Music: Rhapsody v. Concerto

Proudly in the front rank of contemporary composers stands Bela Bartók, Hungarian. Symphonophiles the world over know him for a revolutionist, remember his music for its brutality, its stark rhythms. Last week he made his U. S. debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra—and a great audience was surprised.* They had expected a bulky, grim-jawed man with personality to match. Instead they saw a frail little person scoot shyly around the orchestra's first-string men and bow his way almost meekly to the piano set out for him. They had expected to hear...

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