The String Quartet No. 5 by Béla Bartók was written between August 6 and September 6, 1934. Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a composer, pianist and collector of East European folk music. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The work is in five movements:

1. Allegro
2. Adagio molto
3. Scherzo: alla bulgarese
4. Andante
5. Finale: Allegro vivace

Like the String Quartet No. 4 and several other works by Bartók, the piece is in a so-called "arch" form - the first movement is thematically related to the last and the second is related to the fourth, with the third standing alone at the work's centre.

Additionally, the first movement, which is in a sort of sonata form, is itself arch-like, in that each section of exposition is given in reverse order during the recapitulation - the melodies of each section are also inverted (played upside-down). Bartók himself pointed out that the keys used in the movement ascend in the steps of the whole tone scale: the exposition is in B flat, C and D; the development is in E; and the recapitulation is in F sharp, A flat and B flat. Sonata form refers to both the standard layout of an entire work and more specifically to the standardized form of the first movement. ... Look up Melody in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In music, a melody is a series of linear events or a succession, not a simultaneity as in a chord. ... In music theory, the key identifies the tonic triad, the chord, major or minor, which represents the final point of rest for a piece, or the focal point of a section. ... In music, a whole tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole step. ...

The three middle movements are all in ternary form, with the third in a time signature typical of Bulgarian folk music: nine quavers in each bar in uneven groups of 4+2+3. The last movement is again arch-like: Bartók described it as being in the form ABCB'A' with a coda to round things off. Ternary form is a way of structuring a piece of music. ... The time signature (also known as meter signature) is a notational device used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each bar and which note value (minim, crotchet, eighth note and so on) constitutes one beat. ... Folk music, in the original sense of the term, is music by and of the people. ... Coda, in music, is a passage which brings a movement or piece to a conclusion through prolongation. ...

The work was commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and is dedicated to her. It was premiered by the Kolisch Quartet in Washington, D.C. on April 8, 1935 and first published in 1936 by Universal Edition. Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (October 30, 1864 - November 4, 1953), born Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist and patron of music, especially of chamber music. ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... April 8 is the 98th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (99th in leap years). ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Universal Edition (UE) are a classical music publishing firm. ...

Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a composer, pianist and collector of East European folk music. ... The String Quartet No. ...

Further reading

• Antokoletz, Elliot. The Music of Béla Bartók: A Study of Tonality and Progression in Twentieth-Century Music. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984.

• Roger E. Chapman, The Fifth Quartet of Béla Bartók in the periodical Music Review (1951)

• Lendvai, Ernö. Béla Bartók: An Analysis of His Music. London: Kahn & Averill, 1979.