Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)
Great Concert Tours on Two Continents (1922–1931)
1923 CHRONICLES OF BÉLA BARTOK'S LIFE in Transylvania, Allegro barbaro, Suite, 8 Slovakian songs from the series For Children, Rumanian Folk Dances, Elegy No. 2, 3 Burlesques, Sonatina, 2 Dirges, and Rumanian Dance No. 1. 12 May - From London he sums up the balance of his trip up to date for his mother on a postcard: it brought net proceeds of 65 pounds and 110 guilders. About the reviews he writes: “all of them are benevolent, they don’t understand the 2nd sonata, but they say this also must surely be good, because alas, we didn’t understand the 1st sonata at first hearing either, and now, the 3rd time, we begin to like it”’. 14 May - The last concert of his tour is in Battle (Sussex East), the programme being identical to the 4 May one with a tiny diminution, only Elegy No. 2 and Debussy’s Mouvement are omitted. (Date on the printed programme is 17 May by misprint.) - That evening he leaves for home. IS May - In the morning he arrives in Budapest. 24 May - He sends a letter and a package - that he brought from Holland - to Bernât Alexander (Géza Révész’s father-in-law) with his son Béla. Between 22 and 28 May a “Music Festival” is organised in Budapest, also featuring singer Dorothy Moulton, in whose home Bartok had given a concert on 19 March 1922. 25 May - They have lunch together on Margaret Island. 27 May - The Vígszínház theatre of Budapest was the scene of celebrating the 25-year journalist jubilee of Ernő Osvát, editor of Nyugat, where beside Aladár Schöpflin, Endre Nagy, Mari Jászai, Zsigmond Móricz, Dezső Kosztolányi, Mihály Babits, Irén Varsányi, Frida Gombaszögi, Dezső Szomory, Mária Basilides, Oszkár Kálmán, Árpád Tóth, Miksa Fenyő, and Árpád Ódry, Béla Bartók also contributed. Afterwards he had ice cream with his wife and the Zsigmond Móriczes at Café Club. - On this day the Bartoks write a letter to Amsterdam, thanking Géza Révész for his help. (Here Bartok begins to address Révész informally, too, just like he did previously with Bu§i|ia.) 222
