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

Settling In Budapest. Systematic Collection of Folk Songs (1907–1913)

1912

CHRONICLES OF BÉLA

BARTOK'S

LIFE

18 March - From Vinga he writes a postcard to his sister in Szilad,

then

returns home.

23 March - From home he writes Busitia again, inquiring about their family affairs.

In the meantime they started their move to the new flat in Rákoskeresztúr (Rákoshegy), 28

Teréz

Street.

(During the administrative arrangement of 1950 this became 32 Hunyadi

Street

in District 17 of Budapest.) At the same time he left again to collect, this time in Bereg county. His work is effective in Rafajnaújfalu,

but

not in Barkaszó.

30 March - From Barkaszó

he

writes his wife a postcard in French, then travels on to Nagygut.

2 April - From Munkács

he

writes a postcard to his sister, then goes to Nagyszöllős.

4 April - He travels home to Rákoskeresztúr.

5 April (Good-Friday) - He makes up for his omitted piano lessons, then returns once again to Bereg where he notes down songs from the communities of Fornos

and

Dercen beside Kincseshomoktanya

(outskirts of Kereknye) of the neighbouring Ung county.

This is the main period of his withdrawal from the music scene. In his own words he had been executed as a composer, so he was composing little and only for his drawer (Bluebeard, that he had offered at several places, got rejected everywhere), and he just about gave up giving concerts, too.

19 April

- As the only exception in 1912, with regard to his wife’s family connections, the two of them travel to Marosvásárhely

where

on 20 April Bartok gives a recital, playing works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Bartok, Debussy, and Liszt.

21 April

- From Marosvásárhely

he

writes a postcard to his sister.

22 April

- On his way home he gives an advance of 40 K (crowns) to György ‘

Gyugyi’ Péntek

of

Körösfő

for

making furniture.

27 April

- He is already on another collecting tour in the communities of

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