`  == Mikrokosmos, the 2 sonatas for violin and piano ==  This effort is a fine work in progress.  I do wish that more trumpets might sound whenever the Mikrokosmos are mentioned, here or elsewhere.  They were intended as  teaching pieces, but starting perhaps with some pieces in Volume IV, the set soars above its stated  intent, showcasing Bartok's full throttled inspiration, some of the greatest character pieces of the era.  Bartok is at the top of his game, for example, in the Bulgarian rhythm set that ends Volume VI, the rest of which is similarly edgy and gorgeous at the same time.  Both Sandor and Solchany championed these works in their  recordings for Angel.  But there remains an unfortunate aura of apology when they are programmed in recitals. Fix it, pianists.  These are great works that suffer in the same way that the Two and Three Part Inventions of J.S. Bach suffer.  Student pieces.  What isn't?  I blinked at the comments about the Sonata #1 for Violin and Piano.  I agree that both sonatas for violin and piano are extreme explorations of what one might call Bartok's expressionistic character, but both are very disciplined works.  What is a melody, and where does it go when it is gone?  How does one de-melodize a sequence of notes? All old questions for certified contrapuntalists and critics. Likewise, a subversion of focal points in ``tonality`` is a kind of common practice in the most advanced European composers immediately after WWI.  But there is an implication of loss of control and substance here, at least a risk of misunderstanding.  Instead, let me close with a purple statement.  These two works are the summit of Bartok's art.  They have no equal. They may be the summit, period, of 20th Century European musical expressionism. Give them also the trumpets that  should herald them.  They are still not all that well known, extremely difficult to play.  But they are the best of what we are.  John Dinwiddie Atonalanota`