Bartók wrote his Piano Concerto No. 3 during the summer of 1945, intending it as a birthday present to be given to his wife, Ditta, on 31st October. By this time he was already gravely ill; however, he was able to finish the score, with the exception of the last seventeen bars, which he noted in a kind of musical shorthand. These last seventeen bars were deciphered and scored by his friend and pupil Tibor Serly. Only a few expression marks and tempo indications, and no metronome marks, were foun...