In July 2021, a rare letter came up for sale at London’s prestigious auction house, Christie’s. Handwritten in perfect English by Béla Bartók, it was addressed to an unusual character he had befriended in Budapest in April 1921. Addressee ‘Mr Heseltine’ is, in fact, Peter Warlock, a modest composer and music critic in his own right, who changed his name after he became interested in the occult.
Warlock was also fascinated by the more unusual forms of classical music coming out of Europe either side of World War I. After seeking out Dutch composer Bernard van Dieren in 1916, Warlock turned his attention to Bartók.
A year later, Warlock arranged for Bartók to give a recital in Aberystwyth. In the letter, dated 12 March 1922 and postmarked London, the Hungarian is making arrangements with the maverick critic about the Aberystwyth show. In the end, Warlock did not attend, but Bartók stayed with the British aristocrat at his Welsh mansion, Cefn Bryntalch, near Abermule.
Bartók gave his recital at the Music House at Aberystwyth University, amazing and confusing local observers in equal measure.
Now, a hundred years later, the National Eisteddfod,
the annual Welsh cultural celebration dating back to 1176, has picked up on
this historical quirk to stage a varied series of events this evening, 1
August, in
Tregaron. Musicologist Dr Rhian Davies is giving a lecture in Welsh, pianist Llŷr Williams will
be playing several Bartók pieces while Welsh students from the Kodály Violin
School will also be appearing.
The young musicians have performed at several
events organised by the Welsh-Hungarian Cultural Association, such as the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to poet János Arany in Montgomery this spring.
