Mikrokosmos, Bartók’s epoch-making series of piano pieces, appeared in volume 40 of the Complete Edition in October 2020. On this occasion the Béla Bartók Memorial House organized a conference on Mikrokosmos on 26 November 2020 at 3pm. You can watch the video recording of the event here.
Owing to the pandemic the conference was held without audiences and was streamed on the Memorial House’s Facebook profile. The host of the event was Zoltán Farkas, Director of the Bartók Memorial House. The presenters of the conference were: László Vikárius, Editor-in-Chief of the Complete Edition; Yusuke Nakahara, Editor of volume 40; pianist Gábor Eckhardt; and composer Bálint Horváth.
In addition to the 153 pieces of Mikrokosmos, volume 40 of the Complete Edition also includes Bartók’s foreword, exercises, and notes to the first edition. The introductory studies in English, Hungarian, and German that preface the edition explore not only the genesis and reception of the pieces, but also provide the most detailed guidance to date in questions concerning the notation and performance of the music. The critical commentary will be published in volume 41 in spring 2021.