One of the most influential series of piano pieces of the 20th century, Mikrokosmos appeared in one volume in the Complete Critical Edition. The introductory studies in English, Hungarian and German not only explore the history of the series and its reception in more detail than ever before, but also provide guidance on the notation and performance of the work. The publication also includes the exercises and notes written by Bartók for Mikrokosmos. 

The Critical Commentary volume that accompanies the critical edition of Mikrokosmos not only documents the compositional and folk music sources of the work (from sketches through printed editions and even Bartók's own recordings of some of the pieces) as well as all editorial decisions but, based on this source material, it also presents the compositional process in the greatest detail possible. Many have regarded, and still do, Bartók's monumental series of 153 piano pieces as a key to understanding his compositional methods.