Following are a few preliminary hints about Bartok's music.
Forms: Bartok composed for a variety of dramatic, orchestral, chamber, vocal, and piano music media and forms, and many of these works have distinctive titles.
Languages: Bartok's native language was Hungarian, but many of his later works, composed after he emigrated to the United States in 1940, have distinctive titles in English.
If you know only the English version of the title of a particular work, do not panic! A cross reference often will direct you to the original Hungarian title if that is the original language of the work. Alternatively, you usually can find the original title of a work by Bartok in a list of all his works, such as the one in the New Grove dictionary of music and musicians, or in Elliott Antokoletz's Bela Bartok : a guide to research, 2nd edition (Garland Publications, 1997). Both of these sources are found in the Reference Collection. If you need assistance locating them, ask the Reference Librarian.
No special numbering system is used for the works of Bartok, though some works are distinguished by opus numbers.
Cook Music Library