Editing Béla Bartók (section)

===New influences (1903–1911)===
Under the influence of Strauss, Bartók composed in 1903 [[Kossuth (Bartók)|''Kossuth'']], a symphonic poem in ten tableaux on the subject of the 1848 Hungarian war of independence, reflecting the composers growing interest in musical nationalism.{{sfn|Stevens|1993|p=17}} A year later he renewed his opus numbers with the [[Rhapsody, Op. 1 (Bartók)|''Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra'']] serving as Opus&nbsp;1. Driven by nationalistic fervor and a desire to transcend the influence of prior composers, Bartók began a lifelong devotion to folk music, which was sparked by his overhearing nanny Lidi Dósa's singing of Transylvanian folk songs at a Hungarian resort in 1904.{{sfn|Stevens|1993|p=22}} Bartók began to collect Magyar peasant melodies, later extending to the folk music of other peoples of the Carpathian Basin, Slovaks, Romanians, Rusyns, Serbs and Croatians.{{sfn|Moreux|1974|p=60}} He used fewer and fewer romantic elements, in favour of an idiom that embodied folk music as intrinsic and essential to its style. Later in life he commented on the incorporation of folk and art music:{{sfn|Fisk|1997|p=271}}
<blockquote>
The question is, what are the ways in which peasant music is taken over and becomes transmuted into modern music? We may, for instance, take over a peasant melody unchanged or only slightly varied, write an accompaniment to it and possibly some opening and concluding phrases. This kind of work would show a certain analogy with Bach's treatment of chorales.&nbsp;... Another method&nbsp;... is the following: the composer does not make use of a real peasant melody but invents his own imitation of such melodies. There is no true difference between this method and the one described above.&nbsp;... There is yet a third way&nbsp;... Neither peasant melodies nor imitations of peasant melodies can be found in his music, but it is pervaded by the atmosphere of peasant music. In this case we may say, he has completely absorbed the idiom of peasant music which has become his musical mother tongue.
</blockquote>

Bartók became first acquainted with Debussy's music in 1907 and regarded his music highly. In an interview in 1939 Bartók said:{{sfn|Moreux|1953|p=92}}
<blockquote>
Debussy's great service to music was to reawaken among all musicians an awareness of harmony and its possibilities. In that, he was just as important as Beethoven, who revealed to us the possibilities of progressive form, or as Bach, who showed us the transcendent significance of counterpoint. Now, what I am always asking myself is this: is it possible to make a synthesis of these three great masters, a living synthesis that will be valid for our time?
</blockquote>
Debussy's influence is present in the Fourteen Bagatelles (1908). These made [[Ferruccio Busoni]] exclaim: "At last something truly new!"{{sfn|Bartók|1948|loc=2:83<!--It would be preferable to cite the letter from the English edition, for the benefit of readers not fluent in Hungarian.-->}} Until 1911, Bartók composed widely differing works which ranged from adherence to romantic style, to folk song arrangements and to his modernist opera ''Bluebeard's Castle''. The negative reception of his work led him to focus on folk music research after 1911 and abandon composition with the exception of folk music arrangements.{{sfn|Gillies|1993|p=404}}{{sfn|Stevens|1964|pp=47–49}}