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

At The Academy of Sciences. Great Compositions (1934–1938)

AT THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.

GREAT C

O M

P

O S I

T

I

O

N S

( 1 934-1 938)

1935

14 October

- Newspapers report that His Masters Voice recorded String Quartet No. 1. According to the Manchester Guardian it is the most beautiful piece of chamber music written by a contemporary composer.

18 October

- Bartok is rehearsing at his flat for their evening of sonatas with József

Szigeti who

arrived later than planned because of his indisposition.

19 October

- The rehearsal is continued. Bartoks mother listens to them on both days; on the 19th she arrives late, they restart Kreutzer

Sonata

for her sake.

20 October

- At the evening of sonatas held at the Great Hall of the Vigadó

they play Bach’s G

major,

Schuberts Op. 137 in D major, Ravel’s Sonata, and the Kreutzer

Sonata.

23 October

- Bartok is visited by a Berlin negotiator who wants to persuade him to perform in Germany, unsuccessfully of course.

25 October

- He brings pretty flowers on his visit to his mother and tells her that he would come see her on Wednesdays and Fridays from now on. Yet they meet next time on Saturday.

2 November

- He and his mother meet again because in the evening between 7:45 and 9:30 p.m. they are searching for suitable words for the translation of folk song lyrics with the aid of a German dictionary. - He writes Milos Ruppeldt in Pozsony

that

once again there is no answer from the Matica and he is worried about the possible decay of the cylinders given over to them.

8 November - He brings the praising reviews of the Buenos Aires performance of The Wooden Prince to his mother and aunt, and informs them that his concert in Schaffhausen will be on 8 December, so his son’s wedding is brought forward to 1 December.

11 November - He writes letters to Ernst Mohr in Basel and to Václav

Stepan in Prague; and he informs Mrs Fischer b. Stefánia

Szalay

that he estimates the work at the Academy of Sciences to last for three more years (however, it lasted longer).

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