Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin' (published as A Pantomime in One Act') was composed at a time of violent unrest in Hungary. The Soviet Hungarian Republic had collapsed in 1919 and was replaced by an ultra-nationalist regime which persecuted communists, Jews and leftists and left over 1,500 dead and thousands imprisoned without trial. It is against this bloody political and social backdrop that the composer, recovering from Spanish Flu, set about a musical depiction of Lengyel's pantomime grotesque'. Bartok was spared service in World War I after failing several medicals. He spent the war years collecting folk songs and some of these provided material for the 'Hungarian Peasant Songs', which he returned to in 1933 and orchestrated.

Disc 1

Track name

Artist

1.I. Introduction

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

2.II. 1st Decoy Game

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

3.III. 2nd Decoy Game

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

4.IV. 3rd Decoy Game

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

5.V. The Mandarin Enters

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

6.VI. Dance of the Girl

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

7.VII. The Chase

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

8.VIII. Suddenly the Mandarin's Haed Appears

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

9.IX. The Mandarin Falls On the Floor

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

10.I. Romance

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

11.II. Allegro

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

12.III. Allegretto

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

13.IV. Allegro

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

14.V. Largamento

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

15.VI. Moderato

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

16.VII. Allegro Moderato

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

17.VIII. Allegro

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

18.I. Comodo

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

19.II. Allegro Scherzando

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

20.III. Andante

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

21.IV. Comodo

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Delivery charges

• Orders under £20 - £2.99 postage fee
• Orders £20 and over - FREE*
• Click & Collect - FREE**
• Express Delivery - £5.99

*Selected items are only available for shipping via a dedicated delivery service for a charge.
**Selected items are only available for delivery using Click & Collect to an hmv or FOPP store of your choice.

For more information, please visit the Delivery section of our Help Centre.

When will my order arrive?

• We aim to dispatch orders within 24 hours* 
• Standard delivery is a Royal Mail Tracked 48® service and usually arrives within 2-5 working days, including Saturdays. 
• Express delivery is either a Royal Mail Tracked 24® or DPD service, for delivery within two working days (if ordered by 2pm, Monday to Friday - excluding public holidays).
• We’ll aim to dispatch pre-orders so that you receive them on the release date.

*Items must be in stock to be dispatched within these timeframes. Where an item is 'Back in stock soon', we'll aim to receive more stock within a week and will dispatch orders once the stock has arrived.

For more information, please visit the Delivery section of our Help Centre.

Will you tell me when my order is on its way?

• We’ll send you a dispatch email when your items are on their way, but you can also check the status of your order in your account.
• We don’t always ship everything together so check your dispatch email for more details - we’ll send you a dispatch email per parcel.
• If your order contains items that are out of stock, we’ll ship the in-stock items as soon as we can and will dispatch the out-of-stock items as soon as we’ve received more stock.

For more information, please visit the Delivery section of our Help Centre.

Trusted Suppliers

Products labelled '*item fulfilled by Exertis on behalf of hmv' will be supplied to you directly by Exertis via their approved couriers. When you place an order for an item that is fulfilled by Exertis, your details shall be forwarded to them so that they can fulfil the order, and to their courier so that they can deliver the item.

Returns

• We're happy to accept returns for unwanted items provided that they're returned within 14 days of receipt; unopened, unused and in perfect condition.
• Some exclusions apply, please visit the Returns section of our Help Centre for more details.