ABSTRACT

The name of Béla Bartók, the Hungarian composer and collector of folk music, tends to conjure up a picture of a withdrawn, uncompromising and unworldly person, steeped in nationalism. What is less well known is the fact that for over thirty years he was a frequent visitor to Britain, making in all twenty tours of varying length. Even more unlikely, Bartók was one of the first visiting composer-executants to make a significant contribution to the broadcasting of contemporary music.