The Life and Music of Béla Bartók

First published in 1953, and again in 1964, Stevens's study is a classic text, combining an authoritative, balanced account of the Hungarian composer's life with candid, insightful analyses of his numerous works, particularly the chamber works. The work now appears in a third edition, prepared by the Bartok scholar Malcolm Gillies. A comprehensive chronological list of works is added, together with a select bibliography and discography. Minor revisions to the text are suggested and a new collection of rare photographs is included.

Halsey Stevens, composer and author, studied at Syracuse University and at the University of California at Berkeley, where his teacher was Ernest Bloch. From 1948 he taught at the University of Southern California, of which he was professor emeritus at the time of his death in 1989. Stevens was a prolific composer, particularly of chamber and vocal music.