The 1942 Boosey & Hawkes publication opens with the
Three Hungarian Folk-Tunes Sz66 (BB80b) by Béla Bartók, which were composed many years before the commission, in 1914–18. The Hungarian characteristics of these pieces include the use of modal melodies based on the Mixolydian and Dorian scales and frequent melodic leaps of the fourth as found in the last two folksongs.
from notes by Joseph A Herter © 2011