vonósnégyes)
Muzsikas with Marta Sebestyen (Muzsikás együttes és Sebestyén Márta)
Bela Bartok's field recordings (Bartók Béla)