Bartok vs. Stravinsky

[springrite]

Took me a while to decide. Rite is one of my favorite, if not favorite work. However, I only listen to a few works from Stravinsky. On the other hand, I listen to a far greater number of works from Bartok and it is safe to say that I have never listened to one Bartok work I did not like.


So, Bartok it is!

[amw]

I don't really understand all this pure linear ranking of composers, which one is "better" or "connects with you more" or etc. For me I connect with no two composers' work in the same way, and I don't think I'm particularly unusual in this respect. There are composers I listen to in order to be blown away emotionally and composers I listen to because they challenge and stimulate me intellectually; composers I listen to for relaxation or for excitement; composers I crave when I'm happy or sad or tired or lonely or scared. There's music I'm passionately in love with and music that has gone beyond love to simply become part of me, and there's music I love playing but rarely listen to and music that's great for listening but a bitch to play et cetera. I can't say that any of these experiences are more valuable than others. Bartók and Stravinsky are both very important to me, but they're so different—both musically and in terms of the emotions they elicit from me—that it would never occur to me to compare them.

[Karl Henning]

I don't really understand all this pure linear ranking of composers, which one is "better" or "connects with you more" or etc.

Indeed. The sharp irony for this thread is that it was Bartók himself who said, Music is not a horse race.

[kyjo]

Indeed. The sharp irony for this thread is that it was Bartók himself who said, Music is not a horse race.

This thread is no horse race, Karl. I just want to know which composer members prefer, not which one members believe is better than the other. I never said Bartok was a better composer than Stravinsky, so why is everyone ganging up on me? We've had X vs. Y polls in the past, so why is this one causing so much controversy?

[kyjo]

BTW glad to see this is a close poll, unlike some other polls I've created!

[Mirror Image]

This thread is no horse race, Karl. I just want to know which composer members prefer, not which one members believe is better than the other. I never said Bartok was a better composer than Stravinsky, so why is everyone ganging up on me? We've had X vs. Y polls in the past, so why is this one causing so much controversy?

Don't be so dramatic, Kyle. Nobody is ganging up on you. If you go back to many of these 'vs.' polls, you'll see these same people complaining that they simply cannot choose which composer is the one they prefer. It's simply a difficult decision to make for many and I even struggled with this one because I love both composers' music.

[TheGSMoeller]

Stravinsky. I love his neo-classical and later works.

[TheGSMoeller]

I don't find any of these polls hold merit with its results, it's merely a way for other listeners and GMG users to explore more from composers, genres and eras.
I have fun with them. 

[DavidW]

Bartok for the string quartets.

[kyjo]

I have fun with them. 

As do I!

[kyjo]

On the other hand, I listen to a far greater number of works from Bartok and it is safe to say that I have never listened to one Bartok work I did not like.

Same here, Paul. Bartok was a remarkably consistent composer and even his more derivative early works display a master in the making.

[Sammy]

This thread is no horse race, Karl. I just want to know which composer members prefer, not which one members believe is better than the other. I never said Bartok was a better composer than Stravinsky, so why is everyone ganging up on me? We've had X vs. Y polls in the past, so why is this one causing so much controversy?

It's best not to pay much attention to the members who are bitching about this poll (or any other); it's usually the same members. 

I voted for Bartok.

[Karl Henning]

Same here, Paul. Bartok was a remarkably consistent composer and even his more derivative early works display a master in the making.

Of course, it is equally true that Stravinsky was a remarkably consistent composer and even his more derivative early works display a master in the making.

But, we all know that 0:)

[kyjo]

Of course, it is equally true that Stravinsky was a remarkably consistent composer and even his more derivative early works display a master in the making.

But, we all know that 0:)

All of what I said about Bartok is IMHO, of course.

[Karl Henning]

Not at all, Kyle; the statement that Bartók was a remarkably consistent composer and even his more derivative early works display a master in the making, is musical fact, no mere opinion.

[Lisztianwagner]

There are many Stravinsky's works I really adore, but I prefer Béla Bartók.

[not edward]

To crib shamelessly from Ligeti, both of them -- and Janacek as well.


On a personal level, I didn't really 'get' much Stravinsky (excluding the Symphonie des Psaumes) until I spent a bit of time trying (not particularly successfully) to write music myself. After a time I realized I was shamelessly cribbing rhythmic details from him (& also to a certain extent his use of register in the late pieces), and also that I was enjoying works that I'd previously felt very neutral about.

[DavidW]

Of course, it is equally true that Stravinsky was a remarkably consistent composer and even his more derivative early works display a master in the making.

Except that one symphony... doesn't even sound like Stravinsky!

[Karl Henning]

Except that one symphony... doesn't even sound like Stravinsky!

That's fair.

Feu d'artifice, though . . . you have both the echo of the near sources, and the nascent Stravinsky.

[Karl Henning]

All right, a decent interval has passed, and the fruit will not be denied!