ABSTRACT
Nobody remembered when, why or how Adila first held a violin; she seemed to have been born with a bow in her hand. So here are no sprats to catch psychologists, except those few who find genius born, not made by conations or inhibitions or anything else. By the age of twenty-two Bela Bartók was much in love with Adila, and sent her postcards. Some were from other towns where he happened to go, Berlin or Pozsony; the majority were posted in Budapest. Béla Bartók came almost every day for five years to the Aranyi house as teacher and as friend, partly because of Adila, partly because of the Joachim connection, and partly as Halsey Stevens says3 because ‘they all absolutely refused to speak German, and with his budding nationalism Bartók felt a kinship for them.’.
