Bartók Béla Viktor János ： Scherzo Fantasia BB 11

Bartók’s Scherzo Fantasia, BB 11, is a piano work that combines the lightness characteristic of a scherzo with the freedom of imagination associated with a fantasia. Its crisp rhythms and intricate motion bring together playfulness and tension, while contrasts suggesting shifts in character are among its main points of interest. Performers should shape the work’s overall flow as one broad gesture, avoiding an overly mechanical uniformity in the details and clearly projecting changes in accents and dynamics. In faster passages, it is important to preserve lightness and clarity; where the resonance expands, restrained use of the pedal can help reveal the movement of the voices and the outline of the music.