Baladă și joc

Baladă şi joc (Ballad and Dance) (1950) is a short piece for two violins by György Ligeti, based on two Romanian folk songs.

In 1949, before graduating from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Ligeti spent the year researching folk music in Romania. Some of the songs he transcribed on that trip eventually became the basis for Baladǎ şi joc, and also his Concert românesc (1951).

The work is in two movements. The first, Ballad, is slow, melodic yet contrapuntal, and highly expressive. The second movement, Dance, is exuberant and very virtuosic.