Bartók was in his mid-thirties when he composed the ballet "The Wooden Prince." (…) In Bartók's autobiographical sketch we are told that he had withdrawn completely from public musical life in 1912. On his way back to rediscover the fountainhead of music he had turned first to the peasants of his Hungarian homeland, to note down and record their songs and dances; later, he had extended his research trips to the neighbouring countries of Slovakia and Rumania. Had the war not broken out shortly af...