Bartók's Pozsony: An Examination of Neglected Primary Sources

While Béla Bartók's Selbstbiographie of 1921 provides some insight into his musical training in Pozsony, music historians looking for a broader understanding of the rich musical life that helped shape Bartók must also consider autobiographical statements made by his contemporaries. Fortunately, excellent opportunities present themselves in the writings of the two musicians who preceded Bartók as the organist for the Pozsony Gymnasium's Sunday Mass: Franz Schmidt's Autobiographische Skizze, which he completed around 1915, and Ernő Dohnányi's Memoirs, which he read over Hungarian Radio on January 30, 1944. This article examines the three autobiographical statements to provide a more accurate representation of the richness of Pozsony's musical life at the end of the nineteenth century, and a more complete portrayal of the musical and cultural influences under which Bartók thrived in Pozsony.