Bartok and Us

The comedian, actor and keen amateur musician Nick Mohammed reports on the controversies sparked when the Hungarian Bela Bartok brought his music first to concert halls across the UK, and then into our homes, thanks to the arrival of music broadcasting by the BBC in the 1920s.

'Is Bartok Mad – Or Are We?’ was the headline splashed across the front page of Radio Times in December 1927, above a cartoon in which three listeners recoil in horror from a wireless broadcasting ‘CLATTER’ and ‘CRASH’. Bartok’s dissonant scores also provoked strong reactions from critics: ‘Bartok must have caused a series of aesthetic earthquakes all over the British Isles and brought home to many that the greatest boon about wireless is the ability to switch it off,’ wrote one.

Nick charts how, as a virtuoso pianist, Bartok toured the UK, including a memorable visit to Aberystwyth, finds out why the nascent BBC backed Bartok, despite strong resistance from audiences, and discovers how key performers such as the young Yehudi Menuhin became powerful advocates and won round listeners.

Nick Mohammed says: ‘As a performer I’m fascinated by how audiences respond to new ideas, and particularly with Bartok – how did he get British audiences to tune in to a new sound and convince them that he was one of the most significant musicians of the 20th century?’.

The documentary includes new interviews with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, pianist Robert Taub, former Radio 3 and Proms controller Nicholas Kenyon, music historian Rhian Davies and conductor Simon Rattle, as well as rarely heard archive from violinists Yehudi Menuhin and Joseph Szigeti.

Series Producer: Clare Walker for BBC Audio