Bela Bartok - Mikrokosmos Recording

[drapopolus]

I've just started with Mikrokosmos to improve my rhythm. I've got the recording also. The first one says that the bpm is 96. So I'm giving whole notes 4 metronome beats, half notes 2 etc. But when I play the recording, it seems like it's twice the speed. So, I tried doubling my speed. I'm playing dead on the beat, but the recording is still a bit off. What's going on here?

I should point out that I've got the György Sandor recording.

[j_menz]

Perhaps Sandor was not so keen on the fascism of the mm markings.

Pianist of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but that annoying tick.  

EDIT:

Sandor was a pupil of Bartok and had this to say about Bartok's approach to such things:

Sandor: Just like any other music!  Just like with any other music!  Very often he wrote down exact metronome markings, and he played those totally differently.  A very good example is the First Piano Concerto.  I happened to study with him the First and Second Concerto.  The metronome markings in the third movement of the First Concerto are excessively fast, but all our colleagues — the honest, good musicians — all read the markings and say, "That's what Bartók meant; let's play that way."  I heard Bartók play it very differently.  If you follow exactly the metronome marks in that particular one and in some of the other pieces, too, the character totally changes!  In the last movement of the Opus 14, which is a slow movement, the metronome marking is incredibly fast!

Q:  Then why did he make this outlandish marking?

Sandor:  That question comes up all the time.  He had a little pocket metronome.  Not the one that you use or I use, but one with a little string and a weight hanging on it.  It wasn't accurate at all!  So his metronome markings should be considered as relative markings.  When 64 is followed by 80, then you know that this section is faster.  But certainly do not take the absolute measurements with the markings.

The full interview is quite fascinating and can be found here:

https://www.bruceduffie.com/sandor2.html

[drapopolus]

Sandor was a pupil of Bartok and had this to say about Bartok's approach to such things:

The full interview is quite fascinating and can be found here:

https://www.bruceduffie.com/sandor2.html

Very interesting. Thank you.

I suppose I shouldn't have considered playing along to the recording, as it isn't really intended for that. The tempos in the recording are in double time, probably because the pieces in Vol. 1 are slow and meant for the absolute beginner.

I'll probably be able to find a play along companion CD somewhere or other.

[momopi]

This is a very interesting insight to Bartok's pieces. I'm listening to recordings too.