Bartók Dances 1-3 in Bulgarian rhythm (Mikrokosmos). Alkan Airs 1-2 in 5 beats - arr. wind quintet

Описание: These two sets of pieces in unusual rhythms seem to complement each other. Alkan is known as a virtuoso pianist-composer, but he also wrote other music including a 10-minute mock-tragic funeral march for the death of a parrot (for SSTB, 3 oboes and bassoon), and this set of 4 simple piano Impromptus (published in 1849 as the second collection within Op 32, sometimes called Op 32b): the first 3 are in 5 beats to a bar (5/4, 5/8 and 5/16) and the last is in 7 beats. The first piece uses the Spanish La Folia harmonic progression, and the third is a Basque zortziko: possibly fruit of Alkan's friendship with the Spanish musician Santiago Masarnau. Alkan was also a friend of Chopin and his melancholy seems to pervade the other 3 pieces.
With Mikrokosmos (published in 1940), Bartók composed 153 studies in 6 volumes intended to represent a complete course in all the challenges of the piano. The last 6 pieces were separately dedicated to the British pianist Harriet Cohen and are dances in different compound rhythms, where major beats are of different lengths, characteristic of Bulgarian folk music. They are challenging to the ear (polytonal writing) and technically (all are very fast) as well as rhythmically. The last of the 6 is probably the most frequently played.
Here I've interleaved arrangements of the first 3 of the Bartók dances with the first 2 Alkan pieces to give contrast:

00:00 Bartók Bulgarian Dance #1
01:46 Alkan Air #1 in 5 beats
06:00 Bartók Bulgarian Dance #2
07:10 Alkan Air #2 in 5 beats
08:45 Bartók Bulgarian Dance #3

Second video with the remaining 5 pieces here:    • Bartók Dances 4-6 in Bulgarian rhythm (Mik...  

Arrangements of all pieces by each composer available free on IMSLP.org