LOOKING TO FIND sung versions of the Romanian Christmas Carols that Bela Bartok used to make the set I posted the other day I found these, instead, the actual field recordings Bartok made from which he composed his arrangments of the Romanian Folk Dances, some of his most often played pieces. It is hard to hear in the primitive, scratchy recordings of live performances made in the most primitive of conditions on acoustically recorded wax but if you're familiar with the pieces as Bartok wrote them down, it's incredible how close to the originals he stuck. It leaves me with a renewed respect for his musical integrity and fidelity as well as his creative and superb settings of the melodies.
Here is Bartok playing them.
Direct link to video
While I wish I could find the recordings Bartok based the Romanian Christmas Carols on it's wonderful that musicians and music students have such easy access to these materials that my generation would never have had access to. I hope they're using them.
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