A Context for Bela Bartok on the Eve of World War II: The Violin ...

epercussions Spring-Fall 1996
Kodaly with corrupting Hungary's youth with their
modernistic arrangements of folk music. That Bart6k was
now considered threatening enough to warrant a fullthrottled
attack from a priest with close ties to the government
speaks both to the scale of Bart6k's public prominence
and to the factionalization of the Hungarian government at
this time. Moreover, in response to the attack, Bart6k and
KodaIy received a veritable flood of defense in no less than
six different papers.39 Considering Bart6k's tendency to
withdraw in the face of domestic criticism, that he continued
to per<strong>for</strong>m his works and maintain a public presence in
Budapest at this time suggests that Bart6k now felt solidly
supported and appreciated at home.
This atmosphere of success led to a very rare action <strong>for</strong>
Bart6k: his participation in a concert with explicitly political
overtones. The concert of Bart6k's and KodaIy's choral
compositions organized by a group of Folk Writers calling
themselves the "Magyar Muzsa" (Hungarian muse) at the
Music Academy on 13 November 1937 was intended to celebrate
the success of a petition that had been introduced in
Parliament ten days be<strong>for</strong>e.4o At issue had been the imprisonment
of Geza Feja and Imre Kovacs, two village researchers
(jalu kutat6k) whose arrests were widely regarded as an
illegal abuse of power. The call <strong>for</strong> Feja's and Kovacs's release
had the support of a wide spectrum of left-wing and
moderate contingents. In large part because of its basis in
folk music, Bart6k's and Kodaly's choral music was used to
bring these diverse groups together.
A concert of Bart6k's and KodaIy's music did not, however,
guarantee the composers' personal participation or
39. They include the Magyar Hfrlap, 18 July; Magyarorszag, 15 July; Pesti
Naplo, 18 July; Magyarsag, 16 July; Nepszava, 15 July; and Az Est, 16 July;
reprinted in Demeny, "Bart6k <strong>Bela</strong> palyaja delel6jen," 615-21.
40. Konrad Salamon, "Bart6k es a Marciusi Front" (Bart6k and the March
Front), Forras 13, no. 3 (March 1976): 40-43.
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