Béla Bartók quotes

In art there are only fast or slow developments. Essentially it is a matter of evolution, not revolution. (Béla Bartók)
Competitions are for horses, not artists. View quote
Béla Bartók
I cannot conceive of music that expresses absolutely nothing. View quote
Béla Bartók
Our peasant music, naturally, is invariably tonal, if not always in the sense that the inflexible major and minor system is tonal. (An "atonal" folk-music, in my opinion, is unthinkable.) Since we depend upon a tonal basis of this kind in our creative work, it is quite self-evident that our works are quite pronouncedly tonal in type. I must admit, however, that there was a time when I thought I was approaching a species of twelve-tone music. Yet even in works of that period the absolute tonal foundation is unmistakable. View quote
Béla Bartók
Our peasant music, naturally, is invariably tonal, if not always in the sense that the inflexible major and minor system is tonal. View quote
Béla Bartók