Bartók's 'Love Letter' Manuscript Unveiled in Budapest

A significant musical discovery has emerged from Budapest with the unearthing of a manuscript by the renowned composer Béla Bartók. The item, described as a "love letter" or a musical score, dates back 120 years and was found by Ádám Bősze, a music critic, television presenter, and founder of the Zenei Antikvarium, a rare book shop.

Bartók, who joined the Liszt Academy as a piano professor in 1907, developed a deep affection for one of his students, the brilliant violinist Stefi Geyer. She was 19, and he was 26. Despite their differing religious views (he was an atheist, she was Catholic) and the ethical considerations of a teacher-student romance, their relationship, though brief, left a lasting impact on Bartók.

The core of this impact lies in four specific musical notes – D♯, F♯, A, C♯ – which Bartók came to associate with Geyer. In his musical sensibility, these notes represented his idealized vision and desire for her, but also the fury and sorrow stemming from unrequited love, particularly the dissonant C♯. This chord, a major seventh, is said to carry the violinist's name and encapsulates Bartók's bittersweet emotions.

Inspired by these four notes and the remnants of his feelings for Geyer, Bartók composed his first violin concerto in 1908. This deeply emotional work was dedicated as a declaration of his feelings. The original score, preserved by Geyer through her will, was bequeathed to Swiss conductor and collector Paul Sacher, with the stipulation that it be performed in 1958, fifty years after its creation. Bartók also drew from these same notes and the lingering sentiments of the concerto to create 'Two Portraits,' a sonic representation of his internal conflict between hope and rejection, tenderness and violence.