Thomas Mann said that the essence of Bartók’s music
was reflected in his eyes. He was a man of few words, but his music
spoke for him. His painful and troubled pieces cast their shadow
before the rule of terror, the horror of World War II, which forced
him to escape, his homeland. To celebrate the 125th anniversary
of Béla Bartók’s birth and the 60th anniversary
of his death, there will be a range of international events dedicated
to the pianist, composer and musicologist throughout the year,
starting in September 2005.
“Today’s man, the wildest man of all times, you should
first of all try to be a man; and once you understand what it means
to be a man, then you can care for your country, partner and friend”
Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók was born in Nagyszentmiklós (today
called Sinnicolau Mare in Romania) on 25 March 1881. He went to
school n Nagyvárad (Oradea in Romania), Beszterce (Bistrita-Nasaud
in Romania) and Pozsony (Bratislava in Slovakia). He got his first
piano lessons from his mother, Paula Voit. At the age 18, Bartók
became a piano student at the Music Academy in Budapest. He was
greatly influences by Richard Strauss in this period, and impressed
local audiences by his virtuous playing of some of Strauss’
compositions. He was invited to play in several cities throughout
Europe, from Vienna to Berlin. It was during this time that he
composed his Kossuth symphony – stepping in the footsteps
of Liszt –, which had its premiere in 1904.
Bartók became a piano teacher at the Music Academy in 1907.
His early compositions showed similarities to Brahms, Schuman,
late Wagner, Liszt and Dohnányi. At the end of the 1910s,
the Opera House staged his dance production The Wooden Prince and
his opera entitled Bluebeard’s Castle. His interest then
turned to researching folk music and together with Zoltán
Kodály, they traveled around the country with a phonograph,
recording folk songs. In addition to Hungarian music, he was also
interested in other nation’s folk music, including Romanian
and Slovakian. He also visited northern Africa to collect Arabic
tunes: traveled to Biskra in 1913 where he had the chance to find
such pieces. He was getting ready to travel to Italy in the following
year, but the journey was cancelled because of the First World
War.
Kodály and Bartók often presented their compositions
at joint performances. They established the New Hungarian Musical
Alliance with the participation of young musicians, with the aim
to increase the standards of Hungarian orchestral music. Bartók
traveled around the world at concert tours in the 1920s and started
the professional documentation of his folk music collection efforts.
He wrote Dance Suite in 1923 and Cantata Profana in 1930.
To mark his 50th birthday, Bartók received the French
Order of Honour and the Hungarian Corvin Wreath. The years that
followed were busy: he held his inaugural speech entitled “Why
and how to collect folk music”
at the Hungarian Academy of Science, composed Music for Strings,
Percussion and Celesta, and traveled to Turkey to collect music. Following the widening of the war and his mother’s death,
Bartók decided to leave Europe. He moved to the United States
in 1940. He wrote Concerto on request by the Boston Symphonic Orchestra,
and Violin Solo Sonata for Yehudi Menuhin. His health deteriorated
and he was taken to hospital on 21 September 1945, where he died
on 26 September. Only a few people attended his funeral then, but
his ashes were returned to Hungary 42 years later and he was once
again buried on 7 July 1988.
Bartók’s two sons, Béla and Péter, have
dedicated their lives to preserving the composer and musicologist’s
heritage. At age 81, Péter Bartók currently works
in Florida together with composer-conductor Nelson Dellamaggiore,
editing and correcting the publications of Béla Bartók’s
compositions. The reason for their efforts is that Péter
remembers how his father often complained of the many errors found
in printed scores. They now compare note by note the original hand-written
scores with the printed ones, paying attention to every little
detail, with a view to publish corrected versions for all of Bartók’s
works. His Violin Concerto has already been re-orchestrated and
in addition to several small corrections, a new English translation
had to be made for Bluebeard’s Castle.
Following the widening of the war and his mother’s death,
Bartók decided to leave Europe. He moved to the United States
in 1940. He wrote Concerto on request by the Boston Symphonic Orchestra,
and Violin Solo Sonata for Yehudi Menuhin. His health deteriorated
and he was taken to hospital on 21 September 1945, where he died
on 26 September. Only a few people attended his funeral then, but
his ashes were returned to Hungary 42 years later and he was once
again buried on 7 July 1988.