Béla Bartók as Public Figure. Tracing Two Missing Writings Linked to a League of Nations Committee Session in Geneva, 1931
Béla Bartók as Public Figure. Tracing Two Missing Writings Linked to a League of Nations Committee Session in Geneva, 1931

Summary/Abstract: The present article basically traces two writings missing from the canon of Bartók’s voluminous smaller texts first published and catalogued by András Szőllősy in Hungarian and compiled and edited by Benjamin Suchoff in English. Bartók was invited to join the Committee of Arts and Letters of the League of Nations in 1931 and, as is known from his letter about the meeting, he had to deliver a paper, which has appeared lost so far. This motion urging the establishment of gramophone recording collections and initiating new recordings can be found both published in the minutes of the session and among Bartók’s still unpublished papers. The Appendix of the article contains the newly found French and German text versions of his proposal, as well as Bartók’s other proposal, trying to find support for the defence of the freedom of art and science, a text he had originally wished to present at the meeting but was discouraged to do so because of its politically delicate nature. The surviving text, previously published in facsimile but not included in the list of Bartók’s writings, clearly testifies the composer’s sense of responsibility and foresight. Finally, the identification of most of the twenty-seven members of the committee shown in a photograph is also attempted.

• Details
• Contents