Bess 1!

Adam Bess

Bakerman Student Research Award

Essay

2 February 2018

Appendix B? It’s Right After C, of Course!

During research and composition for the reception history project, I found several key

library resources particularly effective. Guided by the course professor, Dr. Terry Dean, students

were encouraged to employ the inter-library loan service, WorldCat access, JSTOR, and other

resources to complete this assignment. Before beginning this research project, I only used a small

number of library resources for lesser research papers. However, due to the known scale of this

assignment, I knew that planned and dedicated use of on-campus library materials would be

necessary.

I found access to the library’s wealth of scores—and different versions/publications

therein—to be particularly effective. Originally, I acquired only two scores from the several

editions available for source compilation until I realized that Béla Bartók’s Concerto for

Orchestra was published with two distinct endings. Conveniently, our library was ready and able

to differentiate between the two versions of scores by music publication giant Boosey & Hawkes.

Surprisingly, I discovered I had already gathered the two differing editions without needing to

launch a full-scale expedition of our library or others nearby! Within these scores, reproduced

original score markings and front-matter consisting of notes from both the score compiler and the

composer himself led me towards argumentative analyses that would have been otherwise

overlooked without these key resources.

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Noted in my assignment cover letter, one of the largest challenges faced during this

project was attempting to locate an original premiere review of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra.

In the book Bartók, Concerto for Orchestra, by David Cooper, the table of contents listed the

original review by music critic Rudolph Elie Jr., however the appendix containing the letter was

nowhere to be found. Scouring the library’s WorldCat, JSTOR, and inter-library loan databases

returned either inconclusive results or findings that would take too long for access given the date

confines of the project. I was moments before abandoning all hope when I accidentally clicked

forward on the online Cooper text past my desired page, discovering the long-lost “Appendix B”

containing Elie’s review. The online book and its appendices were uploaded out of order

according to the table of contents, thus leading to my confusion. Despite the organizational

challenges, the ebook as a part of the ACLS Humanities (through the University of Michigan)

collection provided an unparalleled analysis of the piece and its reception, offering commentary

by the author David Cooper, the aforementioned original premiere reviews, and even some of

Bartók’s reactions to the premiere. Its online access was especially convenient, allowing me

unrestricted access without the need for an inter-library loan, as well as searchable sections of

text to further refine my research.

Though the focus of this paper centered on the reception of Bartók’s Concerto for

Orchestra, I found that unique insight to the composer’s process and rationale for the

composition rested in the volume of letters written by the composer to his family and friends in

the years leading up to the premiere. During my cursory source gathering, I found many

references to such letters in random order without much organization. Taking a chance, I decided

to search the library simply for “Bartók letters,” in the hope of finding some compilation of
 Bess 3!

letters written by Bartók while abroad or during his tenure at Harvard University. As luck would

have it, our library had tangible access to Béla Bartók Letters, a volume compiled by known

Bartók scholar János Demény. In retrospect, I should have searched for this type of resource first

instead of randomly compiling the letters myself. Thankfully I discovered this source earlier in

the research process to provide greater organization to my overall argument and direction.

After completing the research necessary for this paper, I discovered that I should have

utilized resources such as the in-house database search for source compilations and online texts

earlier in my studies. As a result, I could have expedited the research process and provided an

improved comprehensive and educated argument. Merely relying on JSTOR and WorldCat can

complete an assignment. However, nothing bests spending dedicated time inside the library

while comparing and compiling sources to ascertain scope, eliminate bias, and formulate a well-

positioned, thoroughly argumentative product.