The Case For Bartok’s Greatness

In the end, one must ask why Béla Bartók’s Hungarian-oriented music has prevailed over that of Elgar, Sibelius, Nielsen, and other nationalists. One suspects that its universality stems not just from its folksong-inspired idiom, or its use of comprehensible forms, or its earthy, forceful rhythms. Its broad appeal seems rooted, rather, in Bartók’s belief that “every true art is produced through the influence of impressions we gather within ourselves from the outer world of ‘experiences’.”