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

War Years (1914–1919)

1915

CHRONICLES OF BÉLA

BARTOK'S

LIFE

him for 4 days, they take many excursions.

6 August

- Bartok walks up again to the scene of one of their excursions: “but I didn’t feel like it much ... I felt abandoned” - he writes his wife the next day.

7 August

- From Besztercebánya

he

writes his wife in Rákoskeresztúr.

He

calls her attention to the reporting obligation and the decree of flour supply. (A maximum of 8 kilograms was permitted per head!)

At this time he begins to take photographs with a Kodak 8x14 camera. He deals with the snapshots and their development with great care.

11 August - From Besztercebánya

he

sends one of his first photographs in form of a postcard to his sister in Szilad:

“

These are my eminent old people from Padkocz, who sang many beautiful ones for me”.

For a few days he stays in a wooden hut on one of the Besztercebánya

islands of the river Garam.

19 August - From Pónik

he

writes his mother that he noted down 400 melodies so far, and will go to another village for three more days.

23 August - He is in Garamsálfalva,

then

on the 24th he leaves for home.

25 August - He arrives in Rákoskeresztúr.

During August he is collecting songs originating from the communities Pónik, Mezőköz, Hédel, Perhát, and Cserpatak.

17 October

- At

the opening of József

Rippl-Ronais

exhibition in the Ernst Museum of Budapest, where Zsigmond Móricz

reads

out one of his short stories, Bartok plays Rhapsody Op. 1. The widowed Mrs Béla

Bartok writes her daughter in Szilad:

“

I can imagine Bêlas

great

joy at playing in public today”. Rippl-Rónai

made

a pencilled sketch of him, writing on it: “I give you this scribble, my dear Béla,

till

I can give you something better”. (Unfortunately “better” was never made.)

22 October - According to his train tickets he probably went to Pozsony

and Vienna.

8 November - He went to Gödöllő

for

a military inspection.

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