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

Economic Crisis (1932–1933)

ECONOMIC CRISIS (1 932-1 933)

1932

Rumanian Folk Dances, and Improvisations.

1 February

- From Frankfurt he writes his wife and his son Péter:

"...

Yesterday I talked and played the piano on the air, what’s more I even played a little Jew’s harp.” - He writes letters to Universal Edition and Zoltán Székely.

2 February

- He travels to Dover via Herbesthal and Ostende.

4 February

- He plays at the Town Hall of Oxford: Mozart’s Sonata in B flat major and Bartok’s Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 with József

Szigeti, his

solo programme consisting of 1st series of Kolindas, Suite, Burlesques Nos. 1 and 2, The Nights Music, Allegro barbaro,

Rumanian

Dance No. 1, and “Variations on a Hungarian Folk Song”, probably No. 6 of 15 Hungarian Peasant Songs.

5 February

- He leaves for home via Frankfurt, writing on the way to ITHMA, also to Sándor

Albrecht

regarding his jersey forgotten in Pozsony.

6 February

- He arrives home in Budapest via Passau and Vienna.

10 February

- He visits his mother, and writes Universal Edition.

12 February

- He completes his proposal for the Intellectual Collaboration Committee of the League of Nations concerning authentic (Urtext)

and lookalike (facsimile) editions, besides the draft of a letter in regard, to be addressed to publishers Breitkopf

&

Härtel

of

Leipzig and B. Schott’s Söhne

of

Mainz among others. He sends the material to Professor Géza

Staud

(his pupil Júlia

Székely’s husband)

asking for a French translation.

14 February

- He attends the reception of the Czecho-Slovakian Embassy with the Kodálys

- though not willingly.

15 February

- He requests the extension of his passport’s validity for Egypt where he is invited for a congress of folk music.

16 February

- He thanks Sándor

Albrecht

for the returned jersey, visits his mother, and goes to the Music Institute of Higher Education (Music Academy).

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