Allegretto

Bartók's For Children (Sz. 42, BB 53; first version 1908–11, revised 1943) is one of the foundational twentieth-century teaching cycles — alongside Kodály's Háry János arrangements and his own Mikrokosmos. Volumes 1 and 2 use Hungarian folk material; Volumes 3 and 4 use Slovak. Each piece sets a tune Bartók collected in the field and teaches the student to play it in two hands without losing its modal character.

Allegretto (Vol. 2 No. 3) is built on a Hungarian folk melody. Technically the test is rhythmic precision in dance idiom (the piece moves in a quick two-in-a-bar with a clear dance lift), evenness across hand-position changes, and a clean articulation of repeated notes. Modal harmony — not strict major-minor — flavours the right-hand line; the left hand provides a quiet drone-or-walking-bass support.

Two pitfalls. First, students play it as if it were Mozart — squared up, four-square. Bartók's folk pieces want a slight irregularity (an emphasis on the strong beat that is more dance than march). Second, the modal colour notes are often pulled into a major-key reading by the player's ear; trust the score, the slightly raised or lowered notes are the point.

Listening: Bartók's own piano-roll recordings of For Children (now PD in many jurisdictions and partially available on IMSLP audio) are the most authoritative reference — and they give a much sharper folk character than later, polite concert recordings.