The eccentricity and talent of Bela Bartok

The genius of music, the world-famous composer, ethnographer and pianist – Bela Bartok. Nowadays he is mostly known by those who are fond of classical music. But is it enough?! Such a versatile and gifted person deserves to be known better. Recently, we told about Bela Bartok’s muses, and today we offer some interesting facts about him, his life, creativity and hobbies that reveal the artist from another, unknown side. 

1. Bartok is considered one of the most famous Hungarian composers, however, on his mother’s side, he had also German blood.

2. At the age of 4, Bela already could play about 40 musical compositions, and at 5, he began studying music at home. So, it is not surprising that at the age of 11, the young pianist and composer played his first public concert in Sevlyush (now Vynogradiv).

3. From childhood, he suffered from eczema (a skin disease), which was why he had to study at home. Perhaps this disease was the cause of a certain fetish of the artist, namely, sunbathing naked in the back yard of his home in the United States. The neighbors were shocked, but for Bartok, this look was perfectly suitable for creating music.

4. An atheist, he was forced to join the Unitarian Church. Such was the demand of his first wife Martha, after his adultery. However, it did not save their marriage.

5. It turns out that he was also a collector: he was collecting shells, various plants and insects, and also Hungarian furniture.

6. He worked not only with the piano, but also the Edison’s phonograph. The first wife helped him to work with these records. So, the composer’s legacy includes not only his own works, but also folk material from Hungary, Romania, Turkey and America.

7. In 1955, he was posthumously awarded with the International Peace Prize. 

8. Musical schools, streets and squares are named after him. His monuments can be found in Paris, Ontario, Brussels, Budapest and London. He would often visit London, stopping at friends. His sculpture was installed in the neighbourhood where their apartment was located. Slender and stylish Bartok, wearing a coat and a hat, stands on leaves, and there is a little bird nearby. So if you are there, go to Kensington South Station. And if not, you can at least find Bartok’s mini-sculpture in the city of Uzhgorod.

9. Even if you do not like classical music, you will surely find something for yourself in his oeuvre of six string quartets, numerous concertos, operas and children’s pedagogical works.

10. In 2002, his youngest son, Petro, published a book about his father titled, oddly enough, "My father." He also studied music and spent many years working on radio. However, Bartok Senior was against such technical innovations. As stated in the book: "My father’s dislike of radio was due to his fear and reluctance to hear music at." Probably, it did not allow him from creating and hearing his own sounds.

This list can go on and each time reveal u interesting, extraordinary and creative Bartok!