Béla Bartók [antikvár]

The originál Hungárián version of my book was published in 1965. Even then, I did not consider the disclosure of new data and findings to be its primary airn, but rather the compilation of as many factors as possible from the gratifyingly increasing number of publications referring to Béla Bartók's life and art. Since then of course, the literature has been enriched by many new and valuable publications, I have endeavoured to supplement the earlier version of my book by including new data in order to correct somé mistakes and make up for certain inadequacies. I am fully aware that the time has not yet come, and most probably will not come for quite a long time, for a detailed, definitive, scientific study, reliable in all respects. However, it is still my conviction that there is a need for this kind of transitional analysis, even if certain gaps have to be bridged by assumptions. It can aid in forming an adequate picture of Bartók as far as the generál public is concerned, and though indirectly, it can alsó be useful for detailed analytical and philological research. Although our biographical knowledge of Bartók's works is by no means complete, our present concept of his life, personality, creativity, ideals and compositions is not in need of basic correction. For this we can be grateful to the disclosure of an increasing amount of data from documents referring to his life, to the thorough analytical studies made of his compositions, and alsó to earlier biographies. This book owes its existence to such predecessors, and in the new aspects discussed, it endeavours to go further than previous volumes by giving a more detailed picture of the social conditions pertaining to Bartók's life and creativity. From these observations, an attempt is made to follow the development of the composer's personal and creative ideals, and to discover the signs of these forms of inspiration in his music, thus finding a key to its meaning. Before the preparation of the foreign-language version, I had to consider whether non-Hungarian readers would be interested in such a detailed presentation of Hungárián and Central-European conditions of the time. Finally, however, I had to stay with my conviction, that an insight into pertinent conditions can give a more valid explanation of many significant characteristics of Bartók's life and music than an