Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)
World War II. Second and Third American Tour (1939–1945)
1 940 CHRONICLES OF BÉLA BARTOK'S LIFE certain pieces of Microcosmos, then he is taken to bed with a fever. 19 December - His mother dies. Bartok, averse to ceremonies and ill, doesn’t attend the funeral. He is feverish all through Christmas. But on 26 December he already calls Jenő Deutsch over for 30 December to discuss further work. 1940 2 January - He returns the corrected proofs of his selected piano pieces to the Rózsavölgyi and Co. firm. 8 January - At the Beethoven evening of the Budapest Concert Orchestra conducted by Tibor Paul he plays Piano Concerto C major. The fee is 300 pengős. 10 January - He writes Sándor Albrecht in Pozsony about his mothers death: “You have to resign to the irrevocable even though you cannot be reconciled”. He also thanks him for his many efforts. (The inheritance still left lots to arrange.) 15 January - He replies Paul Sacher who asked for data concerning Divertimento. - He shares the news of his mother s death with him, too. 17 January - He plays Mozarts Fugue in C minor for Two Pianos with his wife in Győr. - He writes Dorothy Parrish in Huntingdon (Pennsylvania) about his American itinerary. He also lets her know the times of his piano lessons. 21 January - In a letter he asks his son Béla - who has regularly been helping him in the management of his administrative affairs - to arrange the complicated matters of his mothers retained pension, and to find a solution for the care of Irma Voit, left on her own now. - He writes Boosey & Hawkes in London. 29 January - He performs Mozarts Fugue in C minor for Two Pianos 450
