Uygar Mert Kurtcu Uygar Mert Kurtcu Carolin Stahrenberg Carolin Stahrenberg Meesun Hong Coleman Meesun Hong Coleman Masterarbeit Masterstudium Viola RA 066 717 This thesis explores Béla Bartók's ethnomusicological research in Turkey and its influence on his late compositional style, particularly in his Viola Concerto. Bartók, a leading 20th-century composer, was also a pioneer in ethnomusicology. His studies began with Hungarian folk music and expanded to other cultures, including Turkish folk traditions. In 1936, Bartók visited Turkey at the invitation of Turkish officials, contributing to the country's efforts to build a national cultural identity through its folk heritage. A key focus of this study is the influence of Turkish folk music on Bartók’s Viola Concerto, one of his final works. Although unfinished at the time of his death in 1945, the concerto, completed by Tibor Serly, incorporates modal harmonies, pentatonic scales, and asymmetric rhythms characteristic of Turkish folk music. This thesis analyzes the integration of these elements into the concerto's three movements, highlighting Bartók's synthesis of folk motifs with modernist techniques. The interdisciplinary nature of Bartók’s Turkish research, encompassing musicology, cultural studies, and history, is also emphasized. In conclusion, this thesis argues that Bartók’s Turkish folk music research was instrumental in shaping his late compositional style, particularly in the Viola Concerto. By blending Turkish folk traditions with Western classical forms, Bartók expanded the boundaries of 20th-century music, leaving a lasting legacy in both composition and ethnomusicology. PDFDocument eng 2025-01-08T07:22:05.991797Z 1325092 b application/pdf http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/