Here is one of the pinnacles of Bartók's orchestral work, and indeed of all 20th-century music. The strings are divided into two sections around the percussion. At the center are a harp, a piano, and a celesta, accompanied by the following percussion instruments: a xylophone, two piccolo drums, a tam-tam, a cymbal, a bass drum, and timpani.

The music is steeped in a heavy and oppressive atmosphere. The gradual crescendo is a progressive conquest of the sound space, with an amplitude and intensity bordering on violence. In this, Mravinsky, that great master, is the absolute reference. The Russian orchestra, whose tones have rarely been darker and rougher, seems trapped in a vice from which there is no escape. In the final movement, the extreme tension and the frenzied rhythm of his conducting have never been matched.

The remastered edition allows for a greater appreciation of the beautiful stereophony and the powerful dynamic impact essential to fully appreciating the work and its interpretation.