# - Bartók, Béla.

written in French, to a publisher, incorporating his trenchant and dismissive reader's notes on an article on Slovak and Gypsy music, written in the form of a series of numbered comments with page references to his annotated copy of the article (not included here); in his remarks Bartók expresses regret that his correspondent must publish this article "tellement mauvais", asserts it is enough to have good musicianship in order to understand a nation's music (and not a complete command of its language and culture); he dimisses the idea of a separate gypsy music, denies the existence of quarter-tones in their performances, identifies certain melodic traits as Czech or Slovak rather than gypsy in origin, stating that other characteristic intervals such as the natural seventh are generally Balkan in nature rather than particular to the Slovaks, that florid melodies are more characteristic of the Slovaks than the Czechs, that the minor second was used by oppressor nations as much as by the oppressed, correcting the author's notation of a melody with a four-bar musical example in irregular metre (written within the text on a hand-drawn stave), describing the "csárdás" as a nineteenth-century "danse demi-populaire",  discussing the instruments used by gypsy musicians, and the deletion of obscene words from published versions of folksongs



5 pages,  4to (c.28.5 x 22.5cms), ruled paper, Frankfurt am Main, 6 May 1922, creasing along horizontal folds

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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Bartók was a major force in the discovery and documentation of the national music of the Slovaks, Hungarians and the Balkans. This letter comes from the time of his major publication on Hungarian and Romanian folksongs.

...Si l'auteur aurait raison, ce serait bien dommage pour la musique de ce "peuple jeune et vigoureux". Alors il faudrait d'abord étudier les coutumes, les costumes, les fêtes, les goûts, la langue (bien difficile à apprendre) du peuple Slovaque pour arriver enfin à comprendre ses mélodies.  Moi, je suis d'avis qu'il suffit d'être un bon musicien--qu' il soit Patagonien ou Norvegien ça n'importe pas--pour pouvoir goûter l'incomparable beauté des mélodies Slovaques. C'est grand dommage que vous soyez obligés du publier cet article, tellement mauvais...