Performance

Work by Béla Bartók

1 upcoming performance in New York

At David Geffen Hall, a work by Béla Bartók sits inside a season-opening conversation about where music comes from and who it speaks for. Bartók’s scores often turn field-collected folk materials into modern orchestral argument, treating tradition as evidence rather than ornament. In New York, his music entered the repertoire through mid‑century champions and helped define the city’s appetite for 20th‑century modernism. One can hear how rigor and empathy coexist in his approach, with identity carried in rhythm and contour as much as melody.