Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)
Last Journey Home, “… But For Good” (1988)
LAST JOURNEY HOME, „...BUT FOR GOOD" (1988) 1988 The ship departed in order, but a fire broke out in the boiler room while we were still in the harbour area which meant we had to stop, and after the fire was extinguished we carried on an hour behind. 29 June - On the ship we were asked to give an informative presentation on the life of our father, which we held in English and in such a format that I spoke of the period up to 1940 and my brother spoke of the American years. 30 June - We arrived at Southampton which was the final stop on the schedule of the ship set to return to New York via Cherbourg. In Southampton Harbor, we were escorted ashore ahead of the other passengers and received by British Secretary of State David Mellor, Mayor of Southampton P. M. Beer, and our Ambassador in London Dr. Mátyás Domokos. From here we went to the town hall decorated with the Hungarian flag, where we visited a Bartok exhibition and then attended the mayor’s dinner. There British Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers message was relayed to participants of the Southampton celebrations. In it, she stated that the genius of Béla Bartok had increased the prestige of Hungarian culture all over the world, and it was an honour for her to be able to send such a message on this occasion. Afterwards there was a small sightseeing walk, then at eight o’clock the university’s vice-chancellor Lord Shachleton gave a reception on campus at the Turner Sims Concert Hall, offered free of charge, followed by a gala concert. One of the sonatas for violin and piano was performed in the programme by György Pauk and Péter Frankl, and String Quartet No. 6 by the Lindsay Quartet who had interrupted their Scandinavian tour for this. David Mellor gave the ceremonial speech, then our ambassador gave dinner late in the evening, and later that night we returned to the ship that on 1 July set off at 11:30 a.m. to arrive at Cherbourg at 6:30 p.m. In the port the coffin was transported to the mainland and placed at the venue of the reception ceremony, in one of the decorated halls of the port. Once 511
