B?la Bart?k (1881-1945) produced many great works; not only his own compositions, but also great collections and analyses of Eastern European folk music. [Sonatina] (BB69) is written in 1915 as a solo piano piece, and Bartók's [Romanian Folk Dances] (BB68) and [Romanian Christmas Songs] (BB67) were also written in 1915. [Sonatina] is based on folk tunes which Bartók collected in Romania between 1912 and 1914.
This Clarinet septet transcription was written for the clarinet septet of Saitama Municipal Urawa High School Wind Ensemble. They first performed in 24 November, 2006.
Though Sonatina consists of three movements (as explained below), the piece is actually made up of five Transylvanian folk tunes. The first movement, [Bagpipers], features two folk tunes which are played by two bagpipe players in an A-B-A form. The second movement, [Bear Dance], provides accompaniment for the bear dance performance, and is played by a peasant violinist. The third movement, [Finale], also features two folk melodies played by peasant violin players.
In 1931, Bartók arranged the piece for orchestra, re-titling it [Transylvanian] Dances (BB102b).

(Keiichi Kurokawa)