Duos for Trio - The Music of Bela Bartok

Alto saxophonist Martin Speake, cellist Matthew Forbes and percussionist Phelan Burgoyne are releasing their first album entitled 'Duos for Trio', which uses eleven compositions by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok (1881-1945) as templates for new improvised compositions.

The original pieces were written between 1930 and 1931 and are among the 44 duets for two violins - short sketch-like pieces (none of which last longer than a couple of minutes each) - that often use folk themes from around Eastern Europe, which the composer himself collected. The trio have chosen eleven of these, and have used them as the root material for new improvisations, while retaining the essence of Bartok's creative imagination.