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

War Years (1914–1919)

WAR YEARS (1914-1919)

1917

an account of difficulties at the Opera: “Incredible imbecility prevails; e.g. they didn’t want to hand out the parts” on the correction of which he is now working with Kodály

’s help.

10 or 11 April - He travels to Pozsony,

where

between the 14th and 16th he is collecting marching songs at the 13th infantry regiment of Pozsony.

“I was glad about the songs and the Tót

people,

but suddenly my heart grew very heavy that I could not go to a village of my liking to collect; for how long already! and for how much longer still!” - he writes his wife. He finds the results rather poor by the way.

18 April - He writes his wife already from Budapest, that there was only one string rehearsal in all up till then, and it seems there will be no performance until 7 or 8 May.

22 April - In his last letter to Üjtátrafüred

he

is complaining about the bitter cold that prevented him from going to Rákoskeresztúr,

and

about the Opera where rehearsals proceed slowly and they don’t even have a saxophone, are unable to get one.

His wife has recovered more or less and she traveled to the Emil Tóths in

Doboz,

where

Bartok visits her.

1 May

- He arrives back to Rákoskeresztúr

with

considerable delay.

3 May

- He is at his father-in-laws’ in Budapest.

5 May

- From Rákoskeresztúr

he

writes his wife in Doboz

that

finally the date of the premiere is set for 12 May; Béla

Balázs (whom

Bartok mentions always by his original name “Herbert”) gave up his free box in Bartok’s favour, but the Opera House was hard to convince to reserve paying tickets (!) for the rest of the interested family members and acquaintances. He mentions that maybe even the absence of the 2 pistons will be felt.

6 May

- His answer to János

Bu§i|ia

’s inquiring postcard is from Budapest, and he complains at length about the ravages of the war, his wife’s illness and the bad conditions at the Opera. Concerning the 12 May premiere he writes: “People are already anticipating the hour of reckoning with me”.

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