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

Great Concert Tours on Two Continents (1922–1931)

1930

CHRONICLES OF BÉLA

BARTOK'S

LIFE

Kodály more

than two decades earlier; on another occasion they take a boat to Cirkvenica in Yugoslavia.

6 August

- Bartok sends a picture postcard of his family to his mother and aunt in Szöllős

Puszta.

8 August

- The Bartok family returns home to Budapest via Fiume.

11 August

- Bartok writes from Budapest to ITHMA, and to Universal Edition about difficulties concerning the translation of Twenty Hungarian Folk Songs.

12 August

- He receives his mail at the Music Institute of Higher Education (Music Academy). - He writes Sándor

Albrecht

in Pozsony

that

he could give a lecture in Pozsony

on

4 March on the impact of folk music on today’s art music. He poses the ever contested question: “is it a great problem if I use there this good Hungarian word: ‘

Tot’ instead

of the foreign ‘Slovakian ?”

17 August

- He leaves Budapest for Szöllős

Puszta with

his son Péter.

21 August - He returns, and writes at once to his son Béla

remained

in Szöllős for

his birthday of the following day. At the same time he writes that he was greeted at home by “translational annoyance” regarding the Twenty Hungarian Folk Songs. - He writes about it in detail to Dr. Rudolf Stephan Hoffmann in Vienna the same day, then on the 23rd again, with quite minute analysis of the translations. He also carries on frequent correspondence with Universal Edition, mainly regarding the translations: he writes them on 14, 21, 23 and 26 August, finally this: “I got no notification whatsoever from Dr. Hoffmann”. (Hoffmann was on vacation in Semmering,

that

’s why he didn’t reply to Bartok.)

25 August - He writes his mother and aunt still in Szöllős.

31 August - His mother and aunt return to Budapest. Bartok is waiting for them at the station.

1 September - He writes his wife that Cantata profana

is

completed.

3, 4, 6 and 20 September - He writes further letters to Dr. Hoffmann regarding the translations; he is also corresponding with AMMRE {on

312