Bartók Béla, ifj.: Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest, 2021)
Great Concert Tours on Two Continents (1922–1931)
1926 CHRONICLES OF BÉLA BARTOK'S LIFE 21 and 22 June - Bartok goes to the dentist, and writes on both days to his wife vacationing in Szöllős Puszta with her son Péter, complaining that he can t yet get started with the piano concerto. 27 June - He answers Briloiu’s questions regarding the kolindas; he provides his sister’s address in Szöllős Puszta as his postal address for July-August, although he goes to Italy in the end and entrusts his son Béla staying in Szöllős to look after his affairs. 28 June - From the consulting room of dentist Dr. József Baittrock he writes his wife: Tve still got 13 sheets of music to copy [presumably from Sonata for Piano] ... I do my correspondence here and at the Italian consulate”. 30 June - Still in Budapest, he pays in his church tax, then travels to Szöllős Puszta to bring back his wife. 1 July - He arrives there in the morning, and they return to Budapest on the 3rd or 4th. 7 July - In the evening they leave for Italy. 8 July - They arrive in Florence at 11 p.m. 9 July - From here they write Mrs Emil Tóth in Szöllős Puszta about the first day’s events, letting her also know that Bartok will be able to visit them only at the end of August, because he will be working on his piano concerto all through the month. 14 July - From Florence they travel to Torino. 15 July - They leave for Courmayeur (Aosta) where they arrive on 16 July. 19 July - They receive their poste restante letters at the post office, to which on 20 July they reply in a joint family letter to Szöllős Puszta. Bartok confirms that he can work on the piano concerto only at home. 26 July - From Courmayeur he writes conductor Antal Fleischer in Judendorf: he refuses his invitation to Barcelona because he doesn’t want to lose much time for a single concert. 28 July - They leave Courmayeur for Vicenza. 29 July - From there they write Mrs Emil Tóth that they’ll be home sooner. 254
