This study is based on the systematic music analysis of Bela Bartok (1881-1945) 's "Five Songs Op.16", which was written by Hungarian symbolist poet Ady Endre, It was aimed at identifying how the world of poetry in 1877-1919 interacted with and musica...
This study is based on the systematic music analysis of Bela Bartok (1881-1945) 's "Five Songs Op.16", which was written by Hungarian symbolist poet Ady Endre, It was aimed at identifying how the world of poetry in 1877-1919 interacted with and musically embodied bertok 's folk musical-based songwriting techniques. This work, completed in 1916, was a collection of vocal songs completed by Bertok after he began his full-scale ethnographic studies; he wrote many instrumental songs during his lifetime, but only two original works of art are: five Songs Op.15 and five Songs Op.16. Op.16 is the only vocal collection that uses Endree's symphonic poetry as text, and is an important work that marks the intersection of Hung-Li literature and music in the early 20th century.
The research methods were structured as follows. First, the life of Bertok, the study of folk music, and the characteristics of vocal music were reviewed. It was followed by a review of Endree 's life and the literary background of symbolism, and a literary analysis of five poems. In the music analysis, the theoretical framework of vertok's unique composition techniques, such as Bruckenform, folk musical characteristics, Bartok chord, and Hwanggeumbi, was used to analyze each song in sequence.
Analysis revealed that the five songs formed A symmetrical arch structure (A-B-C-B' -a ') around the third song. "Autumn Tears" is musically embodied, gradually deepening the speaker's sense of depression based on the central note B. "Echoes of Autumn" uses the four-degree harmony as the main material to depict the autumn fog and the stumble of an old man. "Lost Satisfaction" expressed the gap between fear of death and reality through frequent changes in tempo and beat, while "Alone with the Sea" evoked memories through arpeggio repetition of pardomotifs. "I can't come to you" is a gradual disappearance through the repetition of the melody of the fourth degree and the refrain of "I'm dying."
Vertok combined the short rhythm, five-tone scale, and legal elements derived from folk music with modern Hwaseong language, while maintaining a musical center away from the composition. In addition, the double sentiment and tension were formed through the three chords, and structural perfection was secured by placing the climax close to the golden ratio. This composition technique was organically combined with the content and sentiment of the poem to form an original music world integrated with ethnic identity and modern expression.
This study identified how ethnic music, symbolism poetry, and musical language were combined to achieve artistic perfection in each song. The literary analysis of Endree 's poetry also shed light on the interplay between poetry and music, and revealed the intersection of the two artists' minds in the cultural context of Hungary in the early 20th century. This confirmed that "Five Songs, Op.16" was a representative work showing the originality of Vertok's vocal music and an important example of eastern European music history in the early 20th century, combining nationalism and symbolism.
Key words: Bella Vertok, Five Songs Op.16, Erdy Endre, Symbolist poetry, Hungarian folk music, single and triple chords, arched structures, ethnic musicology, symbolism