Discuss the musical structure of Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle.

How does it support the dramatic scenario?

Various aspects of the structure of Bela Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle will be studied and
discussed whilst simultaneously taking into account the opera’s dramatic context. I will
also examine and synthesise studies by Carl Leafstedt and Erno Lendvai.

The overall dramatic scenario of Bluebeard’s castle as well as Bluebeard’s personal,

psychological journey is circular. As Carl Leafstedt observes; ‘Bluebeard and Judith end the
opera as they began, separated form each other, having learned some unspoken,
inescapable truths about themselves.’ (Cambridge, 2001, pg.68)

The first scenes portray Bluebeard as a solitary figure in a vast castle set in darkness; Judith
remarks ‘your castle is weeping’ (symbolic of Bluebeards soul perhaps), during which the
music has moved from F# as the tonal centre to D#. When it is decided that Judith is
staying in the castle Bluebeard declares ‘let the door be closed behind us’, this being in F#.
This marks an association with the darkest aspects of the drama to the key centre of F#
minor. By the end of the opera, Bluebeard remains a solitary figure, with his new wife
Judith becoming a ‘memory’ that now accompanies his former wives behind the final
seventh door.

In between the solemn darkness of the F# tonal centres at the beginning and end, there is
light, the brightest of which appears literally, as well as musically at the fifth door. Here the
door opens to reveal Bluebeard’s domain. Loud striking chords moving in parallel motion
in the brassy ‘tonal centre’ of C major (see example 1) provide the musical climax of the
opera as well as the brightest moment. Bluebeard is in positively high spirits and feels
content with the extent of Judith’s discoveries of Bluebeard, this he feels is where Judith
should stop asking to delve deeper into the castle.
Example 1. Bluebeard’s Castle, figure 75

The dramatic structure and development of Bluebeard’s Castle is supported largely by

Bartok’s harmonic framework and development. As well as the harmony and musical
structure being of utmost importance, the instructed use of lighting plays a significant
role too, as it provides a clear link between the opera’s drama and its musical structure.

This brightest moment of the opera, the fifth door of Bluebeard’s kingdom potentially fits
with Erno Lendvai’s analysis and interpretation of other works by Bartok, Lendvai suggests
that the music of Bartok is proportioned by a ‘Golden Ratio’ (or Golden Section).

‘The golden section is ‘the division of a distance in such a way that the proportion
of the whole length to the larger part corresponds geometrically to the proportion
of the larger to the smaller part, i.e. the larger part is the geometric mean of the
whole part and the smaller part’ (Lendvai, 1971, pg.17).

There are various measures used to expose a Golden ratio. The number of bars being one,
however, this doesn’t seem compatible with Bluebeard’s Castle, owing to its large scale
(1392 bars), as well as the length and measure (time signatures) of the bars varying a great
deal. An appropriate approximate measure would be the number of scenes. There are
nine scenes; the introduction, seven doors, and the epilogue. One can apply the following
calculation; 9 x 0.618 = 5.56, rounded to the nearest whole number/scene; six. The sixth
scene is the opening of the fifth door, where the tonal centre is C major, and is indeed the
brightest moment in the opera; the climax. This result may not have been a conscious
intention of Bartok’s, and the opera shares its form and structure from the libretto, Bartok
nevertheless interpreted the libretto and from it forged a musical structure that has a very
close relation to a ‘Golden Section’. The calculation isn’t as precise as perhaps should be,
 either, but the result does still form a ratio extremely close to that of the ‘Golden Ratio’.
The importance of the Golden Section as a harmonic component in relation to the opera’s
drama is that it provides a ‘natural’ balance and journey from dark to light, back to
darkness. Thus, the audience’s connection with the psychoanalytical aspect of the opera is
further enhanced by this ‘natural’ gradient of emotions and drama.

Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle does not contain a key signature, and so uses accidentals to
form the varying ‘tonal centres’. There being no key signature suggests the omission of
diatonic harmony, and indeed, Bartok’s harmonic progressions far from form a
relationship between tonic and dominant keys. This more ‘modal’ and ‘poly-tonal’ use of
harmony enables Bartok the freedom to shift tonal centres accordingly with the various
dramatic settings.

Five measures in from figure two, Bluebeard asks ‘will you enter?’, the tonal centre is F#
with an austere pentatonic frame (a feature evocative of Hungarian folksong, owing to
Bartok’s collection of traditional Hungarian folksongs), when after nine bars Judith begins
at figure three, the centre shifts seamlessly to C, with delicate chromatic shades. This
rather stark harmonic contrast asserts early in the opera the ‘dark’ (of F# minor) and ‘light’
(of C major). The audience is given an aural insight into the drama that will unfold
between Bluebeard and Judith. These dark and light aspects portray perhaps the negative
and positive aspects of Bluebeard’s persona.

Diagram 1
Tonal centres according to Leafstedt (Oxford University Press, 2005, pg56)
Spectrum of light (coloured boxes) according to Leafstedt‘s interpretation of
the opera’s stage directions (Oxford University Press, 2005, pg.61)

F# C# - G# C# D Eb C A C F#

Door 5
Door 4 Blubeard’s Door 6
Door 3 The garden domain The lake of Door 7
Door 2 The treasure tears The former
Door 1 The armory chamber wives
The torture
chamber Epilogue

Introduction
Brightest
light Dark
Dark
Diagram 1 illustrates an arch form to the opera and an arc to the drama (symbolised by
the use of light) and harmony.

The overall dramatic settings form a gradual crescendo of light and optimism where they
reach a climax at door five and a tonal centre of C major. The return to darkness and F# as
the tonal centre is quicker than the crescendo of light.

The first two doors of Blubeard’s castle reveal to Judith Bluebeard’s chilling power. This is
where we first here the ‘blood motif’. It evokes a sense of ‘danger’, and acts maybe as a
warning towards Judith, that the castle (or Bluebeard’s soul) is home to perilous places
and objects. The motif is called upon when Judith notices blood on the castle walls, it
occurs at the first five doors, its distinct feature is the use of the minor second. It is more
prevalent in the darker parts of Bluebeards castle. The next three doors present to Judith
the fruition of Bluebeard’s power. And with each new door new tonal centres occur that
fall between the tritone F# and C, accelerating ever closer towards the fifth door of
Bluebeard’s domain and C major.

A new theme is heard with each scene, although the themes / motifs are related to one
another. Bluebeard’s themes resemble themselves by often singing in a pentatonic frame,
see example one. As do Judith’s themes often resemble one another through use of more
exotic, chromatic scale; see example two. The musical contrast between these two
characters highlights energetic light that Judith possesses, and a particular emptiness /
darkness within Bluebeard.

Example 2. Bluebeard’s Castle, figure 2 – figure 3

Example 3. Bluebeard’s Castle, figure 55

Towards the end of the fifth door scene, Judith becomes more occupied with the blood of
the castle, and as she does so, just before door six is opened, the blood motif of minor
seconds grows, further evoking a near sense of danger.

Bartok also uses rhythm as a device to highlight tonal centres. Making certain notes that
are of more importance, longer. Rhythm also becomes a means of connecting themes,
and according to Fregyesi forms ‘a chain of rhythmic variations that move in a circle that
leads back to the beginning point’ (Antokoletz, E., Fischer, V., & Suchoff, B. 2000, pg.145).
So not only is the overall harmonic frame ‘rounded’, but there are circular rhythmic
patterns that occur in Bluebeard’s Castle too.

Bartok’s harmonic framework in Bluebeard’s castle doesn’t follow traditional diatonic

conventions of form and the tonic dominant relationship. There is nevertheless a key
arrangement, the significant keys being F# - D# - C – A – F#. These keys also spell out a
diminished triad, used typically as a form of tension that becomes resolved, though with
Bluebeard’s castle, there is no resolution, only a return to darkness via a symmetrical,
rounded harmonic design.
Bibliography

Books

LENDVAI, E. (1971). Béla Bartók: an analysis of his music. London, Kahn & Averill.

LEAFSTEDT, C. S. (2005). Inside Bluebeard's castle: music and drama in Béla Bartók's opera.
New York, Oxford University Press.

ANTOKOLETZ, E., FISCHER, V., & SUCHOFF, B. (2000). Bartók perspectives: man, composer,
and ethnomusicologist. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

BAYLEY, A. (2001). The Cambridge companion to Bartók. Cambridge companions to music.

Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Online

PAUL GRIFFITHS. "Bluebeard’s Castle. [Online], The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Grove
Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Available at:
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/O900593
[accessed December 1, 2009].