The exhibition, which is open until October 31, 2006, is situated in a newly refurbished area of the museum. Originally prepared for an international musicology conference entitled ?Bartók?s Orbit?, held in the Institute of Musicology on March 22-24, it is now open to the public.
It includes family portraits, photographs and some famous caricatures by Bartók?s cousin Ervin Voit, depicting the composer as a collector of insects, and as a member of the Legion of Honour. Many of Bartók?s manuscripts are also on display, from his earliest childhood compositions to the scores of his last works.
Visitors can read conductor Serge Koussevitzky?s letter commissioning Bartók to write ?Concerto for Orchestra?, as well as a letter by Bartók to viola player William Primrose describing plans for the final form of his Viola Concerto, which was left unfinished. They can view Bartók?s notes from his trips in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Turkey to collect folk music, and they can see the composer?s library, reading his notes on Nietzsche and the Hungarian poet Endre Ady.
Many of the items which are seen in public for the first time at the exhibition were provided by Bartók?s relatives.
The exhibition is curated by Tibor Tallián, with the assistance of László Vikárius, Mihály Szöllősy and Anna Baranyi.
The museum is located at Táncsics Mihály Street 7, in Budapest?s District I.
