The original German version of Bartók’s Pro Musica lecture
Notes after a source finding
Felix Meyer
Béla Bartók was on tour in the USA from 1927 to 1928, appearing as a soloist and in chamber music. He gave a “lecture recital” a total of ten times for regional groups of the “Pro Musica” organization. This lecture, in which Bartók explained the principles and roots of his compositional practice, was later published in various languages, though in versions that were based not on the original fair copy in German, but on a revised draft. For many years, this original copy of the lecture could not be found. But it recently surfaced in a surprising place: in Paul Sacher’s archives, held by the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel. Felix Meyer traces the history of this manuscript of the lecture, which is then published here in its entirety.
