Category Archives: Case Studies

Music for Commissions, Competitions, and Requests: Béla Bartók and musical patronage | by Zs. Németh

Following the enlightening call for the workshop “Historical Perspectives on Musical Commissions” at the end of 2023, I searched for any comprehensive studies focusing on Béla Bartók and his commissions or Béla Bartók and his commissioners. Over the past century or so, numerous studies have been devoted to Bartók’s compositional output, utilizing a variety of approaches. This led me to believe that there should also be a number of studies on the subject in question. I was surprised to discover that, while one can read about the subject of commissions in works that examine the genesis and early history of individual compositions [1], and the correspondence between Bartók and Paul Sacher (one of his well-known patrons) was published in a dedicated volume a decade ago [2], there is currently no work that provides an overview of the works Bartók composed in response to commissions, competitions, and requests. This prompted me to apply for the workshop, prepare my paper and, subsequently, write a longer study on this subject. The latter is currently in progress and is expected to be published in Studia MusicologicaAn International Journal of Musicology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 2025.

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Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” as a Baroque Aria. Or: How a problem is solved by a singer as a commissioner | by A. Flor

As a coloratura soprano, Simone Kermes specializes in the virtuosic music of the early eighteenth-century dramma per musica, primarily singing pieces composed by Georg Friedrich Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, and their lesser-known contemporaries. Critics often call her the “Lady Gaga of Baroque music,” a nickname she now embraces, skillfully navigating between the realms of Baroque and pop. What makes her fascinating is her ability to handle the demanding music of the eighteenth-century castrati and prime donne – while fearlessly embracing various elements of pop culture.

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Two Sylvias and a Surprising Discovery in New York | by E. Reisinger

I’ve recently returned from my latest research trip to the United States, a trip with a truly extraordinary backstory. This time, my journey took me to Philadelphia to explore the holdings of the University of Pennsylvania (stay tuned for more details on that in an upcoming report), and then to New York, where a rather remarkable development reached its climax.

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