[1] The sonata was premiered by Bartók and his second wife, Ditta Pásztory-Bartók, with the percussionists Fritz Schiesser and Philipp Rühlig at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) anniversary concert of 16 January 1938 in Basel, Switzerland,[2] where it received enthusiastic reviews.

Bartók and his wife also played the piano parts for the American premiere which took place in New York City's Town Hall in 1940, with the percussionists Saul Goodman and Henry Deneke.

In the published score the composer provides highly detailed instructions for the percussionists, stipulating, for example, which part of a suspended cymbal is to be struck with what type of stick.

This structural tritone relationship is not unusual for Bartók; it may be found in many of his other compositions, including the first movement of his well-known work, Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.

[5] The world premiere was given at the Royal Albert Hall, London, at a Royal Philharmonic Society concert on 14 November 1942, with percussionists Ernest Gillegin and Frederick Bradshaw, the then husband and wife piano team of Louis Kentner and Ilona Kabos, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult.