Abstract
Béla Bartók's relationship with the Pro Arte Quartet was not as personal as the composer-pianist's relationship with the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet, the New Hungarian Quartet, or even the Kolisch Quartet. Professionally, however, it was equally fruitful. This study describes the relationship between the composer and the quartet, mainly based on the surviving correspondence between Bartók and the impresario Gaston Verhuyck-Coulon, and between Bartók and the Viennese publisher Universal Edition. It discusses in detail the circumstances surrounding the dedication of String Quartet no. 4, the commissioning of String Quartet no. 5, and the background to the surviving recordings of String Quartets nos. 1 and 5. It also takes stock of the plans that went up in smoke: the exclusive performance rights of String Quartet no. 3, a concerto for string quartet and orchestra, the studio recording of String Quartet no. 4, and the fact that the ensemble never met Bartók in person.
In the fall of 1937, conductor Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, music director of the Sinfonie- und Kurorchester in Baden-Baden, asked Béla Bartók for his opinion on which ensembles would be suitable to perform his String Quartet no. 5. In his reply, Bartók recommended four groups: (1) the Hungarian Quartet, known in Hungary as the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet; (2) the New Hungarian Quartet, then led by Zoltán Székely; (3) the Kolisch Quartet, and (4) the Pro Arte Quartet – the groups that had done the most to promote his chamber music.1
A comprehensive scholarly study of the relationship between Bartók and the quartet societies listed above has not yet been undertaken, and in two cases the history of the ensemble in question has not yet been studied. The fewest details are known about the Kolisch Quartet, founded in the early 1920s and disbanded in 1944, which was the first performer of Bartók's String Quartets nos. 5 and 6 (BB 110 and 119) and which did much to promote String Quartet no. 3 (BB 93).2 The true significance of the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet, active between 1909 and 1946, which premiered Bartók's First, Second, and Fourth Quartets (BB 52, 75, and 95) and which was the almost exclusive propagator of Bartók's chamber music in the 1910s and early 1920s, has only recently begun to be appreciated.3 The history of the New Hungarian Quartet, founded in 1935 and already based in the Netherlands at the time of Bartók's letter quoted above, is well documented: the ensemble's relationship to Bartók is known from the perspectives of both its former and later first violinists, Sándor Végh and Zoltán Székely.4
Of the groups listed by Bartók, the Pro Arte Quartet, founded in 1912 and known as the Quatuor Pro Arte until 1940 (I use the later English name throughout this study), and still in existence today, is the best researched. The history of this ensemble has recently been summarized in a monograph by John W. Barker.5 Anne van Malderen has written a comprehensive and detailed dissertation on the history of the Pro Arte Quartet and its affiliated organizations, covering the period 1912–1947.6 Yves Lenoir, head of the music collection of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België (Brussels) and a Bartók scholar, already began studying the relationship between the Hungarian composer and the Brussels ensemble three decades ago by publishing the most important documents found in the estate of Gaston Verhuyck-Coulon, the ensemble's impresario between 1924 and 1940.7
This study summarizes the history of the relationship between Béla Bartók and the Pro Arte Quartet. It starts in 1923, when the quartet first performed a work by Bartók, and ends in 1945, the year of the composer's death. The focus of the study is specifically on the relationship between the Pro Arte Quartet and Bartók. Thus Bartók's relationship to Verhuyck-Coulon and the Pro Arte Concerts lies outside the scope of this article. The present study is based on the works mentioned above as well as on the data collected during the preparation of volumes 29 and 30 of the Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition.8
1 The establishment of contact between the composer and the ensemble
The Pro Arte Quartet was founded in Brussels in 1912. From the beginning, the ensemble was committed to contemporary music: at its debut concert in 1913, it presented only works that had never been performed before.9 The quartet's membership was consolidated by 1921, and from then until 1940 the members were Alphonse Onnou (first violin), Laurent Halleux (Second violin), Germain Prévost (viola) and Robert Maas (violoncello).
The Hungarian composer probably came to the attention of the Belgian quartet due to the activities of Concerts Pro Arte. This agency was founded in January 1921 by Paul Collaer and Arthur Prévost, the brother of the ensemble's violist, and operated in symbiosis with the Pro Arte Quartet, but independently of the music ensemble. It was dedicated to the organization of the discovery and performance of new music.10 The Pro Arte Quartet first performed a Bartók composition, the Second Quartet, at a concert in Geneva on January 23, 1923.11 This was followed by a performance at the venue of the Concerts Pro Arte more than a month later. The ensemble presented String Quartet no. 2 twice more: in February and November 1925. String Quartet no. 1, which had also been prepared in the meantime, was performed fourteen times between November 1925 and March 1928.12
The formal contact between Bartók and the Pro Arte Quartet was established on February 22, 1929, with a letter from Verhuyck-Coulon to the composer. The impresario of the ensemble was interested in the availability of the parts of the composer's Third and Fourth Quartets, about which André (Endre) Gertler informed him.13 Bartók's works in question were brand-new at the time: String Quartet no. 3 had been performed only four times before,14 and String Quartet no. 4 was premiered on the day Verhuyck-Coulon wrote his letter.15 Of course, neither work had yet appeared in print: Bartók had just received a set of proofs of the score for String Quartet no. 3,16 and the engraver's copies for String Quartet no. 4 had not yet been submitted to Universal Edition.
2 The exclusivity of string Quartet no. 3
Das Streichquartett Pro Arte interessiert sich sehr für meine zwei neuen Streichquartette. Wenn wir jetzt die Stimmen des III. Streichquartetts in die Druckerei geben, so könnten Sie in 2–3 Monaten dem Pro Arte Quartett wenigstens einen Bürstenabzug der Stimmen liefern (dass das Werk in deutschen Ländern bis 1930 Juni bloss vom Wiener Streichquartett gespielt werden kann, habe ich nach Brüssel bereits mitgeteilt). Das IV. Streichquartett kann nun auch bald in die Druckerei gehen, vorerst die Partitur, deren Druckvorlage ich Ihnen in einigen Wochen (ungefähr 2. Hälfte April) wahrscheinlich schon zuschicken kann.17
The Pro Arte Quartet is very interested in my two new string quartets. If we send the parts of the Third String Quartet to the printer now, you will be able to send the Pro Arte Quartet at least a set of proofs of the parts in 2–3 months (I have already informed Brussels that the work can only be played by the Vienna [Kolisch] String Quartet in German countries until June 1930). The Fourth String Quartet can now also go to the printer soon, first the score, which I can probably send you in a few weeks (about the second half of April).18
A few days later, Universal Edition replied that if it was Bartók's wish that the Pro Arte Quartet should have the exclusive right to perform String Quartet no. 3 outside German-speaking territories for the 1929/1930 season, the publisher would of course send the proofs as soon as possible.19 Finally, on May 4, the Viennese publisher sent the first proofs of String Quartet no. 3 to Bartók in Budapest and, at the same time, to the Pro Arte Quartet in Brussels.20 On May 15, after correcting a small number of errors in the proofs of the parts, Bartók asked his publisher to send him and to Pro Arte Quartet, too, another set of proofs.21
Whether Bartók and the Pro Arte Quartet ultimately had an exclusivity agreement for String Quartet no. 3 is not documented. The answer is probably not, since the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet performed the work at the Aeolian Hall in London on February 8, 1930,22 while the Brussels ensemble first performed the work in Munich on October 4, 1930, then in Vienna on October 6, 1931, in Brussels on February 11, 1931, and in Liverpool on November 12, 1931. It is also noteworthy, that the work was subsequently withdrawn from the ensemble's repertoire.
3 Dedication of string Quartet no. 4
Following the proofs of the parts for String Quartet no. 3, the proofs of the score for the Quartet no. 4 were also sent to the Pro Arte Quartet so that the new composition could be included in the program of the ensemble's European tour in the fall of 1929.23 The Pro Arte Quartet was the first to perform the work for audiences in Germany (Munich, October 8), Austria (Vienna, October 21), Belgium (Brussels, October 25), Italy (Milan, December 9), and Switzerland (Bern, December 15).
Das Pro Arte Quartett, das vorgestern unter den Auspizien der Ithma sein erstes Wiener Konzert absolviert und einen geradezu stürmischen Erfolg gehabt hat, wird bei seinem zweiten Wiener Konzert, am 21. Oktober, Ihr IV. Streichquartett zur Wiener Erstaufführung bringen. Ich war mit den jungen Leuten nach dem Konzert beisammen und sie erzählten mir viel und mit grosser Begeisterung von Ihrem Quartett, das sie übrigens, was Sie interessieren wird, im Laufe der Tournée in mehreren Städten (Wien, Berlin und München) spielen werden.
Die vier jungen Leute, die von einer geradezu rührenden Nettigkeit und Bescheidenheit sind, haben nur den einen sehnlichen Wunsch: Ihr Quartett, das ihnen besonders ans Herz gewachsen ist, dem Pro Arte Quartett offiziell gewidmet zu wissen. Ich habe es auf Wunsch der vier Herren übernommen, Ihnen diese Bitte vorzutragen und habe übrigens durch Dr. Heinsheimer in dieser Richtung auch bei Direktor Hertzka intervenieren lassen, der Sie heute Abend in Budapest sehen und Ihnen ebenfalls diese Bitte vortragen wird.
Die jungen Leute wären ausserordentlich glücklich, wenn Sie der Bitte willfahren würden und ich wäre Ihnen sehr dankbar, wenn Sie mir eine Nachricht so zukommen lassen könnten, dass ich sie dem Pro Arte Quartett bereits bei seiner nächsten Ankunft in Wien (20. Oktober) überbringen könnte.24
The Pro Arte Quartet, which gave its first concert in Vienna the day before yesterday under the auspices of Ithma, and which was an almost storming success, will give the Viennese premiere of your Fourth String Quartet at its second concert in Vienna on October 21. I was with the young people after the concert [the day before yesterday] and they told me a lot and with great enthusiasm about your Quartet, which, by the way, you will be interested to know, they will play in several cities (Vienna, Berlin and Munich) during their tour.
The four young people, who are of an almost touching kindness and modesty, have only one yearning wish: to have your quartet, which is so beloved of them, officially dedicated to the Pro Arte Quartet. At the request of the four gentlemen, I have taken it upon myself to present this request to you, and, incidentally, I have also intervened in this direction through Dr. [Hans W.] Heinsheimer with Director [Emil] Hertzka, who will see you in Budapest this evening and will also present this request to you.
The young people would be very pleased if you would grant their request, and I would be very grateful if you could send me a message so that I could deliver it to the Pro Arte Quartet when the ensemble next arrives in Vienna (October 20).
Bartók hat das Quartett tatsächlich Pro Arte gewidmet; daraus aber zu folgern, er habe es für Pro Arte geschrieben – wie es im Vorwort der Taschenpartitur (Universal Edition und Philharmonischer Verlag, Wien) heißt – wäre jedoch ein Irrtum.25
Bartók did indeed dedicate the quartet to the Pro Arte, but it would be a mistake to conclude from this that he wrote it for the Pro Arte, as the preface to the pocket score states.
Ich wusste, dass das Pro Arte Quartett meine ersten zwei Quartette oft gespielt hat; ich hörte von massgebenden Leuten das höchste Lob über die Leistung des Quartetts: so dass ich das IV. Streichquartett mit dem Gedanken schrieb, dem Pro Arte Quartett ein Werk zu komponieren. Ursprünglich wollte ich das Werk auch ihnen widmen, doch später hielten mich verschiedene Bedenken hievon zurück: ich kenne ja diese Künstler weder persönlich, noch ihre Leistung, die Sache würde vielleicht so aussehen, als ob ich damit etwas erreichen wollte; ich weiss garnicht, ob ihnen das Werk behagen wird – und ich habe die Widmung unterlassen. Um so mehr freut es mich, dass ich dies auf Grund Ihres Briefes nachholen kann. Ich habe heute die U. E. schon davon verständigt und bitte Sie auch die Pro Arte Herren darüber zu benachrichtigen und ihnen auch mitzuteilen, dass ich das Werk eigentlich für das Pro Arte Quartett geschrieben habe und mich von der Widmung nur die oben geschilderten Bedenken zurückgehalten haben.27
I knew that the Pro Arte Quartet had played my first two quartets a lot; I heard the highest praise for performances by the quartet from authoritative people: so I wrote String Quartet no. 4 with the idea of composing a work for the Pro Arte Quartet. Originally, I wanted to dedicate the work to them as well, but later I was held back by various misgivings: after all, I do not know these artists personally, or how they perform – it might look as if I wanted to achieve something by it; I have absolutely no idea whether they will like the work. So I have omitted the dedication. I am all the more pleased that I can make up for this on the basis of your letter. I have already informed U. E. of this today, and I ask you to notify the Pro Arte gentlemen about it and to inform them that I actually wrote the work for the Pro Arte Quartet and that I only withheld the dedication because of the concerns described above.28
As for the “authoritative people,” one of Bartók's first letters to Verhuyck-Coulon states that Bartók had heard about the group from Edgard Varèse, who had told him about the performance of Varèse's String Quartet no. 1 in New York on October 28, 1926.29 However, in Bartók's correspondence the name of the Pro Arte Quartet already appears earlier, in Cecil Gray's letter to Bartók, dated December 28, 1925, in which the London critic wrote to the composer about the performance of String Quartet no. 2 on November 25, 1925:30 “The Pro Arte quartet played your 2nd string quartet here a short time ago, at one of Mr Gerald Cooper's concerts; unfortunately I did not hear it, as I was in bed with influenza.” A possible role in the matter by Darius Milhaud, with whom Bartók corresponded from 1920 and whom he met several times,31 and who dedicated his String Quartet no. 7 to the Pro Arte Quartet in 1925,32 is not documented, but cannot be excluded. The fact that the Pro Arte Quartet's Bartók performances have been repeatedly reported in the Hungarian press is also significant.33
Bartókban IV. vonósnégyese kiadásakor felmerült annak lehetősége, hogy az első tételt taktusvonalak nélkül, de a négy szólamban, a tematika alapján, csak frázisjelző cezúra-jelekkel lássa el. E tervétől később eltekintett. A cezúrajelek egyedül a zenei frazírozást javították nagyban, de a folyamatos játékot megnehezítették.38
When Bartók published his String Quartet no. 4, the possibility arose of presenting the first movement without barlines, only with phrase markings in the four parts, indicating only the thematic material. This plan was later abandoned. The caesura markings improved the musical phrasing considerably but made continuous playing more difficult.
All of this suggests that Waldbauer and his ensemble were very much involved in the preparation of the work.39
After his letter to Bechert, Bartók instructed Universal Edition to add the dedication to the already engraved plates of the score and parts. However, at the time he wrote to Bechert, he did not know the Pro Arte musicians personally and therefore did not know their names, so he left it to the editors of Universal Edition to ascertain these.40
Das Vortragsrecht kann allerdings für sie nicht vorbehalten werden, schon deshalb nicht, weil das Waldbauer Quartett je das Werk schon in Budapest und London gespielt haben. (Auch habe ich gesehen, dass solch ein Vorbehalt manchmal unbequeme Situationen zur Folge haben kann.) Aber solche anerkannten Künstler wie die Pro Arte’s haben ja so etwas garnicht nötig.41
However, the performance rights cannot be reserved for them, because the Waldbauer Quartet has already played the work in Budapest and London. (I have also seen that such a reservation can sometimes lead to uncomfortable situations.) But such recognized artists as the Pro Arte do not need something like that.42
Nevertheless, as Bartók complained in a letter to Universal Edition, the journal Anbruch erroneously reported that the performance rights were reserved for the Pro Arte Quartet.43
Le quatuor “PRO ARTE” aime beaucoup votre œuvre qu’il considère d’ailleurs comme l’une des pièces capitales de la littérature moderne de musique de chambre. De nombreuses exécutions en seront certainement données au cours des prochaines années par le quatuor “PRO ARTE.” Nous l’avons d’ailleurs proposé pour un grand nombre de programmes dont il serait fastidieux de faire l’énumération ici. Il y a cependant à voue signaler que j’ai proposé votre œuvre à la “League of Composers,” de New-York, car c’est je crois, l’une des sociétés les plus importantes qu’il convient de gagner à votre œuvre.
La “League of Composers” désire engager le quatuor “PRO ARTE” pour jouer le 2d quatuor de Jerzy FITELBERG, qui a aussi été chaleureusement accueilli depuis son succès au Festival de Genève. J’ai proposé à la League que votre quatrième quatuor soit également placé à l’un des programmes de la prochaine saison. Jusqu’à présent je n’ai pas reçu de réponse définitive, mais il m’a été dit qu’une seule œuvre (le Fitelberg) serait demandée aux “PRO ARTE” au cours de la prochaine saison. Or; les “PRO ARTE” ont décidé de donner de toute façon l’audition de votre 4me quatuor à New-York au cours de leur tournée de janvier-avril prochains. Et comme ils pensent que c’est à la League qu’il est préférable de la présenter une première fois, je m’occupe de réunir les appréciations de Berlin et Vienne qui toutes louangent votre œuvre. … Peut-être aurez-vous aussi des amis personnel; qui pourront intervenir efficacement en ce sens.45
The “PRO ARTE” Quartet is very fond of your work, which it considers to be one of the most important pieces in the modern chamber music literature. The “PRO ARTE” Quartet will certainly give many performances of this work over the next few years. We have proposed it for many programs, and it would be tiresome to enumerate them here. It is worth mentioning, however, that I have proposed your work to the “League of Composers,” in New York, because I believe that this is one of the most important societies that should be won over to your work.
The League of Composers wishes to engage the “PRO ARTE” Quartet to perform Jerzy FITELBERG’s Second Quartet, which has also been very well received since its success at the Geneva Festival. I have suggested to the League that your Fourth Quartet should also be included in one of the programs for next season. I have not yet received a definite answer, but I have been told that only one work (the Fitelberg) will be requested by “PRO ARTE” next season. However, “PRO ARTE” has decided to perform your Fourth Quartet in New York during its January–April tour. And since the members think it is better to present it for the first time in the League, I oversee the collection of reviews from Berlin and Vienna, which all praise your work. … Perhaps you will also have personal friends who will be able to intervene effectively in this regard.
In his reply of December 10, 1929, Bartók wrote that unfortunately he knew of no one in New York who could intervene on his behalf with the League of Composers, but he hoped that Verhuyck-Coulon's proposal for the Fourth String Quartet would be accepted. The American premiere of the Fourth String Quartet did indeed take place at a League of Composers concert on February 2, 1930, at which Fitelberg's work was also performed.46
… le succès a été tel que le 2me mouvement (prestissimo) a été tellement réclamé par le public enthousiasmé qu’il a dû être rejoué. C’est l’œuvre qui a eu le plus gros succès de toutes celles qui ont été exécutées à l’occasion de ce Festival.
… the success was such that the second movement (prestissimo) was so much in demand by the enthusiastic audience that it had to be played again. It was the most successful of all the works performed at the festival.47
… a “Pro arte” kvartettnek instrumentális szempontból szinte felülmúlhatatlan előadása költői kifejező erőben, életteljességben nem mérkőzhetett a mi Waldbauer vonósnégyesünk híres interpretációjával.48
… the performance of the Pro Arte Quartet, which is almost unsurpassed in instrumental terms, could not match the famous interpretation of our Waldbauer Quartet in terms of poetic expressiveness and vitality.
4 An unfulfilled request: a concerto for string Quartet and orchestra
Cher Maître, avoir attiré votre attention sur l’intérêt qu’il aurait à écrire une œuvre pour quatuor à cordes et orchestre. Je suis convaincu que le quatuor “PRO ARTE” pourrait exécuter une œuvre de vous dans toutes les Société d’orchestre du monde dans un délai de moins de trois ans. Au point de vue musical d’ailleurs les problèmes posés dans la composition de pareille œuvre me paraissent passionnants à résoudre. Je serais très heureux d’apprendre que mon idée vous séduit assez que pour vous décider à entreprendre ce travail. Je prendrais alors dès à présent des dispositions pour assurer l’exécution de l’œuvre dès qu’elle serait prête. Et tout particulièrement près des orchestre américains se porteraient mes efforts dès maintenant car je travaille déjà à la préparation de la tournée de 1931–32 qui sera une grande entreprise.49
Dear Maestro, I would like to draw your attention to my interest in writing a work for string quartet and orchestra. I am convinced that the “PRO ARTE” Quartet could perform a work by you in every orchestra in the world in less than three years. From a musical point of view, the problems involved in composing such a work seem fascinating to me. I would be very happy to learn that you like my idea so much that you decide to undertake this work. I would then take steps now to perform the work as soon as it is completed. And I would be particularly interested in the American orchestras because I am already working on the preparations for the 1931/32 tour, which will be a great undertaking.
Le quatuor “PRO ARTE” est engagé par la S[ocié]té PHILHARMONIQUE de Bruxelles qui nous presse d’indiquer l’œuvre qui sera exécutée, et nous demande de fixer le quatuor de Conrad BECK (avec orchestre) au programme si nous ne sommes pas en mesure de faire une autre proposition intéressante sous peu.
The “PRO ARTE” Quartet is engaged by the S[ocié]té PHILHARMONIQUE of Brussels, which urges us to indicate the work to be performed and asks us to fix Conrad BECK’s Quartet (with orchestra) in the program if we are not able to make another interesting suggestion soon.51
Due to Bartók's summer commitments, he could not reply until September 9. On that day, he wrote that he had been unable to carry out this plan for a string quartet concerto.52
In Bartók's known correspondence with Verhuyck-Coulon, there is no further mention of the plan.53 At the end of 1931, however, the composer had not yet abandoned the idea of combining a string quartet with an orchestra. At a meeting between Bartók and Universal Edition on December 17, 1931, the idea of writing “a string symphony based on the Fourth String Quartet” was discussed.54 According to the minutes, the publisher and the composer agreed that the parts of String Quartet no. 4 would not be re-used, suggesting that Bartók did not want simply to give his agreement for the work to be played by string orchestras, but he planned a real arrangement (perhaps in a manner of a concerto grosso) of the work dedicated to the Pro Arte Quartet. Like most of the plans discussed at the meeting, this idea was not realized. However, the concept of the Divertimento for String Orchestra (BB 118, 1939), “a kind of concerto grosso alternating with concertino,”55 can probably be traced back to this rejected plan for a string quartet concerto.
5 A request fulfilled: string Quartet no. 5
Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge was one of the most outstanding figures in the patronage of music in the twentieth century.56 On the one hand, through a public and transparent organization, the Coolidge Foundation, which operated within the Music Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, she commissioned works from a wide range of composers without any stylistic or personal commitment. She also used her immense wealth to bring the contemporary music she supported to as many people as possible, founding the Berkshire Festival in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, which began in 1918, and the Coolidge Festival in Washington, DC, which was inaugurated in 1925. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Foundation opened several branches in Europe.
In the spring of 1923, Sprague Coolidge commissioned the Pro Arte Quartet to give the first European performances of several works dedicated to her. The concerts in Rome on May 2 and 3 proved to be a turning point: in view of their success, Sprague Coolidge made a substantial donation to the ensemble's 1924 tour of Italy, sixteen concerts including modern compositions.57 Two years later, the Pro Arte Quartet made its first tour of the United States under the auspices of the Coolidge Foundation, during which, as mentioned earlier in this study, the ensemble performed Bartók's String Quartet no. 1 in New York on October 28, 1926. The Pro Arte Quartet's first series of overseas concerts was followed by countless others; there were seasons in which the group crossed the Atlantic several times. The Pro Arte Quartet played at the opening of the Sprague Coolidge-donated Music Hall at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., which illustrates the intense relationship between the ensemble and its patroness.58
Sprague Coolidge encountered Bartók's music at the latest at a concert in London on June 24, 1922, when the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet performed String Quartet no. 1 during its first tour of England.59 As early as 1927, the American patroness had asked the Hungarian composer to write a pantomime to be performed in April 1928, but Bartók had turned down the request.60 The next time Sprague Coolidge approached Bartók was on June 4, 1934: she requested a piece for the Kolisch Quartet for a chamber music festival at the Library of Congress the following spring.61 Bartók immediately accepted the proposal and sent the manuscript of his String Quartet no. 5, composed in response to this commission, to the United States on September 29.62 The work was premiered by the Kolisch Quartet on April 3, 1935.63
In light of this information, Verhuyck-Coulon's letter to Bartók of November 16, 1935, seems strange: “Il vous intéressera certainement d'apprendre que c'est sur la recommandation de nos amis, du Quatuor Pro Arte, que cette œuvre vous fut commandée.” (It may be of interest to you that this work was commissioned on the recommendation of our friends in the Quatuor Pro Arte.)64 It is known that the members of the Pro Arte Quartet had a personal relationship with Sprague Coolidge, with whom they also performed privately,65 but no documentary evidence has yet been found to support Verhuyck-Coulon's claim beyond doubt. According to the recollections of Verhuyck-Coulon's elder daughter, published by Lenoir as a footnote in his study, Bartók had been planning for some time to write another string quartet dedicated to Verhuyck-Coulon. The impresario, however, did not want the composer to take on a task of this dimension without being paid, so he tactfully asked Onnou, the leader of the ensemble, to contact Sprague Coolidge and suggest that she commission a string quartet from Bartók.66
It is possible that Sprague Coolidge commissioned String Quartet no. 5 through the Pro Arte Quartet, but she combined the premiere of the work with the first American tour of her new protégé, the Kolisch Quartet.67 This decision may have been influenced by the fact that the Pro Arte Quartet had already booked so many concerts in Europe around the time of the Chamber Music Festival at the Library of Congress that it was simply not possible to schedule another crossing of the Atlantic.68 But Sprague Coolidge did not leave the Pro Arte Quartet without a premiere: through the Board of Trustees of the Library of Congress Trust Fund, she engaged the ensemble to give the European premiere of Bartók's new work.69
The first European performance of String Quartet no. 5 took place on May 11, 1935, at a concert given by the Paris branch of the Coolidge Foundation.70 The work was performed twice more by the Pro Arte Quartet in Paris that month, and there was also a performance in Geneva on July 4 and three concerts in the United States in July. However, no one officially reported on these events to Bartók, who probably learned of them either from one of the Paris performances or from the upcoming ISCM concert in London on November 24.71 In a letter of November 5, 1935, Bartók queried Verhuyck-Coulon on this matter: according to the letter of June 4, 1934, already referred to in this study, the Coolidge Foundation had exclusive performing rights to the work until January 1936, and Bartók interpreted this to mean that the statement also implied the Kolisch Quartet's exclusive performing rights. In a letter of November 16, 1935, Verhuyck-Coulon informed Bartók that the parts had come to the quartet directly from Sprague Coolidge, who had assured the musicians that they could give several performances of the work with the permission of the Library of Congress. In the same letter, he asked Bartók to write an analysis for the concert in Marseille on December 13, which task Bartók fulfilled and sent on December 3.72
The Pro Arte Quartet performed Bartók's large-scale quartet four more times over the next two years: in Paolo Alto on July 16, 1936, in Geneva on November 3, 1937,73 and in Chicago on February 9, 1938. There was also a performance in Basel on October 25, 1938, at which, according to Paul Sacher, both Bartók's music and the ensemble's interpretation of the work were enthusiastically received by the audience.74
6 Missed encounters
It was Bartók's custom to rehearse with the musicians performing his works and to give them instructions.75 It would have been in Bartók's interest to meet the members of the Pro Arte Quartet in person. Despite repeated attempts, this did not happen.
Yet already in Paul Bechert's letter of October 22, 1929, it was mentioned that the members of the Pro Arte Quartet wanted to thank Bartók personally for the dedication. The composer wrote on December 10, 1929, partly in response to this and partly in response to Verhuyck-Coulon's letter of November 15, 1929, that he would be happy to meet the musicians personally and to hear the work performed by the Pro Arte Quartet.76 The meeting was scheduled for January 9, 1930 at 4 p.m., giving Bartók the opportunity not only to hear the work but also to rehearse with the ensemble.77 There is conflicting information as to whether Bartók was able to meet the quartet on that already tightly scheduled day, the morning of which included a performance of Arthur Prévost's transcription of Allegro barbaro (BB 63) for military orchestra, performed in Bartók's honor by the Orchestre des Guides. When Bartók returned from a trip abroad, he told journalist Károly Kristóf that “unfortunately I did not find the members of the Pro Arte at home.”78 However, in a letter to Universal Edition dated January 14, 1930, he reported: “In Bruxelles sah ich, dass die ‘Pro Arte’ Herren noch immer aus einem geschriebenen Material spielen; sie wussten nicht einmal dass die Taschenpartitur schon erschienen ist.” (In Brussels I saw that the “Pro Arte” gentlemen were still playing [my String Quartet no. 4] from manuscript parts; they did not even know that the pocket score had already been published.)79
Comme je vous l’ai déjà écrit dans ma dernière lettre, je ne crois pas qu’il y ait une possibilité de faire quelquechose pour moi cet hiver en Belgique. Naturellement, je serais enchanté de rencontrer vos amis les “Pro Arte” en passant par la Belgique, peut-être d’entendre jouer par eux mon V. quatuor que d’ailleurs, je n’ai jamais encore entendu. Mais c’est tellement compliqué d’interrompre le voyage … En tout cas, je vous donne les dates: je jouerai à Liverpool le 16. Janvier; le 17.18 je serais à Londres, d’où je partirai le 19. matin. Ces Messieurs ne seront-ils pas par hasard à Londres dans ce temps?81
As I wrote you in my last letter, I don’t think there is any possibility of doing anything for me in Belgium this winter. Of course, I would be delighted to meet your friends of the “Pro Arte” on the way through Belgium, perhaps to hear them play my Fifth Quartet, which I have never heard before. But it is so complicated to interrupt the trip … In any case, I will give you the dates: I will play in Liverpool on January 16; on the 17th and 18th I will be in London, from where I will leave on the morning of the 19th. Won’t these gentlemen, by any chance, be in London at that time?
This time, too, the meeting did not take place, and Bartók did not hear his Fifth String Quartet for the first time until late January or early February 1936, at the rehearsals of the New Hungarian Quartet led by Sándor Végh.82
7 The recordings of string quartets nos. 1 and 4
The Pro Arte Quartet recorded annually for the London label His Master's Voice from the fall of 1931 until 1939. In addition to the groundbreaking but unfortunately never completed Haydn series, the Pro Arte Quartet is credited with the first recordings of various major early twentieth-century works. The studio recordings were made strictly in parallel with the tours of the United Kingdom. Recording dates were scheduled to coincide with the musicians' London concerts or at the end of a season. There were virtually no separate rehearsals for the recordings, as the works being recorded were being played all the time in their concerts.83
A recording of one of Bartók's quartets was planned for the fall of 1934. Apparently, they could not decide whether to record String Quartet no. 1, which might be more successful in the market, or String Quartet no. 4, which they liked and which, by the way, was dedicated to them. Universal Edition informed Bartók that the Pro Arte Quartet would “probably” [wahrscheinlich] record String Quartet no. 4.84 The composer gave his consent on the condition that he would receive a free copy of the recording (which he could pick up in Budapest within a month of the release), the license marks were provided by Rózsavölgyi & Co., and a written agreement was concluded between him and His Master's Voice.85
Nevertheless, on October 31 and November 2, 1934, the Pro Arte Quartet recorded Bartók's String Quartet No. 1.86 The reason for this decision may have been that the ensemble already had a concert recording of String Quartet no. 4, as its London performance on February 16, 1934 was not only broadcast live by the BBC, but also recorded for later playback.87 (Unfortunately, this recording is missing.)
The recording of Bartók's String Quartet no. 1 was published in early 1935,88 but contrary to the agreement, the composer did not receive a copy. This bothered him mainly because, as he wrote to Verhuyck-Coulon, “I hear all over the lounges about this really wonderful recording, as they say, but I don't know it yet!” (“Ainsi, j'entends partout des lounges sur cet enregistrement vraiment mervellieux, comme on dit, mais moi, je ne le connais pas encore!”)89 Although the impresario assured Bartók of his communications with the label on November 16, 1935 and June 25, 1936, His Master's Voice failed to send the requested complimentary copy. Bartók finally received a copy of the recording as a gift from Paul Sacher in January 1937.90 On February 7, however, he informed Ditta Pásztory from London that “the p[ig]s have now given me the record of the First String Quartet, of course, so I have two copies; one is for Zoltán and his wife, but I have to leave it in Amsterdam for the time being.” (“a d_____k most persze ideadták az 1. vonósnégyes lemezét, úgyhogy most 2 példányban van meg; az egyiket Kodály Zoltánéknak szánom, de egyelőre Amszterdamban kell hagynom.”)91
No direct sources tell us what Bartók thought of the recording of his First Quartet. According to the photographer Kata Kálmán's recollection from 1937, since the quartet had not asked for specific instructions regarding the metronome numbers, Bartók stated that he was not interested in the recording because the ensemble would certainly not play the work well.92 Bartók revised the metronome numbers of the work sometime before 1931,93 but these were not published in print, so the members of the Pro Arte Quartet, who used the first edition of 1909 or the slightly corrected edition of 1921, could not have known about any of this, since they did not consult or rehearse with the composer. It can be assumed that if Bartók had been informed in time that the Pro Arte Quartet planned to record String Quartet no. 1 instead of no. 4, he would have sent a list of corrections. Thus, the list of corrections was sent only after the recording had been completed.94
8 The recording of string Quartet no. 5
In addition to the studio recording of String Quartet No. 1 and the missing radio recording of String Quartet No. 4, there is one other Bartók recording known to have been made by the Pro Arte Quartet during the composer's lifetime. In 1944, a five-year agreement was made between Madison's WHA radio station and the quartet's then-management to record some of the ensemble's concerts on glass discs for broadcast on various radio stations in the United States.95 Thanks to this collaboration, the group's concert in Washington on January 26, 1945, in which the musicians played, among other works, Bartók's String Quartet no. 5, has been preserved.96
By this time, however, the ensemble had already changed to the Rudolf Kolisch–Albert Rahier–Germain Prevost–Ernst Friedlander line-up, so that only the viola player was identical with the 1921–1940 configuration. The Pro Arte Quartet was performing in Madison, Wisconsin, when Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, trapping the quartet members on the other side of the Atlantic against their will. After their concert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the chancellor offered the quartet a permanent home.97 Shortly thereafter, however, the quartet's founding first violinist, Alphonse Onnou, died. Between 1940 and 1944, Antonio Brosa was the leader of the quartet, which underwent several personnel changes; under his leadership, the repertoire played was quite conservative and mainstream.98 Sprague Coolidge did everything in her power to keep the increasingly divided quartet together,99 and after the Kolisch Quartet, which had also emigrated to the United States, was disbanded on May 22, 1944, the Viennese violinist was appointed by the patroness to lead the former Belgian quartet. The revived ensemble already performed Bartók's String Quartet no. 5 in its first season.100
Bartók's Fifth Quartet is thus in the unique position of having been recorded twice during the composer's lifetime: in 1941 by the Kolisch Quartet and in 1945 by the Pro Arte Quartet under the direction of Kolisch. According to the current state of research, Bartók did not have the opportunity to rehearse with either of these formations, and thus neither of these recordings can be considered a primary source.101 However, the fact that Kolisch was among those who knew Bartók's views on the performance practice of bowed stringed instruments should not be overlooked.102 Thus, the studio recording of the Kolisch Quartet and the concert recording of the Pro Arte Quartet under Kolisch's direction are unique documents of the performance history of Bartók's string quartets, showing, among other things, how Kolisch's vision of the work matured.
9 Summary
The Pro Arte Quartet began performing Bartók's works in 1923. By 1940, the players had given twenty performances of String Quartet no. 1, four each of String Quartets no. 2 and no. 3, twenty-five of String Quartet no. 4, and thirteen of String Quartet no. 5 – a total of sixty-six performances of Bartók's string quartets. In 1935, they were certainly the first to propose the possibility of performing the (then only) five Bartók quartets as a cycle, but as far as it is known, this did not happen in the 1930s.103 Unlike the members of the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet, the New Hungarian Quartet, and the Kolisch Quartet, Bartók did not know the members of the Pro Arte Quartet personally and communicated with them through the impresario Gaston Verhuyck-Coulon. The impressario of the Pro Arte Quartet not only facilitated communication between the composer and the ensemble, but he also organized some of Bartók's own concerts.104 The high esteem in which the Belgian quartet members held the Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist is demonstrated not only by the many passages from the Bartók-Verhuyck-Coulon correspondence already quoted, but also by the fact that they wanted to include Bartók in the events celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Pro Arte Quartet's first concert and the 15th anniversary of the collaboration between the Pro Arte Quartet and the Coolidge Foundation.105 (All these, however, remained only plans.) The bond between the string quartet and the composer was severed when the ensemble had to move to the United States in 1940 due to the political situation in Europe. As far as is known, the arrival of Rudolf Kolisch in the Pro Arte Quartet did not change much, although the violinist was in a relatively close contact with Bartók in his final years.106 We will never know what would have happened if Bartók had not died so suddenly on September 26, 1945, when the Kolisch-led Pro Arte Quartet was just entering a new, flourishing era.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Marie Cornaz (Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België) for providing me with digital copies of letters previously unknown to Bartók scholarship. I would also like to thank László Vikárius, who mediated between Cornaz and me.
APPENDIX 1a: Correspondence between Béla Bartók and Gaston Verhuyck-Coulon
B-Br FGV = Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België (Brussels), Fonds Gaston Verhuyck.
MALDEREN = Anne VAN MALDEREN. Historique et réception des diverses formations Pro Arte (1912–1947). Dissertation (Louvain-La-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain, 2012).
H-Bbba = Bartók Archives, Institute for Musicology, Research Centre for the Humanities (Budapest).
LENOIR = Yves LENOIR. “À propos de quelques documents du Fonds Gaston Verhuyck,” Studia Musicologica 35/1–3 (1993–1994), 155–180.
VG = Private Collection of Gábor Vásárhelyi.
| Author | Date | Original | Contemporary copy | Published in |
| VERHUYCK | Feb. 22, 1929 | VG, BH III/1948 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/16 | – |
| BARTÓK | March 27, 1929 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/1 | – | MALDEREN, 134, 146. |
| VERHUYCK | Apr. 19, 1929 | – | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/17 | – |
| BARTÓK | May 6, 1929 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/2 | – | – |
| VERHUYCK | May 14, 1929 | VG, BH III/1951 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/18 | – |
| VERHUYCK | Oct. 15, 1929 (1) | VG, BH III/1949 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/19 | – |
| VERHUYCK | Oct. 15, 1929 (2) | VG, BH III/1952 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/20 | – |
| BARTÓK | Dec. 10, 1929 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/3 | H-Bbba, without shelf mark | – |
| VERHUYCK | Dec. 31, 1929 | VG, BH III/1947 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/21 | – |
| BARTÓK | Jan. 5, 1930 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/4 | H-Bbba, without shelf mark | – |
| VERHUYCK | Apr. 1, 1930 | VG, BH III/1953 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/22 | – |
| BARTÓK | Oct. 4, 1930. | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/5 | H-Bbba, BAN 6718/a | LENOIR, 156–157. |
| VERHUYCK | Oct. 14, 1930. | VG, BH III/1954 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/23 | LENOIR, 158–160. |
| BARTÓK | Oct. 11, 1930 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/6 | H-Bbba, without shelf mark | – |
| VERHUYCK | June 24, 1931 | VG, BH III/1955 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/24 | – |
| BARTÓK | Sept. 9, 1931 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/7 | H-Bbba, without shelf mark | – |
| VERHUYCK | Oct. 8, 1935 | – | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/25 | LENOIR, 160–161. MALDEREN, 237. |
| BARTÓK | Oct. 5, 1935 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/8 | H-Bbba, BAN 6718/b | LENOIR, 162–164. |
| VERHUYCK | Oct. 16, 1935 | VG, BH III/1956 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/26 | LENOIR, 165–167. |
| BARTÓK | Dec. 3, 1935 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/9 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/32; H-Bbba, BAN 6718/c | LENOIR, 167–171. |
| VERHUYCK | June 25, 1936 | VG, BH III/1957 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/27 | LENOIR, 171–173. |
| BARTÓK | Sept. 3, 1936 | B-Br FGV, Mus. Ms. 467/I/10 | H-Bbba, without shelf mark | – |
APPENDIX 1b: Further Bartók-related Correspondence in Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België (Brussels), Fonds Gaston Verhuyck (B-Br FGV)
| Author | Recipient | Date | Source in B-Br FGV |
| BARTÓK | Paul BECHERT (ITHMA) | Oct. 14, 1929 | Mus. Ms. 467/I/11 (original) |
| VERHUYCK | René TELLIER | Oct. 8, 1935 | Mus. Ms. 467/I/28 (contemporary copy) |
| VERHUYCK | Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion | Oct. 8, 1935 | Mus. Ms. 467/I/29 (contemporary copy) |
| VERHUYCK | Antonia KOSSAR | Oct. 16, 1935 | Mus. Ms. 467/I/30 (original) |
| VERHUYCK | Antonia KOSSAR | Aug. 6, 1935 | Mus. Ms. 467/I/31 (contemporary copy) |
| L. LESCRAUWAET | Arthur PRÉVOST | without date | Mus. Ms. 467/I/14 (original) |
| HERMANN Pál | VERHUYCK | without date | Mus. Ms. 467/I/15 (original) |
APPENDIX 2: Bartók's String Quartets Performed by the Pro Arte Quartet (1923–1945)
Sources:
Anne VAN MALDEREN. Historique et réception des diverses formations Pro Arte (1912–1947) (PhD Diss., Louvain-La-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain, 2012).
John W. BARKER. The Pro Arte Quartet: A Century of Musical Adventure on Two Continents (New York, NY: University of Rochester, 2017).
| String Quartet no. 1 (BB 52, 1908–1909) | |
| Nov. 4, 1925 | Nancy |
| Nov. 6, 1925 | Paris |
| Dec. 21, 1925 | Brussels |
| Dec. 22, 1925 | Brussels |
| Feb. 11, 1926 | Genova |
| Feb. 24, 1926 | Le Havre |
| Oct. 28, 1926 | New York (US premiere) |
| July 19, 1927 | Frankfurt am Main |
| Nov. 13, 1927 | Épinal |
| Nov. 27, 1927 | Barcelona |
| Dec. 6, 1927 | Bilbao |
| Dec. 20, 1927 | Brussels |
| Dec. 23, 1927 | Marseilles |
| March 19, 1928 | Buffalo |
| July 2, 1933 | Oakland |
| Nov. 5, 1933 | Boston |
| Dec. 12, 1933 | London |
| July 18, 1934 | Oakland |
| Dec. 7, 1934 | Paris |
| May 4, 1940 | Kansas City |
| String Quartet no. 2 (BB 75, 1915–1917) | |
| Jan. 23, 1923 | Geneva |
| Feb. 28, 1923 | Brussels |
| Feb. 22, 1925 | Geneva |
| Nov. 25, 1925 | London |
| String Quartet no. 3 (BB 93, 1927) | |
| Oct. 4, 1930 | Munich |
| Oct. 6, 1930 | Vienna |
| Feb. 11, 1931 | Brussels |
| Nov. 12, 1931 | Liverpool |
| String Quartet no. 4 (BB 95, 1928) | |
| Oct. 8, 1929 | Munich (German premiere) |
| Oct. 11, 1929 | Berlin |
| Oct. 12, 1929 | Berlin |
| Oct. 21, 1929 | Vienna (Austrian premiere) |
| Oct. 25, 1929 | Brussels (Belgian premiere) |
| Dec. 9, 1929 | Milan (Italian premiere) |
| Dec. 15, 1929 | Bern (Swiss premiere) |
| Jan. 9, 1930 | Brussels |
| Feb. 2, 1930 | New York (US premiere) |
| Sept. 8, 1930 | Liège |
| Oct. 10, 1930 | Frankfurt am Main |
| Oct. 14, 1930 | Nuremberg |
| Nov. 4, 1930 | St. Gallen |
| Nov. 12, 1930 | Winterthur |
| Dec. 15, 1930 | Dublin (Irish premiere) |
| Feb. 16, 1931 | Copenhagen |
| Feb. 25, 1931 | Ålborg |
| March 6, 1931 | Marseilles |
| Nov. 29, 1932 | Cambridge |
| Dec. 12, 1932 | Paris (French premiere) |
| Feb. 16, 1934 | London |
| Nov. 7, 1934 | Leeds |
| May 2, 1935 | Brussels |
| March 17, 1936 | Washington |
| String Quartet no. 5 (BB 110, 1934) | |
| May 11, 1935 | Paris (French premiere) |
| May 12, 1935 | Paris |
| May 20, 1935 | Paris |
| July 4, 1935 | Geneva (Swiss premiere) |
| July 16, 1935 | Paolo Alto |
| July 28, 1935 | Oakland |
| July ?, 1935 | New York |
| Nov. 24, 1935 | London (British premiere) |
| Dec. 13, 1935 | Marseilles |
| July 16, 1936 | Paolo Alto |
| Nov. 3, 1937 | Geneva |
| Feb. 9, 1938 | Chicago |
| Nov. 25, 1938 | Basel |
| Apr. 9, 1944 | Madison |
| Jan. 26, 1945 | Washington |
| Feb. 1, 1945 | Baltimore |
| Feb. 3, 1945 | Washington |
| March 23, 1945 | Chicago |
Bartók Béla levelei [Béla Bartók letters], ed. by János DEMÉNY (Budapest: Zeneműkiadó, 1976), 727–728.
Bartók's professional relationship with Rudolf Kolisch and his ensemble can be reconstructed primarily through publications on the Hungarian composer's relationship to the Schoenberg circle and through studies on the performance traditions of Bartók's string quartets. See Denijs DILLE, “Bartók és Schoenberg kapcsolatai” [Relations between Bartók and Schoenberg], Magyar Zene 15/3 (1974), 253–266; László SOMFAI, “Perfect Notation in Historical Context: The Case of Bartók's String Quartets,” Studia Musicologica 47/3–4 (2006), 293–309; id., “Bartók's Great Crescendos: Some Observations for Young Musicians,” The Hungarian Quarterly 47/183 (2006), 157–162.
Zsombor NÉMETH, “Bartók-témájú írások a Waldbauer-hagyatékban” [Bartók Related Documents in the Waldbauer Legacy], Magyar Zene 58/1 (2020), 89–119; id., “Dohnányi Ernő és a Waldbauer–Kerpely Vonósnégyes” [Ernő Dohnányi and the Waldbauer-Kerpely String Quartet], in Dohnányi-tanulmányok 2021 [Dohnányi Studies 2021], ed. by Viktória OZSVÁRT and Anna LASKAI (Budapest: BTK Zenetudományi Intézet, 2021), 142–184; id., “‘Egy Bartók mű, mely hat évig várt budapesti bemutatójára’: A 6. vonósnégyes első magyarországi előadása” [“A Bartók work that waited six years for its premiere in Budapest”: The first performance of String Quartet no. 6 in Hungary], Magyar Zene 59/1 (2021), 101–116; id., “Imre Waldbauer, an Important but Little-Known Violinist Partner of Béla Bartók,” Studia Musicologica 62/1–2 (2021), 149–173.
Dániel LŐWENBERG, Végh Sándor (Budapest: Rózsavölgyi és Társa, 2012), 54–93; Claude KENNESON, Székely and Bartók: The Story of a Friendship (Portland, OR: Amadeus Press, 1994), 167–207.
John W. BARKER, The Pro Arte Quartet: A Century of Musical Adventure on Two Continents (New York, NY: University of Rochester, 2017).
Anne VAN MALDEREN, Historique et réception des diverses formations Pro Arte (1912–1947) (PhD diss., Louvain-La-Neuve: Université Catholique de Louvain, 2012).
Yves LENOIR, “À propos de quelques documents du Fonds Gaston Verhuyck,” Studia Musicologica 35/1–3 (1993–1994), 155–180. In the introduction to his publication, Lenoir stated that he intended to publish the complete material held by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België (Brussels) in volume 3 of the Etudes bartokiennes series. However, this could not be realized due to his death in 2006.
Béla Bartók Complete Critical Edition, vol. 29: String Quartets Nos. 1–6, ed. by László SOMFAI in collaboration with Zsombor NÉMETH (Munich: G. Henle Verlag/Budapest: Editio Musica, 2022); vol. 30: String Quartets Nos. 1–6, Critical Commentary, ed. by Zsombor NÉMETH in collaboration with László SOMFAI and Yusuke NAKAHARA (Munich: G. Henle Verlag/Budapest: Editio Musica, 2022).
VAN MALDEREN, Historique et réception, 8. The name Pro Arte, which was not adopted until 1919, was a symbol of the group's commitment.
VAN MALDEREN, Historique et réception, 10.
For a list of the ensemble's Bartók performances between 1923 and 1945, see Appendix 2.
For comparison, the Waldbauer-Kerpely String Quartet, which premiered the work on March 19, 1910, reached the same number of performances on February 15, 1927, in almost seventeen years, counting only public concerts. NÉMETH, “Bartók-témájú írások,” 114.
The Hungarian violinist settled in Brussels, and the manager of his quartet at the time was also Verhuyck-Coulon. VAN MALDEREN, Historique et réception, 121.
The work was premiered in Philadelphia on December 30, 1928 by Mischa Mischakoff's string quartet; for a copy of the programme see the Budapest Bartók Archives (H-Bbba), BAN 2049/-. The work was performed by the Vienna (Kolisch) Quartet on February 12, 1929, at the BBC Studios in London and on February 21, 1929, in the German Section Concert of the International Society for Contemporary Music, and by the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet on February 19, 1929, at Wigmore Hall. Malcolm GILLIES, Bartók in Britain (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), 74.
Ibid. The work was performed in the BBC studio by the Waldbauer-Kerpely Quartet.
Universal Edition to Bartók, February 19, 1929, Paul Sacher Stiftung (Ch-Bps), Sammlung Béla Bartók (SBB), UE–BB.
Bartók to Universal Edition, March 24, 1929, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–UE.
Non-English quotations appearing in this paper are the author's translations, unless otherwise noted.
Universal Edition to Bartók, March 28, 1929, Ch-Bps, SBB, UE–BB.
Universal Edition to Bartók, May 4, 1929, Ch-Bps, SBB, UE–BB.
Bartók to Universal Edition, May 15, 1929, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–UE.
D. H., “The Hungarian String Quartet,” The Musical Times 71/1045 (March 1, 1930), 260.
On July 15, 1929, Bartók informed his publisher that he had received the second set of proofs for the score of String Quartet no. 4 and asked whether a set of proofs had been sent to the Pro Arte String Quartet as agreed; the publisher's reply confirmed that a set of proofs had already been sent to Brussels on June 28. See Bartók to Universal Edition, July 15, 1929, and Universal Edition to Bartók, July 19, 1929, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–UE and UE–BB.
Documenta Bartókiana, vol. 3, ed. by Denijs DILLE (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1968), 148.
Ibid.
The letter in question was forwarded by Bechert to the members of the quartet; see Paul Bechert to Bartók, October 22, 1929, in Bartók Béla családi levelei [Béla Bartók family letters], ed. by Béla BARTÓK Jr., in collaboration with Adrienne GOMBOCZ KONKOLYNÉ (Budapest: Zeneműkiadó, 1981), 480–482. The musicians forwarded the letter to Verhuyck-Coulon; see the opening lines of Verhuyck-Coulon's letter to Bartók of November 15, 1929. It is therefore possible that the document in question survives in the impresario's estate.
Bartók to Paul Bechert, October 4, 1929; see Appendix 1b for bibliographic information.
English translation by Júlia Fedoszov, first published in SOMFAI and NÉMETH (eds.), String Quartets Nos. 1–6, 25*.
Bartók to Verhuyck-Coulon, March 27, 1929; see Appendix 1a for bibliographic information. Varèse's letter to Bartók is missing.
DILLE, Documenta Bartókiana, vol. 3, 129.
János BREUER, “Die Beziehungen zwischen Bartók und Milhaud,” Studia Musicologica 14/3–4 (1982), 283–293.
BARKER, The Pro Arte Quartet, 276.
The concert mentioned by Cecil Gray was reported in the November 28, 1925 issue of the Újság; see N. N., “Stravinsky és Bartók” [Stravinsky and Bartók], Újság 1/117 (November 28, 1925), 8. The Budapesti Hírlap reported with some delay on the performance of String Quartet no. 1 given for friends of the Revue Musicale in Paris on November 6, 1925; see N. N., “Bartók sikere Párisban” [Bartók's success in Paris], Budapesti Hírlap 45/288 (December 20, 1925), 19. The concert of December 20, 1927, organized by the Royal Conservatory of Brussels at the request of the Belgian Ministry of Fine Arts, where the most important works of modern Hungarian chamber music (Bartók's and Weiner's String Quartet no. 1 and Dohnányi's String Quartet no. 2) were performed in the presence of the most prominent members of the Brussels social and artistic scene, was the subject of several reports; see, inter alia, N. N., “Magyar hangverseny Brüsszelben” [Hungarian Concert in Brussels], Budapesti Hírlap 47/294 (December 28, 1927), 11.
The author's dating at the end of the Universal Edition pocket score is “1928. VII–IX.”
László SOMFAI, Bartók műhelyében. Vázlatok, kéziratok, változatok: az alkotómunka dokumentumai [Bartók's workshop. Sketches, Manuscripts, Versions: Documents of the Creative Work] (Budapest: [MTA Zenetudományi Intézet], 1987), 36.
Zsombor NÉMETH, “The Fourth of the Fourth: On the Genesis and the Early Performances of the Allegretto, pizzicato Movement of Béla Bartók's String Quartet no. 4,” Studia Musicologica 62/3–4 (2022), 291–307.
László SOMFAI, Béla Bartók: Composition, Concepts, and Autograph Sources (Berkeley–Los Angeles–London: University of California Press, 1996), 274.
NÉMETH, “Bartók-témájú írások,” 112.
Even without knowing all these sources, János Kárpáti argued that Bartók's String Quartet no. 4 was actually intended for the Waldbauer-Kerpely String Quartet. János KÁRPÁTI, “Párkompozíciók a bartóki életműben” [Couple compositions in the Bartókian oeuvre], in Zenetudományi Dolgozatok 2012, ed. by Gábor KISS (Budapest: MTA BTK Zenetudományi Intézet, 2014), 252.
Bartók to Universal Edition, October 14, 1929, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–UE. However, the editors misspelled the surname of the second violinist (“Halleux” became “Hallux”), so it appeared incorrectly in the first edition of the score. It was only corrected in the parts (1930) and in the revised edition of the score (1933).
See Appendix 1b for bibliographic information.
English translation by Júlia Fedoszov, first published in SOMFAI and NÉMETH (eds.), String Quartets Nos. 1–6, 25*.
Bartók to Universal Edition, October 14, 1929, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–UE.
Paul Bechert to Bartók, October 22, 1929. BARTÓK Jr. (ed.), Bartók Béla családi levelei, 480–482.
See Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
VAN MALDEREN, Historique et réception, 169.
Verhuyck-Coulon to Bartók, October 14, 1930; see Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
Aladár TÓTH, “Utóhang a belgiumi internacionális zeneünnepélyhez” [Epilogue to the International Music Festival in Belgium], Pesti Napló 81/232 (October 12, 1930), 38. See also id., “Kamaramuzsika a ‘nagy muzsika’ jegyében” [Chamber music in the spirit of “great music”], Pesti Napló 88/265 (November 21, 1937), 20.
See Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
See Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
See Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
See Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
NB: Their correspondence between September 1931 and October 1935 is probably missing.
“… eine Streicher-Symphonie nach dem IV. Streichquartett … .” “Besprechung mit Professor Béla Bartók vom 17. Dezember 1931.” [Meeting with Professor Béla Bartók, December 17, 1931], Appendix to Universal Edition's letter to Bartók of December 18, 1931, Ch-Bps, SBB, UE–BB. First quoted by György KROÓ, “Bartók Béla megvalósulatlan kompozíciós terveiről” [On Béla Bartók's unrealized compositional plans], Magyar Zene 10/3–4 (1969), 255.
“… eine Art von Concerto grosso mit Concertino abwechselnd …” Bartók to Paul Sacher, June 1, 1939. Bartók Béla – Paul Sacher levelezése. 1936–1940. Briefwechsel, ed. by Ferenc BÓNIS (Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, 2013), 251.
For a detailed biography of Sprague Coolidge and the work of her foundation, see Cyrilla BARR, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge: American Patron of Music (New York, NY: Schirmer Books, 1998).
BARR, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, 150. This tour included the Italian premieres of Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire and Alfredo Casella's Concerto for String Quartet op. 40, dedicated to the Pro Arte.
VAN MALDEREN, Historique et réception, 150.
N. N., “Magyar művészek Londonban [Interjú Waldbauer Imrével]” [Hungarian artists in London. Interview with Imre Waldbauer], Új Nemzedék 4/154 (July 11, 1922), 7.
Library of Congress Music Division (probably Carl Engel) to Bartók, February 9, 1927 and Carl Engel to Bartók, March 30, 1927, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–MISC.
Library of Congress Music Division (probably Carl Engel) to Bartók, June 4, 1934, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–MISC.
Bartók to Library of Congress Music Division, June 5, 1934, and September 29, 1934, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–MISC.
Oliver Strunk to Bartók, April 3, 1935, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–MISC.
See Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
BARR, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, 204.
LENOIR, “Documents du Verhuyck,” 166, footnote 33.
In the letter of commission dated June 4, 1934 (see footnote 61), the performance of the Kolisch Quartet was already announced.
While the Kolisch Quartet performed Bartók's String Quartet no. 5 in Washington, the Pro Arte Quartet was busy with a Beethoven cycle in five Belgian cities, as well as with the Brussels series “L'histoire du quatuor à cordes” organized by Pro Arte Concerts. VAN MALDEREN, Historique et réception, 235.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Aladár TÓTH, “Az angol zeneélet bemutatkozik tizennyolc nemzet zenekritikusainak” [The British music scene presents itself to music critics from eighteen nations], Pesti Napló 86/268 (November 24, 1935), 22.
Bartók also prepared a German translation of the analysis, which he later gave to the composer and music critic Sándor Jemnitz, who used Bartók's analysis for his own extended study; see details in NÉMETH, SOMFAI and NAKAHARA (eds.), String Quartets Nos. 1–6. Critical Commentary, 127–128.
The performance was broadcast by the Swiss radio station Romand, which was also available in Hungary; see Rádióélet 9/44 (October 29, 1937), 18. Bartók was staying at his home in Budapest at the time, but he did not hear it; cf. Béla BARTÓK Jr., Chronicles of Béla Bartók's Life (Budapest: Magyarságkutató Intézet, 2021), 381.
Paul Sacher to Bartók, November 25, 1938. BÓNIS (ed.), Bartók Béla – Paul Sacher levelezése, 76 and 245.
Így láttuk Bartókot. Ötvennégy emlékezés [Thus we saw Bartók: Fifty-four recollections], ed. by Ferenc BÓNIS (Budapest, Püski Kiadó, 1995). On the subject of this study, see in particular the recollections of Egon Kenton (pp. 59–63) and Sándor Végh (pp. 201–205). See also Lili VESZPRÉMI, “Bartók és a Róth-kvartett” [Bartók and the Róth Quartet], Muzsika 14/3 (1971), 18–20.
See Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
Verhuyck-Coulon to Bartók, December 31, 1929, and Bartók to Verhuyck-Coulon, January 5, 1930; see Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
“… sajnos a Pro Arte tagjait megint nem találtam otthon.” (K–f), “Ahol a katonabanda is Bartókot játszik” [Where even the military band plays Bartók], Az Est 21/10 (January 14, 1930), 12.
Bartók to Universal Edition, January 14, 1930, Ch-Bps, SBB, BB–UE.
Verhuyck-Coulon to Bartók, November 16, 1935; see Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
See Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
BÓNIS (ed.), Így láttuk Bartókot, 202.
BARKER, The Pro Arte Quartet, 40 and 74.
Universal Edition to Bartók, November 7, 1934, Ch-Bps, SBB, UE–BB.
Bartók to Universal Edition, September 15, 1934, Ch-Bps, SBB, UE–BB.
VAN MALDEREN, Historique et réception, 299.
Ibid.
His Master's Voice G–DB 2379/82, Vic. 8842–45, set M286, eight sides on four 12'' disc (reissue: Biddulph Recordings LAB 106, ©1995). The exact date of the original release is unknown. According to his records, Leonard Woolf played the record for the first time on April 10, 1935; see Mihály SZEGEDY-MASZÁK, “Shifts in the Musical Taste of Virginia Woolf,” in “Az ideál mindazonáltal megőrződik” – Tanulmányok Bécsy Ágnes tiszteletére (Budapest: Gondolat Kiadó, 2013), 292. Radio Budapest I first played the record on December 7, 1935; see Rádióvilág – A Kis Újság heti rádióműsora 1935. december 1-től december 7-ig [Radio World - The Kis Újság's Weekly Radio Program from December 1 to December 7, 1935], 12. The recording was regularly played on Budapest radio stations from then until the mid-1940s; see Tibor TALLIÁN, Magyar képek. Fejezetek a magyar zeneélet és zeneszerzés történetéből, 1940–1956 [Hungarian Pictures. Chapters from the History of Hungarian Music Life and Composition, 1940–1956] (Budapest: Balassi Kiadó, 2014), 51. NB: Tallián mistakenly writes about a Pro Arte Recording of Bartók's String Quartet no. 2.
Bartók to Verhuyck-Coulon, September 3, 1936. The theme also appears in Bartók's earlier letter of November 5, 1935; see Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
On January 25, 1937, Bartók wrote the following to his wife from Amsterdam: “Something also happened in Basel: before I left, the conductor [Paul Sacher] gave me his String Quartet no. 1 (or did I already write that?)” (Még Baselben is történt valami: elutazásom előtt ajándékba kaptam a karmestertől az 1. vonósnégyes lemezét [vagy talán megírtam már ezt?]). Quoted from Ditta Pásztory's manuscript booklet entitled “B.B. levelek jegyzéke/Nyaralás” [List of Bartók Letters/Summer Vacations], Ditta Pásztory Estate, deposited in H-Bbba. The original letter is in a private collection and unavailable to researchers.
Ibid.
Kata KÁLMÁN, “Fényképezésem Bartók Bélánál. Részlet egy Móricz Zsigmondról írott naplóból” [My photo session at Béla Bartók. Excerpt from a diary about Zsigmond Móricz], ed. by Katalin VARGA, Holmi 24/2 (2012), 130.
Literature on Bartók usually links the revision to Bartók's letter to Max Rostal of November 6, 1931; see the English translation of this letter in Béla Bartók Letters, ed. by János DEMÉNY (London and Budapest: Faber & Faber and Corvina, 1971), 217–219. But the composer had informed the Róth String Quartet of the revision months earlier; see VESZPRÉMI, “Bartók és a Róth-kvartett,” 19. Egon Kenton recalled that Bartók had already planned the revision of the MM numbers in 1912; see BÓNIS (ed.), Így láttuk Bartókot, 59.
The correspondence between Bartók and Verhuyck-Coulon does not mention these lists. However, when André Gertler asked Bartók to revise the metronome numbers of String Quartet no. 2 in 1935, Bartók, in his reply of August 5, 1935 (see DEMÉNY [ed.], Bartók Béla levelei, 505.), also asked for the addresses of the members of the Pro Arte Quartet, to whom he sent a copy of Jenő Deutsch's list of corrections to String Quartets nos. 1 and 2, probably in 1936. These lists are preserved in Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België Fonds Gaston Verhuyck [B-Br FGV], Mus. Ms. 467/I/12 and 13.
BARKER, The Pro Arte Quartet, 116.
First publication: Honor of Rudolf Kolisch (Music & Arts CD-1056, ©2003).
BARKER, The Pro Arte Quartet, 78–82.
The documentation of the Brosa era of the Pro Arte Quartet is very modest and fragmentary; for details see BARKER, The Pro Arte Quartet, 82–110.
BARR, Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, 325.
BARKER, The Pro Arte Quartet, 114–117. It is worth noting that at the end of the Brosa period, on April 9, 1944, Bartók's String Quartet no. 5 was performed once. In addition to the recorded concert in Washington, D.C., the work was played at the home of Sprague Coolidge on February 3, 1945, at the special request of the patroness.
SOMFAI, Perfect Notation, 307.
A striking document of this is Bartók's letter to Kolisch dated October 23, 1934 (in private possession), in which Bartók gives detailed instructions for the performance of String Quartet no. 5; see also SOMFAI and NÉMETH (eds.), String Quartets Nos. 1–6, 47*–49*.
Verhuyck-Coulon to Bartók, November 16, 1935; see Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
Verhuyck-Coulon to Bartók, October 14, 1930, October 8 and November 5, 1935, and June 25, 1936; see Appendix 1a for bibliographic information.
VAN MELDEREN, Historique et réception, 251.
The world premiere of String Quartet no. 6 was given by the Kolisch Quartet in 1941 and the work was thus dedicated to them. According to the Bartók Correspondence database (<http://db.zti.hu/bartok_correspondence/>, accessed on March 10, 2023), and the catalogue of the Harvard Library, where Rudolf Kolisch's papers are stored (<https://hollisarchives.lib.harvard.edu/repositories/24/resources/1313>, accessed March 10, 2023), the two regularly corresponded in 1944–1945, and Bartók even sent Kolisch a copy of the manuscript of his Sonata for Solo Violin (BB 124, 1944).
