Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)
World War II. Second and Third American Tour (1939–1945)
1 941 CHRONICLES OF BÉLA BARTOK'S LIFE are extremely satisfied. - Bartok gets his further commission from Columbia University for the period 1 July 1941 to 30 June 1942 with a salary of 3,000 dollars. - In Budapest Béla Bartok Jnr empties and gives up the Bartoks’ flat on Csalán Road, puts the furniture in storage. 7 May - Bartok writes Dorothy Parrish again from New York: he is at her disposition after 3 June. - He writes his son Béla dejectedly about the ever-deteriorating general situation that decreases his hopes to return; now he would definitely like to have his son Péter brought out, he takes the necessary steps hoping that Péter can come already in June. In reply to Béla Bartok Jnr’s worry that his little brother would be drafted by the Americans, Bartok writes that while one is a foreign citizen this is out of the question. (The “June” trip got delayed by more than half a year, and Péter Bartok - even though being citizen of a by then already hostile nation - got drafted to the Navy.) In this period Bartok goes to the Columbia on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. 10 May - He acquires a notarial authorisation (for 25 cents) so that his son Béla would have full authority managing his claims abroad, too. - In a long letter he criticises Andor Schulhof ’s bad work up to then and sends him a mediation fee of 7 dollars. - He also writes Hans W. Heinsheimer. 11 May - He informs Douglas Moore of his commission with Columbia University having been extended, and thanks him for his intercession. 14 May - At the Hungarian Consulate General of New York he gets the 10 May authorisation authenticated for 9 dollars and 25 cents. 16 May - He sends the authorisation to Béla Bartok Jnr. In his attached letter he writes about the new flat and strange weather. 24 May - He writes Dorothy Parrish already for the fourth time about dates of the planned private lessons. 3 June - He answers the invitation of Carl Paige Wood, head of the music department of Washington University of Seattle; his present New York 468
