Piano Concerto No. 3, Sz. 119

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 found in Bartók's score. Had he lived on, there is no doubt that he would have edited the concerto as meticulously as was his habit. In order to give a complete picture of the work, such markings as were deemed necessary were added by Tibor Serly; by Eugene Ormandy, who conducted the first performance; by Louis Kentner; and by Erwin Stein. In preparing this Revised Edition, all extant sources have been examined and compared with the previously printed edition. For full discussion of the amendments reference should be made to the Editorial Notes to the Revised Edition of the published conductor's score.