Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)

Settling In Budapest. Systematic Collection of Folk Songs (1907–1913)

SETTLING IN BUDAPEST. SYSTEMATIC

COLLECTION OF FOLK SONGS ( 1 907-1 91 3)

1910

daughters’ in Szilad

Puszta. Around

10 May she returns to Budapest, and moves out from the Bartoks’ Budapest flat to take up residence with her sister Irma

in

Pozsony,

at

53 Széplak

Street.

For the Zurich music festival the widowed Mrs Béla

Bartok

travels to Zurich from Pozsony,

while

Zoltán

Kodály and

Mrs Henrik Gruber together with Mr and Mrs Bartok go from Budapest.

22 May

- In the evening the Bartoks arrive in Zurich. They stay at Hotel Mythen for

two days, after which they move to private accommodation.

23 May

- At 7:30 p.m.orchestral

rehearsal

of Rhapsody.

24 May

- From Zurich Bartok and his wife go for a Luzern visit.

25 May

- He goes on an excursion to the peak Rigi-Kulm with his wife, where they are met by his mother and Mrs Gruber.

26 May

- In the great hall of the Zurich Tonhalle,

rehearsal

of the second orchestral concert of the Tonkünstlerfest

takes

place at 9 a.m., stage rehearsal at 7:30 p.m. The stage rehearsal - Rhapsody with Bartok’s solo and Volkmar

Andreaes conducting

- went well. In the evening there was a reception at art supporter Arthur Schöllers.

27 May

- From Zürich-Rüschlikon

the

Bartoks write a joint postcard to Mrs Emil

Tóth, then

go to a museum.

28 May

- It is the day of the concert, afterwards yet another reception at the Schöllers

’.

31 May

- Bartok writes on a postcard to Etelka

Freund

(who got married to Móric

Milch

at around this time): “For us the most gratifying event of the ‘Fest’ was to have had the chance to get acquainted with Delius”.

1 June

- He writes a greeting card to Mrs János

Bu§i|ia

in Belényes,

then

they return to Budapest.

3 June

- They are expecting Mrs Emil

Tóth who

travels from Szilad

to

Pozsony.

7 June

- In a letter of elation to Frederick Delius he commemorates their acquaintance and writes with regret that he cannot leave Budapest that summer. (He had written his mother already in March that he 121