SEPTEMBER— DECEMBER 2007 / VOL. VII / NO.3

Concerts / Operas

Martinů’s Escape

from France

List of Martinů’s Works Part I.

Interview with

Jakub Hrůša

Obituaries

NEWS & EVENTS

The Bohus lav Mar t inů Foundat ionThe Bohus lav Mar t inů In s t i tu te

The In te rna t iona l Mar t inů C i r c l eBOHUSLAVMARTINU°

VOL. VII / NO.3SEPTEMBER— DECEMBER 2007

Contents–

i HistorYMARTINŮ’S ESCAPEFROM FRANCE • ALEŠ BŘEZINA

l Events / ConferencE18TH CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONALMUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY IN ZURICH• ALEŠ BŘEZINA

; New CDs & DVD

g InterviewWITH… JAKUB HRŮŠA• LUCIE BERNÁ

f ConcertSMARTINŮ DAZZLES AT THE SMETANA’S LITOMYŠL 2007INTERNATIONAL OPERA FESTIVAL• LUCIE BERNÁ

j Obituaries/ ConferencE—THE ORGANIST AND COMPOSER BEDŘICH

JANÁČEK • JANA HŘEBÍKOVÁ—CZECH COMPOSER JINDŘICH FELD

• ALEŠ BŘEZINA, LUCIE BERNÁ—GUY ERISMANN • PATRICE CHEVY—EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE BOHUSLAV

MARTINŮ COMPLETE EDITION

s SpeciaL SeriesLIST OF MARTINŮ’S WORKS STAGE WORKS AND FILM MUSIC / OPERAS

r ReviewsMARTINŮ AT THE PROMS 2007• GREGORY TERIAN

t ConcertSTHREE CONCERTS — ONE CONDUCTOR• MARK TODD / PAVEL MATYS

e WelcomE—WE ARE MOVING—NEW SECRETARY OF IMC—INTERNATIONAL MARTINŮ CIRCLE

u Operas/ HistoricaL RecordingsFILM, FAIRYTALE, THEATREAND MUSIC• JAN KLUSÁK

a News/ Martinů RevisiteD 2009—US ARMY BAND AND CHORUS

• MARK TODD—AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE

• GREGORY TERIAN—REPORT FROM A RESIDENCY

AT BÄRENREITER-VERLAG, KASSEL

y Operas/ NewRecordinGTEARS OF THE KNIFE• ANTHONY BURTON

y Bohuslav Martinů in Polička, 1918 © PBM

Welcome–

INTERNATIONALMARTINŮ CIRCLE

Members receive the illustrated BohuslavMartinů Newsletter published three timeseach year plus a special limited edition CD.The IMC is supported by the BohuslavMartinů Foundation and Bohuslav MartinůInstitute in Prague.

SUBSCRIPTION

20 Euro/ 25 USD/ £14 UK(includes 3 issues of the BM Newsletterand a non-commercial CD recordingfrom the Bohuslav Martinů Days Festivalin Prague).

100 USD for companiessubscription includes 10 copies of eachissue of the BM Newsletter and threecopies of the non-commercial CDrecording from the BM Festival

Single copies of the Newsletter:3 Euro/ 4 USD plus postage

For further details about membership andfor a free copy of the magazine contactJana Honzíkováe-mail: incircle@martinu.czBohuslav Martinů Institute,Náměstí Kinských 3, 150 00 Praha 5From 1 January 2008:Bořanovická 14, 182 00 Praha 8or Gregory Terian – UK members only,tel.: 01625 523326Mari Tokuda – members in Japan,e-mail: martinu@martinu.jp

THE IMC CORDIALLYWELCOMES THE NEW MEMBERS• Justin Krawitz, Madison, USA• Kees van Es, Hong Kong• Ing. Josef Exner, Czech Republic• Gideon Flusser,Tel Aviv, Israel• Éva Molnárová, Budapest, Hungary• Prof. Stephen Shipps, Ann Arbor,

Michigan, USA• PhDr. Jana Zapletalová, Olomouc, CZ• Schott Music, Mainz

BONUS – Those who recruita new member for Martinů willreceive a bonus Martinů CD!

Please note:VERY IMPORTANTWe kindly ask all members to send theiremail addresses to incircle@martinu.cz.Some of them are out of date. And wekindly ask members who do not havean email address to create one if at allpossible.This would simplify our contactand save money on postage.

M U N I C I PA L M U S E U M —BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ MEMORIAL IN POLIČKA OFFERS short-term exhibitionsdedicated to the life and work ofB. Martinů, a guided tour to Martinů’sbirthplace in the St. James churchtower and for registered researchersarchive materials concerning Martinů.Further information available atwww.muzeum.policka.netand www.policka-mesto.cz

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THE BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ NEWSLETTER is published by theBohuslav Martinů Foundation in collaborationwith the Bohuslav Martinů Institute in Prague

EDITORS

Zoja SeyčkováLucie Berná

TRANSLATION

Hilda Hearne

PHOTOGRAPHS

The Bohuslav Martinů Foundation’s and Institute’sarchive, collections of the Municipal Museum –Bohuslav Martinů Memorial in Polička

GRAPHIC DESIGN

David E. Cígler

PRINTING

BOOM TISK, spol. s r.o.

PRICE

CZK 50 The Bohuslav Martinů Newsletteris published three times a year.

COVER PHOTO

Bohuslav and Charlotte Martinů in Polička,1935©PBM

EDITORIAL OFFICE

The Bohuslav Martinů InstituteNáměstí Kinských 3150 00 Praha 5, Czech Republictel.: +420 257 313 104, +420 257 320 076fax: +420 257 323 761e-mail: newsletter@martinu.czwww.martinu.cz

ISSN 1214-6234

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eBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

NEWS — DEAR FRIENDS, WE ARE MOVINGFrom 1. 1. 2008 you will find us at a new address:Bořanovická 1779/14, 182 00 Praha 8-Kobylisy, right by Kobylisy metro station (line C)Email addresses and telephone numbers will remain unchanged.For this reason, the library of the Bohuslav Martinů Institute will be closed between1. 12. 2007 and 31. 1. 2008.Thank you for understanding.

Dear members, we would like to inform you that Jindra Havlíčková is no longer IMCsecretary.Yet she is still very busy, because she has a little child. Jana Honzíková hastaken over her working duties. Jana worked in the Martinů Institute until 2003, whenher son was born. She is a musicology graduate of Charles University in Prague.

New residence of the International Martinů Circle, Bohuslav Martinů Foundationand Institute

Jindra Havlíčková & her son Jana Honzíková

She edited the Martinů Newsletter and was responsible for other Martinů projects(the new edition of Harry Halbreich’s Bohuslav Martinů – Werkverzeichnis undBiografie; Bohuslav Martinů – Complete Critical Edition). She is looking forward toworking for the International Martinů Circle and hopes the society and all its memberswill be successful in spreading Martinů’s music to an even wider audience.

INTERNATIONAL MARTINŮ CIRCLESUBSCRIPTION 2008In December an IMC account will be opened at the bank Česká spořitelna. Since theCzech Republic is not in the euro zone, every payment from abroad is subject toa high charge. It would thus make financial sense if one member undertook to collectall the subscriptions from his/her country.This person would gather the subscriptionsin his/her personal account and then send them on to Prague. Owing to GregoryTerian and Mari Tokuda, such a system already functions with the British and Japansection of the IMC.We kindly request that members visiting Martinů Days in Prague pay theirsubscriptions in cash. Thank you.

]

Reviews—

rBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

GREGORY TERIAN

THE PERFORMANCE of Martinů’s PianoConcerto No. 4 Incantations, H. 358given at the Proms on 26 August by IvoKahánek and the BBC Symphony Orchestraconducted by Jiří Bělohlávek was a re-sounding success.There was an enthusiasticresponse from a near capacity audienceat the Royal Albert Hall. A nicely judgedprogramme also included Britten’s FourSea Interludes and Pokofiev’s 5th Symphony.

The critics commended the panache andvirtuosity of the soloist and the commit-ted support of the orchestra under Bělo-hlávek but the usual critical reservationssurfaced, notably from Michael Billingtonof the Guardian, concerning Martinů’sstanding among 20th Century composers.Earlier in the week, during the course ofan interview on BBC Radio 3’s In Tuneprogramme, Kahanek gave a scintillatingperformance in the studio of one of theMartinů Three Czech Dances. During theconcert interval on television, Bělohlávekwas asked why the music of Martinů wasperformed so infrequently in the concerthall. As far as the UK is concerned theanswer is fairly obvious. Apart from theBBC, British concert promoters arereluctant to risk programming any workwhich might affect box office receipts.One can only be thankful that the BBCcontinues to do so.The informative „red button“ commentaryon the Martinů Concerto, available todigital viewers of the concert on tele-vision, was written by Anthony Burton.Jiří Bělohlávek’s first „Last Night of theProms“ proved to be a triumph.Theconcert opened with Dvořák’s OthelloOverture with following support from theviolinist Joshua Bell and the winning waysof the Russian soprano Anna Netrebko.The last night speech must have been anintimidating experience but Jiří did okayand has clearly won over the hearts of thePromenaders.

The August 26 Prom including theMartinů Piano Concerto No. 4 isnow available as a download fromwww.deutschegrammophon.comand iTunes.

…In an auspicious Proms debut, IvoKahánek whipped up more of a storm assoloist in Martinů’s Fourth Piano Concerto,full of typical percussive brilliance andan astonishing stabbing solo part. Maybepatriotism, or the yearning for thehomeland that characterised Martinů’slater works, accounted for Bělohlávek’sreally coming to life for this highly enter-taining work by an underrated twentiethcentury Czech master… Simon Thomas

http://www.musicomh.com/proms/2007-56_0807.htm

…In this, his second of four visits to theProms this year, Jiří Bělohlávek joinedforces with his countryman Ivo Kahánekto present what might be described asa Czech hat-trick: Bohuslav Martinů’sIncantation, his fourth piano concerto…

…Following this, Ivo Kahánek, the winnerof the 2004 Prague Spring InternationalPiano Competition, joined the orchestrato play Martinů’s Incantation.The com-poser, since his opera “Julietta”, first heardin 1938, had explored the idea of fantasyand dreams in music; this came to a peakin the 1950s Fantaisies symphoniques(Symphony No. 6) and Incantation(completed early in 1956). Incantation’sfoundation is the two-note cell of a majorsecond first heard in the bird-songopening and is largely rhapsodic – anothercharacteristic of Martinů’s later music……In this performance the orchestralsound was much better and the flighty andfantastic strings were quite equalled byrounded, well-balanced winds and brass.An interesting effect, the harp glissandosusing the back of the hand in the coda tothe first movement, was well executed,adding a magical shimmering.This is onlythe third time that Incantation has been

heard at the Proms: the London premierewas there in 1957 with compatriot RudolfFirkušný as soloist. Ivo Kahánek gavea thoroughly fine and convincing perform-ance. Martinů’s music is too infrequentlyheard in concerts despite the composer’sprolific output; this concerto is a delightfullisten… Chris Caspell

www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_prom_review.php?id=4848

…Last night’s concerto – Martinů’s Fourth– was much rarer, but its restless inven-tion, pungency and virtuosity were givensharp focus by the pianist Ivo Kahánek,with keen, gritty involvement in the citrustang from the BBC Symphony Orchestraunder Jiří Bělohlávek…

Geoffrey Norris

www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/08/27/bmprom227.xml

MARTINŮ AT THE

PROMS 2007

IVO KAHÁNEK

THE WINNER of the piano competitionwithin the Prague Spring Festival, IvoKahánek (*1979), advanced to the Czech-Slovak-Korean-Japanese final round andproceeded to enchant the jury with hisconvincing performance of Liszt’s PianoConcerto No. 1 in E flat major. His victory isall the more valuable in that he is only thethird Czech in history to have receivedthe highest award.Ivo Kahánek is the laureate of the inter-national competitions Concertino Praga(1994), Chopin Competition in MariánskéLázně (1997),Vendôme Prize Competition– Central Europe (2003), and the holderof a special award in the Maria Canalscompetition in Barcelona (2001). He isa graduate of the Janáček Conservatory inOstrava (Marta Toaderová) and the MusicFaculty of the Academy of Performing Artsin Prague (Prof. Ivan Klánský). He alsoattended master classes given by Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Christian Zacharias,

Eugen Indjić, Alicia de Larocha, etc.Ivo Kahánek has regularly performed asa guest on concert stages both in the CzechRepublic and abroad, including at presti-gious festivals (Prague Spring, Beethoven-fest Bonn, Encuentro de Santander,TicinoMusica).He has collaborated with renownedorchestras including Philharmonie Köln,the Prague FOK Symphony Orchestra,Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, BrnoPhilharmonic Orchestra, Janáček Philhar-monic Orchestra Ostrava. He has made

recordings for Supraphon, Cube Bohemia,Czech Radio and Czech Television.Ivo Kahánek’s most noteworthy concertsinclude his debut with the Czech Philhar-monic Orchestra conducted by ZdeněkMácal and London debut with the BBCSymphony Orchestra under the baton ofJiří Bělohlávek at the Royal Albert Hallwithin the BBC Proms festival (Martinů’sIncantations).At the present time, he is preparing forthe recording of Bohuslav Martinů’sSonata for piano, H. 350 and Fantasyand Toccata, H. 281 in February 2008.Also figuring prominently in his diaryis the Prague concert with the CzechPhilharmonic Orchestra scheduled for5 June 2008. The orchestra, conductedby Jiří Bělohlávek, will again performConcerto for Piano and OrchestraNo.4 (Incantations), H. 358. Ivo Kahánekwould like to record Incantations in thefuture. He is also particularly keen onthe piano compositions from BohuslavMartinů’s Paris period. n

Ivo Kahánek

INTERESTING REVIEWS (CHOICE)PREPARED BY ZOJA SEYČKOVÁ

Concerts—

tBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

COVENT GARDENCHAMBER ORCHESTRA

MARK TODD

| Saturday 13 October 2007St James’s Church, Piccadilly

Two works by Martinů formed the firsthalf of the programme presented by theCovent Garden Chamber Orchestra attheir concert at St James’s Piccadilly onOctober 13 – the Overture forOrchestra, H. 345 and the Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra,H. 337, both premiered in 1953 in USA.The CGCO is a non-professional orches-tra founded in the 1980s, its memberscoming from a variety of professions,including publishing, teaching, architecture,arts administration, IT, medicine and theBBC. Its voluntary membership assuresenthusiasm, but in this case there is a highlevel of skill too.The orchestra works witha variety of invited conductors – on thisoccasion Peter Stark, a student of Normandel Mar and Sir Charles Mackerras whohas worked with a number of amateurand professional orchestras both in Britainand other countries.Conductor and orchestra respondedequally to the lively invention in theOverture and the lyrical moods of theRhapsody-Concerto.The excellent violasoloist was Paul Silverthorne, who per-formed the work in the Martinů weekendat the Barbican some years ago and inUSA, together with the London SymphonyOrchestra of which he is the leaderof the viola section. He also wrote anexcellent note on the work (of whichhe is preparing an edition for the MartinůComplete Edition) for the concertprogramme.The firm control maintained by the con-ductor ensured that both works regis-tered more fully than they might in a morecasual presentation by a top professionalorchestra.The many solo phrases in eachwork were clearly and stylishly presentedby orchestra members.The Rhapsody-Concerto is an intimate, even private, workas well as a vehicle for a soloist, and thesoloist registered this in his interpretation– something more subtle for an orchestrato achieve.After the interval the orchestra performedDvořák’s Symphony No.7 with equal success– a notably strong interpretation, witha trenchant rhythm maintained even in thefinal bars and chords, to excellent effect.The audience – which filled the nave ofthe church – expressed enthusiasm bothfor the performances and the works, and,quite apart from the enjoyment it provokedand achievement it represented, this eventwas of value in promoting awareness ofMartinů’s music.

THE HERTFORDSHIRECOUNTY YOUTHORCHESTRA I.

PAVEL MATYS

| Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall,Monday 27 August 2007

It is not customary in our country thata foreign student orchestra chooses forits concert three demanding 20th centuryCzech music works and its nigh-on pro-fessional performance is enthusiasticallyreceived by the Rudolfinum’s nearly fullDvořák Hall. Doubly so when the orchestrais made up of students of various, mainlynon-musical, subjects for whom music isjust a hobby.Yet this was the case on Mon-day 27 August 2007 at a concert given bythe Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestrafrom England.The young Hertfordshire musicians haverecently been giving concerts throughoutEurope and over the past few years thisleading English youth orchestra has per-formed such compositions as Messiaen’sTurangalila Symphony, Britten’s War Requiemand Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. However,for its tour of the Czech Republic theorchestra chose a purely Czech pro-gramme: Leoš Janáček’s Sinfonietta andRhapsody for Orchestra Taras Bulba, andBohuslav Martinů’s Symphony No.1,H. 289.The programme, tricky indeed for theyoung English musicians, was prepared andled by Peter Stark, the orchestra’s chiefconductor, famous in Britain and continen-tal Europe for winning the conductors’competition in Leeds, regularly performingat the Royal Festival Hall and BarbicanCentre, recording for BBC Radio 3 andcollaborating with many renowned orches-tras and conductors.Under Stark’s supple gestures, the youthorchestra, excellent in both technical and

musical terms, played with certainty anda refreshing naturalness and spontaneity.The conductor’s conception revealedthat Czech music is close to his heart.At the same time, it was evident that theconductor and orchestra are on very goodterms indeed, having a rapport we in theCzech Republic are somewhat lacking attimes.Mr Stark and his players especially excelledwhen performing the free movement ofMartinů’s Symphony No. 1, those beautiful,delicately modulating passages arching intothe distance,which are so typical of Martinů,evoking his experience of an open, light,infinite space when gazing at the Vysočinahills from the tower of the Polička church.If the interpretation did deviate a fractionfrom our deep-rooted conception, it wasmainly in the symphonic fresco TarasBulba, whose musical language is close tothe nature and idiom of Russian OrthodoxChurch music and, accordingly, requires itsperforming with great intensity and wide-breath phrasing. At this juncture, theyouth orchestra was found rather lackingin the intensity of sound, primarily withhigher strings, and musical elongation– thisis precisely what makes our Slavonic musicdifferent from Western European music ingeneral and the English music tradition inparticular, naturally influencing the musicalfeeling of English musicians and, in turn,leading the performer to a more rationalconception.In the concert’s conclusion, the Dvořákhall resounded to the fanfares of Janáček’sSymfonietta, during which ten outstandingCzech trumpeters from leading Czechorchestras played on the organ gallery.Thejoint performance clearly revealed thattoday Janáček’s music is understood andcherished throughout the world.The concert was a true music holiday.Thesmiles on the faces of all those present –both in the auditorium and on the stage –bore witness to the fact that somethinggood was created and conveyed.

THE HERTFORDSHIRECOUNTY YOUTHORCHESTRA II.

MARK TODD

|Weston Auditorium, HatfieldSaturday 1 September 2007

Opportunities to hear performances ofsymphonies by Martinů are not toofrequent in Britain, so it was good newsthat a performance was scheduled in mynative country.The Hertfordshire CountyYouth Orchestra’s concert in the WestonHall in the University of Hertfordshire atHatfield on Saturday September 1 was anentirely Czech programme, Janáček’s TarasBulba and Sinfonietta sandwiching Martinů’sSymphony No.1. Disappointingly anotherengagement meant that I would not beable to attend this concert, so I was verypleased to get permission from the con-ductor Peter Stark and the HertfordshireCounty Schools music Service to attendthe afternoon rehearsal.The orchestra includes young peoplebetween the ages of seventeen andtwenty-two who attend, or have attended,schools in Hertfordshire. On the previousMonday, 27 August, the young players hadgiven the same programme in the DvořákHall of the Rudolfinum in Prague – and byall accounts had received great acclaimfrom the Czech audience.Before the rehearsal and in the break I hadthe opportunity to speak to some of theyoung players. Eleanor Lovegrove (trumpet)stressed the concentration that wasneeded for all the works – though it wasnot at all ‘nerve-wracking’ - and found thecontrast between Janáček and Martinů’sstyles interesting – in the Janáček constantchanges of rhythm needed special atten-tion, while in Martinů the balance andshape of each phrase required thoughtfulcare.The conductor and players had found

Hertfordshire County Youth Orchestra in front of the Rudolfinum in Prague Peter Stark

THREE CONCERTS —ONE CONDUCTOR

PETER STARK CONDUCTS MARTINŮ

Operas—

yBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

ANTHONY BURTON

Second Movement Opera,The Film Studios, Covent Garden,London, 1 to 4 May 2007

Martinů isn’t normally thought of as anavant-garde composer, and he himselfdisclaimed the label. But his associationwith the Dada and surrealist movementsin Paris in the Twenties placed him brieflyat the cutting edge of modernism, andcontinued to influence his work up tohis 1937 operatic masterpiece Juliette,H.253. And we shouldn’t forget that atthe time his use of jazz idioms wasn’ta gesture towards populism, but anothersymbol of up-to-dateness.The height of Martinu’s avant-garde phasewas probably marked by his short one-actopera entitled, for no very obvious reason,Larmes de couteau, or Tears of theKnife, H. 169. He wrote it in 1928 forthat year’s Baden-Baden festival ofcontemporary music, but it was turneddown by the committee because ofGeorges Ribemont-Dessaignes’s text.That’s hardly surprising: it’s an absurdist,anti-romantic concoction involving Satanin various guises seducing a mother anddaughter, a hanged man suspended abovethe stage, and a temporary suicide. BrianLarge is probably right to suggest, in hisbiography of Martinů, that the piece couldonly make its full effect with the aid offilm sequences. In any case, it was neverperformed in the composer’s lifetime.Tears of the Knife was given its Britishpremiere by Second Movement Opera, inan uncredited English translation, in fourperformances at the beginning of May.I can’t say that the production by OliverMears made sense of the story-line: I’mnot sure anything could. But it created theright atmosphere of deadpan surrealism,and brought off a genuine coup de théâtrewhen the hanged man came to life.Therewas strong singing by Yvette Bonner as thevirginal Eleonora, Hannah Pedley as herseductive mother, and Stephen AnthonyBrown as the insidious Satan. Andalthough the orchestra was placed ina corner to one side of the stage, theconductor Nicholas Chalmers obtainedcrisp, lively playing – with banjo, saxophoneand even offstage accordion all presentand correct – and excellent co-ordinationand balance with the stage.The score wasrevealed as strong, entertaining and utterlycharacteristic.The Martinů formed the last item ina triple-bill with Offenbach’s The Two BlindMen, updated as a very black comedyindeed, and Benjamin Fleischmann’stouching Rothschild’s Violin, completed andorchestrated by his teacher Shostakovich(though the orchestration here must have

been very much cut down).The CoventGarden Film Studios, a workaday buildingin a side street only a few paces away fromthe tourist rat-runs and not much furtherfrom the Royal Opera House, had theright feeling for a fringe venue: down-at-heel, awkward, but friendly and welcoming,and acoustically a pleasant surprise.

The only disappointment was that, withapparently minimal publicity, so few peoplefound their way to such an adventurousand rewarding evening.This enterprisingyoung company deserves better –especially if it perseveres in its valuableexploration of Martinů’s dramaticoutput. n

the Prague performance a wonderfulexperience, and had especially appreciatedthe fullness and bloom the Rudolfinumacoustic had given their performances.From the start of the rehearsal Peter Starkemphasised to the players the differencean acoustic makes to balance and clarity,and his stress was on clarifying textureand precision of rhythm.The Weston Hallstruck me as having a good acoustic too,improving as I moved back in the hall, butthe increasing effectiveness and confidencein the performance itself as the playersgot into the swing of their rehearsal wasmarked. (I was able to hear the rehearsalsfor the Taras Bulba and the Martinů Sym-phony.) The precision and balance whichthe conductor strove for and the playersachieved served Martinů well and indeedthe qualities of the music came over moreeffectively than in some performancesby professional symphony orchestras.Thewatchword all the time was ‘no scrappi-ness’ and clean precise articulation.The conductor had the gift of stressing theneed for precision without ever bluntingthe young players’ notable enthusiasm.Theviolin solo (played by leader Hugh Blogg)in the first movement of Taras Bulba wasjust right in style – not sentimental butsuitably intense, an object lesson to someprofessional orchestra leaders. I spoke toRufus Frowde, a former Hertfordshirepupil but now deputy conductor, alsosometimes a player in the violin section,but pianist in the Martinů: it was the firsttime he had been involved in the perform-ance of a Martinů work, and he appreciatedthe way the piano was a true orchestralmember, integrated into the texture ofthe work, and not some kind of obbligato– so the player’s task was following theconductor and listening to everything elsethat was happening to assure balance andblend. However, the integration and team-work of the performances did not precludeindividual wind players taking their chancesto shine when appropriate.The large contingent of brass in the Sinfo-nietta was provided by local players fromoutside the orchestra. In Prague some of thetop local musicians had joined the orchestra– providing a greatly appreciated opportu-nity to meet and discuss in the tight scheduleof the visit, which otherwise included justone day for rapid sightseeing in Prague.These events were notable not only forthe obvious pleasure they gave their per-formers (conductor included) but also forthe very real achievement of good perform-ances of all the works and in the case ofthe Martinů in particular the opportunityprovided to an English audience of gettingto know something that might be unfamiliar.The performances in Prague wererecorded, and the Hertfordshire SchoolsMusic Service plans to issue them on CDsome time in 2008. n

Hannah Pedley – mother,Yvette Bonner – Eleonora

Yvette Bonner – Eleonora, Hannah Pedley – mother

Tears of theKnife

H I S T O R I C A L R E C O R D I N GMR JAMES BERDAHL from the Aspen Music Festival and School has kindly providedfor our library’s archives a recording of Sonata for Viola an Piano, H. 355 from7 July 1965.The performer is Lillian Fuchs, to whom Bohuslav Martinů dedicated thecomposition.

continued from previous pagex

THREE CONCERTS – ONE CONDUCTORPETER STARKCONDUCTS MARTINŮ

N E W R E C O R D I N GOn page 19 of this issue of our Newsletter you can find a reference to the CD Martinů– Complete Piano Music No. 3, containing the compositions Sonata for piano, Fantaisie etToccata, and Etudes and Polkas, with the pianist Giorgio Koukl. Naxos is also preparingthe fourth part of this series, in which the same pianist will delight us with recordingsof other Bohuslav Martinů piano compositions such as Les Ritournelles, Borová,ParT.S.F., Scherzo, Quatre mouvements. In world premiere, the CD presents twopieces, Lístek do památníku (Paris 1932) and Rujana.

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Operas—

uBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

The world premiere of Martinů’s operatook place in 1971 in Brno. It was con-ducted by Václav Nosek, and the result wasa triumph.The current musical preparationin Rostock by the conductor PeterLeonard, also impeccable, provides plentyof food for thought. I was present at thefirst performance and was left ponderingthe style and manner of playing of Germanand Czech orchestras, the feeling for rhythmand tempo, the differing relation to jazz.It is hard to put into words, it must be

heard, yet in this case the ear recogniseswhich nationality has put the score to life.In the music of Three Wishes, jazz playsa pivotal role, with the German approachto it being somehow more expressive thanours, the more supple lines of our playingrevealing the influence of Ježek and othertraditions of Czech jazz.The libretto’s author is Georges Ribemont--Dessaignes, a Dadaist, early Surrealist,whose sensibility chimes with ourequivalent of these movements – Poetism.Martinů worked with him on severaloccasions, Three Wishes being their secondcollaboration.The libretto has a complex,refined form. All the lead characters arein fact double roles: film actors, playingunder different names in the story beingshot.Their roles in the film begin blendingtogether with their real-life fates and ulti-mately merge.The film story is a Dadaistfairytale following the absurd logic ofdream, in places reminiscent of Ionescu’stheatre.The actual story is framed bythe shooting of a film.The production’screators deal with this by means of an

animated, not feature film. Using the facettechnique, they set in motion costumedesigns, thus the recapitulation eschewsNaturalism and the risk of tedium, becominga zesty play. Dvořák and Nekvasil havemade full use of the opportunity to affordthe production a truly cinematic nature.The entire staging is a series of tableaux;on the screen originates a backgroundformed by video projections shootingactors on floating and multicolouredcarpets by front and overhead camera.

Accordingly, a set design literally in film –and, at the same time, stage – movement.We can only marvel at the financeGerman theatres have available for suchexacting technology.The high technical and organisationalrequirements of the work resulted inMartinů failing to live to see his operapremiered. Dvořák and Nekvasil haveovercome these obstacles with bravado.Dvořák’s finely colourful setting, informedby surrealism, heaps up allusions toToyen, Štyrský, Muzika. For Nekvasil, thisinspiration also opened up the path toeschewal of realism and descriptiveness,lending to the production the form ofan ungraspable, magically variable collage,fragmentary in nature.Without firmborders, the real and the virtual blendtogether and melt into one. Film, fairytaleand theatre of technical sorcery mingle inthe production. And crowning it all is themusic itself, a sparkling multi-faceted jewel.The production is played in MarcusGammel’s German translation – it is crucialthat the audience properly understands

the text of Three Wishes.The actors givetop-notch performances.The cast isinternational, with the appearances of theCzech singer Lucie Ceralová in the doublerole of the Fairy/Lilian Nevermore and theAfrican-American Bonita Hyman singingthe beautiful Dinah’s song being a delight.

It is evident from the production just howmuch everyone enjoys performing in it,a testimony to the degree to which thestage director inspired them to approachthe work creatively. A minor miracleoccurred here: a perfect service wasrendered to composer and librettist alike,a real picture of their era emerged, yet atthe same time today’s world lives here.On the stage we see our contemporariesrubbing shoulders with the Bright YoungThings of the Roaring Twenties. And ittruly would appear that Martinů is indeeda world-class composer, having stoodthe test of time alongside Honegger,Hindemith and Bartók.What does producing theatre mean?As Max Fischer put it: versifying throughthe stage. Nekvasil and Dvořák do sosterlingly. n

The author is a composer

Three Wishes, H.175Premiere: 20 January 2007, 7.30 pm,Großes Haus, Das Volkstheater Rostock,Germany

Reprinted from Czech newspaper Lidové noviny,1 June 2007, with their kind permission

FILM, FAIRYTALE, THEATRE — AND MUSIC

The Fairy (L. Ceralová) and Monsieur Juste (Olaf Lemme)

The prediction that in order to see Jiří Nekvasil and DanielDvořák’s productions one day it would be necessary to travelabroad has come true.The staging in Rostock of BohuslavMartinů’s Three Wishes, H.175 is truly exceptional.

J AN KLUSÁK

HISTORICAL RECORDINGSFRANZ GEROLDINGER has discovered in a second-hand bookshop and kindly donatedto us a gramophone record (probably from 1973) on the Melodia label containingConcerto for Flute,Violin and Orchestra, H.252 (Albert Forman – flute,ValentinŽuk – violin) and Concertino for Piano Trio and Orchestra, H. 232 (Eduard Grač –violin,Viktor Simon – cello, Alexandr Bakhchiev – piano, Michail Terian – conductor).

WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK MARK TODD forsending us a recording of Symphony No. 3 con-ducted by Břetislav Bakala and performed bythe Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra, releasedin the 1950s by the Polish label Polskije Nagranija.Mr Todd has also donated to us a copy of recording ofSymphony No. 6 with the Nottinghamshire CountyOrchestra, conducted by Christopher Adey. Thisrecording was released in 1974 on a gramophonerecord, an original of which was obtained by AlešBřezina in September 2007 while visiting the con-ductor. In the 1970s, Adey recorded with the BBCScottish Orchestra all of Bohuslav Martinů’s sym-phonies and is an ardent admirer of the composer.Yet another of Mr Todd’s discoveries is a recordingof Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola, H. 313by Joseph Fuchs and Lillian Fuchs, to whom this com-position was dedicated.The record, Decca Gold LabelDL 8510, also contains Mozart’s Duo No. 2 for Violinand Viola (KV 434), which was significant for BohuslavMartinů’s creation, and here we have proof thathe really heard it.To quote from the sleeve-notes:“It is interesting to record here a note sent by thecomposer Martinů to Joseph Fuchs following one of the concert appearances ofJoseph and his sister, Lilian Fuchs: I was so inspired with your playing DUO avecLilian, that I wrote a new Madrigale for you.Would you accept the dedication andl’expression of my admiration for you and Lilian. Best regards, Martinů. The DUOreferred to was Mozart’s No. 2 in B flat major, included in the Long Play record.“

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iBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

ALEŠ BŘEZINA

IN THE LITERATURE we can find fewdetails about what exactly BohuslavMartinů did from June 1940 to the end ofMarch 1941.And no wonder – it is theperiod of his flight from Paris before theNazi troops, a period dominated byabsolute chaos.All of a sudden everyonehad to fend for oneself. To find out somemore detailed circumstances of thisdramatic escape, which lasted a total ofeight months, in May 2007 the stagedirector Jiří Nekvasil and I set out ona several-day journey retracing Martinů’sfootsteps.We were interested in detailsfrom the single period about which wecould not bring any particular testimony ineither of our documentaries, Out of Exile(Czech Television,1998), and Martinů andAmerica (Czech Television, 2000).At thattime, no one at all was in close personalcontact with Martinů.This, however, doesnot mean that all of Martinů’s friendsabandoned him to the tender mercies offate. Owing to the letters the BohuslavMartinů Foundation and Institute havebeen gradually acquiring from variousprivate and public archives, as well aspurchases at antiquarian bookshops, it ispossible to put together a fairly detailedpicture of the composer’s vicissitudes, hishopes and disappointments in that fatefulsummer of 1940. In this respect, the mostsignificant documents include his corre-spondence with Marcel Mihalovici, PaulSacher, Rudolf Firkušný and the pianistAlfred Cortot, who was to becomeMinister for Family and Youth (“de lafamille et de la jeunesse”) in the quislingVichy government yet despite the pos-sibilities this prominent post afforded himdid not lift a finger to save Martinů. Crucialfor understanding the complexities of thesituation at that time is the detail that thecomposer’s correspondence with hisfamily in Polička, which was at that timealready part of the ReichsprotektoratBöhmen und Mähren, had to be deliveredthrough his friend, the conductor PaulSacher, via Switzerland. Because of censor-ship, the letters had to be written inFrench, while, to be on the safe side, Baselwas stated as the place of sending so asnot to disclose the real hiding place of thecomposer, who was at that time soughtby both the French and Czechoslovak(Protectorate) authorities.When it comes to the beginning of theactual escape, Martinů described it laterin a text called concisely 1938-1945:“In the afternoon on Sunday 9 June Firkušnýtelephoned, saying the news from the battle-ground was bad and that he was leaving thatvery evening and advising me to leave asquickly as possible too. I must point out thatat the time we were not provided with the

slightest support, help or information from ourrepresentatives at the legation, who all happilymade it out of Paris in time and re-groupedhappily in London. If it were not for Firkušný,it is quite possible that I would not be writingthis today.” 1)

The primary objective of all fugitives wasto get away from Paris and go as far southas they could, in the direction of the freepart of France. From there it was possibleto continue through Spain and Portugal to

the USA. Charlotte Martinů recalls thatthe day after Firkušný’s call her husbandset out in the afternoon to see his friend,the conductor Charles Munch, who wasalso just about to leave. “Can we cometo your place in Villefavard? Bohuš asked ina low-spirited manner.Well, yes, come down,we will somehow cram in there.” On thevery same day, the Martinůs left witha minimum of luggage for Gared’Austerlitz, thronged with people strivingto get out of Paris as quickly as possible.After many hours, they managed to buytickets for La Souterraine and presentlyfound an unannounced, hence almostempty, train to nearby Limoges and leftParis.They got off in La Souterraine,which is still a sleepy regional centre witha not overly extensive public transportconnection with the surrounding world.They saw out the night on a railwaystation bench and the next day, partiallyby bus, but mainly on foot, they reachedVillefavard (Haute-Vienne). Sixty-sevenyears after Bohuslav and Charlotte, wetoo arrived here, on foot and well aftermidnight. Of course, we did not meetanyone so late at night, so we decided toreturn to Villefavard the next day.This timewe took the route through Rancon, whereBohuslav and Charlotte Martinů spentthe whole month in restless expectationand febrile correspondence to all sides.Rancon (Haute-Vienne department,Limousin region) today has a little over

500 inhabitants. In 1940 it had roughlytwice that number, plus thousands offugitives passing through the town everyday. Martinů wrote to Paul Sacher fromthere on 2 July 1940: “I cannot describeto you all we went through here, after longperipetia we found shelter at CharlesMunch’s. All our friends are scattered, wedon’t even know where, and we hope thatyou at least receive this letter, we have heardthat connection with Switzerland has been

renewed. […] In this situation, I have no otherchoice but leave for America, that is, of course,should it only be possible.” 2) In the sameletter, Martinů asked Sacher for financialassistance in the form of advance paymentfor a cantata Sacher wanted to commissionfrom him.The money arrived by returnpost and soon Sacher ordered fromMartinů a violin concerto (Concerto dacamera for violin and string orchestra withpiano and percussion, H. 285), emphasisingthat it concerned a normal commissionfor a normal fee.3)

After arriving in Rancon, naturally weacquired the first piece of informationin the local Café du Commerce, wherewe were straightaway referred to MrsChristiane Facq. Her shop, Roncomagus,offers various natural products andconcurrently serves as a tearoom and thelocal cultural centre. Mrs Facq was verypleased by the information that manyyears ago a world-famous composer hadstayed in her birthplace. She showed us onold maps the street and the house wherethe Martinůs had dwelled. Nowadays, theformer Rue Haute, which Martinů statedin his letters as his address, is called RueCroix-Pierre.Thanks to Mrs Facq, we werealso able to correct the name of the thenhouse owner, Mr Gabriel Pailler – bymistake, Martinů repeatedly called himPaillet – and acquired contact to his son,who could perhaps help us in our searchfor supplementary information about the

month the Martinůs spent here, letters,photographs, etc. Owing to Mrs Facq’skind assistance, we even got to meetMrs Georgette Lacouture, who since herbirth in 1920 has been living in Rue Croix-Pierre and still remembers the composerwho for a month lived with his French wifein the house opposite.At a time when thousands of fugitives hadnowhere to take shelter, the Martinůs werevery grateful for their accommodation, even

though they had meagre comfort there.According to Charlotte’s testimony, it wasa “spacious room with a fireplace and a smallbathroom.There was no kitchen, so I cooked onan open fire in the fireplace. […] The Munchesbrought us sheets and blankets, and Charles wasso friendly and attentive that he managed torouse “Petit-Père” 4) from his melancholy. Petit-Père and I went to the wood to gather kindling,we had to walk three kilometres for milk, acrossthe field to the neighbouring farm, which wasno joke since there were vipers there and wedrove them away with sticks. […] Once we weresitting on the steps in front of the church andwatched the never-ending crowds of refugeeswho hauled with them plenty of old junk, andthe devastated soldiers: ‘There is nothing likeliving as a vagrant’, Charles Munch ruminated,‘you have nothing, you need nothing’. Yet, beforelong, he added: ‘Well, but you get fleas.’” 5)

The seeming tranquillity was fraught withtension. “The Germans were in Bordeauxand almost upon us,” Martinů later wrote.6)

Even though, despite his bad mental state,he was able to give thought to some creativework, he did not have appropriate conditionsfor it in Rancon. “When Petit-Père could notcompose, since he didn’t have access to a piano,it seemed to him that he was wasting time.” 7)

Although a piano was available at CharlesMunch’s in Villefavard, the house was packedwith his family members who had escapedfrom Alsace before the German troops.We found out about it owing to serendipityonce again. During our conversation with

Mrs. Christiane Facq, at her shop Roncomagus in Rancon A house in the street Rue Croix-Pierre, where Martinůlived in Rancon

g

“I CANNOT DESCRIBE TO YOU ALL WE WENT THROUGH

MARTINU’S eSCAPe

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oBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

Christiane Facq, her shop was entered byan elegant lady who was introduced to usas “Madame Claire”, secretary of the musicfestival in Villefavard.When we told herabout the purpose of our visit to Rancon,she immediately arranged for us a meetingwith the conductor Jérôme Kaltenbach.He is not only an admirer of BohuslavMartinů’s music (he has conductedSymphony No. 4, H. 305 and Sinfoniaconcertante, H. 322 for violin, violoncello,

oboe, bassoon and chamber orchestra, andalso knows a number of chamber works),but also the founder and director of thefestival at Ferme de Villefavard.And, mostimportantly, Mr Kaltenbach, long-timeprincipal conductor of the opera in Nancy,is also Charles Munch’s nephew! As a scion of a family which since the endof the 19th century has had a decisiveinfluence on Villefavard’s destinies, the nextday Mr Kaltenbach related to us a numberof interesting details about this small townwith the population of a mere 160. In 1844all of Villefavard’s inhabitants seceded fromthe Catholic Church and, led by the Catholicpriest, became adherents to Protestantism.In 1882, due to the lack of their own Protes-tant clerics, the Swiss pastor EdouardMaury came to work in Villefavard. He alsobrought with him his wife Sophie, froma wealthy industrialist’s family in Vevey. Herproperty made it possible to build up themost advanced farm in France at that time,possessing, among other facilities, progres-sive concrete stables and a sophisticatedsystem of cleaning and supplying feed bycarriages on rails.According to the designof the Swiss architect Fréderic Bosshard,spacious new houses were erected, mostnotably the “La Solitude” villa, which on10 June 1940 became a one-night shelterfor Bohuslav and Charlotte Martinů.The two daughters of Edouard and SophieMaury married prominent cultural per-sonalities. Juliette (Jérôme Kaltenbach’s

grandmother) married the famousByzantinist Jean Ebersolt, while Genevièvemarried the conductor Charles Munch,whose invitation led Bohuslav Martinů toVillefavard. However, at first it seemed thatthere would be no room for him at theinn.When Charlotte and Bohuslav “in theafternoon finally reached Villefavard” andheaded for Munch’s manor, they met hissister-in-law halfway. “We have nowhereto put you, everyone from Alsace came

together to our place forthe winter. And despiteour best will, we cannotprovide you with lodging,even for tonight.”‘But,’Bohuslav objecteddiffidently, ‘yesterdaymorning I spoke withCharles and he explicitlypromised that we couldstay at his place.’ ‘I’msorry, but we really can’tsqueeze you in.” […]In the evening CharlesMunch came over to seeus. ‘We’ll find somethingfor you.Tonight you willsleep in the room wheresome acquaintances ofmine will be staying, butthey will only arrivetomorrow.’ […] Next

day we looked around for some accom-modation and, with Charles’s assistance,found shelter in Rancon […]” 8) There theincreasingly tense Martinůs waited a monthfor the exit visas that would finally allowthem to leave France. It was also in Ranconwhere Martinů, in the middle of July 1940,came to know of the death of his belovedpupil Vítězslava Kaprálová (she died on16 June in Montpellier), which alsoresulted in Martinů’s definitive decisionto leave Rancon on 17 July and continuetheir flight, first to the Pyrenees (Cauteret)and subsequently to southern France(Aix-en-Provence).With such a brief description fromCharlotte Martinů’s viewpoint, theapproach of Munch’s sister-in-law wouldappear somewhat harsh, yet to understandthe situation it is important to realise thatfleeing at that time were not only Parisiansbut also a vast number of people fromAlsace, among which were relatives ofthe Ebersolts and the Munches (not onlyCharles Munch himself hailed fromAlsace but also, for example, a relativeof his, the world-renowned doctor andorganist Albert Schweitzer). Accordingto Mr Kaltenbach’s information, at thatcritical time an entire Alsatian villagemoved to them. It was by no means easyto embrace yet another two refugees,even if they were Bohuslav and CharlotteMartinů.And Juliette Ebersolt certainlywas aware of the composer’s significance –

she herself was a talented violinist andlater on established in Villefavard a choirwith which she held regular concerts.Mr Kaltenbach linked up to this traditiontoo.Together with his wife Annie and hiscousin, the architect Gilles Ebersolt, in2001 they reconstructed Edouard andSophie Maury’s farmstead, which had laindormant for a long time, and made of itthe Ferme de Villefavard cultural centre(www.fermedevillefavard.asso.fr).Theconcrete piggery from 1900 was con-verted into a gallery, the whole barnbecame a beautiful concert hall withexcellent acoustics (it was implementedby the world-famous Chinese acousticianAlbert Yaying Xu, experienced in adaptingsimilar buildings, having redeveloped, forexample, a barn in Evian into a concerthall for Mstislav Rostropovich). Now itis a place where professional CDs arerecorded and concerts and master classesheld. Mr Kaltenbach expressed interestin organising for 2009 a Bohuslav MartinůFestival focused, among other composi-tions, on pieces linked with the period ofthe composer’s escape from France, orwith the personality of Charles Munch,who after Bohuslav Martinů’s departurefrom Rancon wrote to him the followingletter: I feel honoured, my dear friend, thatI have received from you such a long andintriguing letter. I have in Paris a sort of‘folder’ in which I keep letters from greatcomposers. Rest assured that it will find itsplace there. […] More than at any othertime, I feel the sincere desire to play themusic of Martinů, because he is a greatcomposer, because I love him, him and hismusic alike. 9)

To conclude our trip, we visited themedieval university town of Limoges, theformer music centre around the St Martialmonastery where, according to Šafránek’stestimony, Martinů found in the localbookshop just a very poor selection ofnew pieces a few years old and quickly leftthe town.We discovered there severalbookshops and second-hand bookshopsand in one of them found a precious copyof an issue of Cadeau Théatre Cinemadedicated to Georges Neveux, the firstedition of a play by another of B. Martinů’sold collaborators, Georges Ribemont--Dessaignes, and finally, an early Frenchmonograph on Leoš Janáček, written byDaniel Muller in 1930, in which the authorextends his thanks for valuable advice notonly to Max Brod but also, and in partic-ular, to Miloš Šafránek! En route to Paris we stopped off inNevers, where we failed to find any traceof the SIAMAC factory, in which Martinůdeposited part of his music autographsin 1940.Yet we will continue searching,not only there but also in Cauteret nearLourdes, where in July 1940 Martinůwanted to cross the Pyrenees in the

direction of Spain. He was not the onlyone to fail to do so – in a letter dated17 July he wrote to his friend MarcelMihalovici that he had not find therethe violinist Collette Frantz, who hadpromised to help him in crossing thePyrenees to Spain – a number of otherpersonalities attempted it in vain too (atabout that time the famous philosopherWalter Benjamin committed suicide at thenearby border). Consequently, Martinůimmediately left Cauteret for southernFrance, where he spent the period fromAugust to December 1940 continuouslyshuttling between his residence in Aix-en-Provence and the authorities in Marseillefrom which he needed an exit permit inorder to depart from France.We wouldlike to explore this part of BohuslavMartinů’s odyssey, primarily his three-month stay in Lisbon, in the next fewyears.Over the four days of our trip, we walkeddozens of kilometres on side roads.Perhaps to the same extent as our comingacross unknown documents, finding signifi-cant buildings and meeting with Martinů’scontemporaries has our knowledge ofthis chapter of the composer’s life beenextended by the blisters that helped us,at least partially, to feel ourselves ina similar situation to the then fifty-year-old Bohuslav Martinů and his wifeCharlotte. n

1) Bohuslav Martinů: 1938–1945, In: Miloš Šafránek (ed.),Bohuslav Martinů. Domov, hudba a svět (BohuslavMartinů: Home, Music and the World), Prague 1966.Martinů certainly did not number among those idlerepresentatives Miloš Šafránek, the cultural attachéto the Czechoslovak Embassy in Paris.At that time,Šafránek pursued feverish activity in the USA, fromwhere he strove to lend as much help as possible,arranging for Martinů not only the necessary visa butalso preparing the ground for his stay in New Yorkthrough establishing new contacts in musical circles.

2) The letter is deposited at the Paul Sacher Foundationin Basel and is quoted with the kind permission ofits owner.

3) Although, according to the mentions in thecorrespondence, at that time Martinů was alreadyconsidering composing a cantata to texts of theSumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, it was only set to musicin 1955.The oratorio The Epic of Gilgames, H. 351is dedicated to Maja Sacher.

4) Petit Père is Charlotte Martinů’s pet name for herhusband.

5) L. Sadílková, A. Březina (ed.), Charlotte Martinů:My Life with Bohuslav Martinů, Prague 20032, p. 81.

6) Bohuslav Martinů: 1938–1945, pp 333–334.7) My Life with Bohuslav Martinů, p. 81.8) My Life with Bohuslav Martinů, p. 80. In her

reminiscences, Charlotte Martinů occasionallysymptomatically omits political connections. It isobvious that the relatives from Alsace did not cometogether to Villefavard to spend the winter there, butto find refuge on their escape.The people in Alsace,living close to the infamous Maginot Line, became thefirst victims of the Nazi invasion of France.

9) Charles Munch’s letter to B. Martinů,Villefavard,3 September 1940. It was published for the first timeby Jaroslav Mihule in his monography Martinů.Osud skladatele (Martinů.The Fate of a Composer),Prague 2002.

Conductor Jerôme Kaltenbach in front of “La Solitude” Photos by Aleš Březina

HERE…”

FrOM FRANCe

In 2009 we will commemorate the50th anniversary of the composer’sdeath. Many organisers are preparingfor this year large- or small-scale eventsat which works by Bohuslav Martinů(1890–1959) will be performed.

GREGORY TERIAN

A long-overdue project will be realisedin 2009 with a new English languageproduction of Martinů’s operaThe Marriage, H. 341.

The first performance took place on7 July 1953 for NBC Television. It wasconducted by Peter Herman Adler,a Czech conductor who had studied withVítězslav Novák and Alexander Zemlinskyin Prague and who came to the UnitedStates in 1939. In 1949 he was appointeddirector of the National BroadcastingCompany’s Opera Theatre.The Companyhad achieved an outstanding success withMenotti’s Armahl and the Night Visitor, thefirst opera to be written for television.The Marriage was also well received, as

News––

aBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

US ARMY BANDAND CHORUS

MARK TODD

AMAZING what an Ebay search can turnup! A couple of months ago we could seean Ebay posting for an LP by the US ArmyBand including a performance of Martinů’s‘Military Mass’ – Field Mass, Cantata forBaritone, Male Chorus and Orchestra,H. 279. A hasty bid followed and the LParrived a few days later.One side was indeed devoted to Martinů’sField Mass, with a trenchant performance,sung in English translation, with confidentbrass soloists and strong-voiced choirdrawn from the US Army.The LP surfaceis a bit noisy at present but will probablyrespond to cleaning.The conductor isAssociate Bandmaster Captain AllenCrowell, a native of Alabama who had alsoworked as a vocalist with the Army Choir.Of particular interest is the eloquent andemotional baritone soloist – SP RichardStilwell. At that time a member of theUS Army, he went on to an internationalsolo career, featuring in recordings of workssuch as Brahms Requiem and Britten’s WarRequiem. He is probably best known asthe Pelléas in the recording of Debussy’sPelléas and Melisande with Federica vonStade and the Berlin Philharmonic con-ducted by Herbert von Karajan.Another feature is the use of a harmoniumwhich had seen service with the US Armyin World War Two.Notes on the reverse of the sleevesuggest that the performance took placein 1973. A photo there shows the chorusin the White House with President RichardNixon and the British Prime MinisterEdward Heath. It’s not clear whether theMartinů was actually performed in EdwardHeath’s presence – it would certainly havebeen appropriate if it was, for two reasons:Edward Heath was himself a conductor,especially of choral works, and had aninterest in Czech Music; and as a youngman at the time the Mass was writtenHeath had spoken against the MunichAgreement, invited the exiled EdvardBeneš to speak in Oxford and then himselfserved in the army in the war. Nixon onceexpressed enthusiasm for the music ofTchaikovsky – but perhaps it is significantthat in the photo, Heath is talking tothe musicians, while Nixon seems moreinterested in the camera.On the reverse of the LP the Army Chorussing arrangements of spirituals and shortworks by Gershwin, Foster and others.A copy of the performance of the MartinůField Mass will be placed in the BohuslavMartinu Institute Library. n

recounted by Charlotte Martinů in hermemoir, but then disappeared from thescene as far as English language audienceswere concerned.

Following rehearsals in April, the newproduction will be given its premiere inMay 2009 by the Opera Theatre Pittsburghconducted by Gil Rose. Jonathan Eaton isthe Artistic and General Director of thecompany. In a nice touch, it will be stagedin an old 1950s TV studio and one of theperformances will be televised.The settingfor the new production of Gogol’s playwill see a transplant from 1850s Russiato a Russian emigre community in NewYork in the 1950s. After the Pittsburghperformances the production will move

on to Opera Boston for further perform-ances where a DVD and/or CD recordingis due to be made.

The motivating force behind this enter-prise is the director/designer PamelaHoward from the UK who hopes to bringthe production to London and Prague.Readers may recall that in 2005 she wasresponsible for the imaginative open-airstaging of The Greek Passion, H. 372 Iat the Byzantine fortress of Heptapyrgionin Thessaloniki.We wish her well with thenew venture. n

JOIN THE

martı.nu. revı.sı.tedCELEBRATIONS!For more information, visit

www.martinu.czor contact

The Bohuslav Martinů InstituteMartin Bonhard,

international coordinatormartin@martinu.cz

WITHIN THE PROJECT named “Profes-sionalisation in music materials editingthrough further education of musicexperts”, financially supported by theEuropean Social Fund, the musicologistLucie Berná of the Bohuslav MartinůInstitute took up a special residency atBärenreiter-Verlag in Kassel. Between16 July and 3 August 2007 she familiarisedherself with all the publishing house’sdepartments. Under the guidance of MrsAnnette Thein, she was able to participatein the current editing projects (for example,Works of G. Rossini, Monteverdi operasin critical new editions) in the completeeditions department. In addition tocarrying out the tasks assigned, she alsohad the opportunity to study and comparethe already published volumes of individualeditions (for example, Hector Berlioz: NewEdition of the Complete Works, NeueMozart-Gesamtausgabe) and prepare thegroundwork for the texts of the MusicEditor’s Handbook, which will be usedin pilot courses in May and June 2008.During her residency, Lucie Berná alsoparticipated in a session of the lectureshipand a meeting of colleagues from thepromotions department. She mapped thecurrent status of the music material ofB. Martinů’s compositions in the publishinghouse’s archive of hire materials and thearchive of autographs (among other things,

she devoted herself to description of theautograph of The Parables, H. 367 andthe facsimile of Piano Concerto No. 4,“Incantation”, H. 358).As a result of thiscooperation with her German colleagues,Lucie Berná gained valuable experiencethat she will make use of when preparingpilot courses and during editing work.

The project is co-financed by the EuropeanSocial Fund, the state budget of the Czech

Republic and the budget of the City ofPrague.The project has been supportedwithin the framework of the JPD 3 pro-gramme (Single Programming Documentfor Objective 3) Measure 3.2 Develop-ment of Further Education. n

Lucie Berná and Helmut Pötter in the archive of hire materials

REPORT FROM A RESIDENCY AT BÄRENREITER-VERLAG, KASSEL

]

AN AMERICANMArRIAge

Series—Special—

sBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

IN THIS ISSUE OF THE NEWSLETTERwe have begun publishing a complete list ofBohuslav Martinů’s works.We have startedwith the operas (in alphabetical order).The basic data on the works listed here havebeen taken over from the online catalogueof Martinů’s œuvre at www.martinu.cz, whichis continuously updated and issues from thelatest research as documented by the staffof the Bohuslav Martinů Institute.In the next issue you will find a list of allMartinů’s ballets, scenic and film music.

Abbreviations/A alto ar. harparm. harmoniumbatt. battery Bt baritoneB bass CA contraltocel. celesta cmp. chime-bellscond. conductordirec. director fisarmon. accordionfl. flutemS mezzosoprano pf. pianoS soprano scen. scenographyT tenortimp. timpanivl. violinvlc. celloxlf. xylophone

Commentary/„Archive“ – gives the information wherethe autograph orchestral score is depositedPremiere: Day / Month / Year

ACCUSATION AGAINSTTHE UNKNOWN, OPERA IN 3 ACTS— Žaloba proti neznámému,

opera o 3 dějstvích— Anklage gegen Unbekannt,

Oper in drei Aufzügen— Plainte contre inconnu

Lyrics (French) by B. Martinů afterG. Neveaux’s play.

Halbreich number: 344Durata: 29’ 45’’Place of composition: NiceDate of composition: 1953Performing forces: 3232-4231-timp.-batt.-pf.-

archiSolo roles: Prascovie (mS), Procurator (B, Bt),

Dora Tambov (S), Michel Tambov (T),Plouchkin (B), Kopak (T), Pacha (S),Women (A), Chorus

Performer(s) of premiere: V. Nosek (cond.),A. Barová (Prascovie), R. Novák(Procurator), M. Ungrová (Dora Tambov),V. Krejčík (Michel Tambov), J. Hladík(Ploushkin), J. Holešovský (Kopak)

Premiere: 1. 12. 1980, Brno, Czech Republic Archive: Autograph missingPublisher: unpublishedCopyright: Panton International PrahaNotes: Unfinished. Only concertante

premiere, scenic performance still don’ttake place.

ALEXANDRE BIS,OPERA BUFFA IN 1 ACT

— Dvakrát Alexandr, jednoaktová opera buffa— Zweimal Alexander, Opera buffa in einem

Aufzug

Lyrics (French) by A.Wurmser, Germantranslation K. Honolka, Czech translationE. Bezděková

Halbreich number: 255Durata: 38’Place of composition: ParisDate of composition: 1937Performing forces: 1111-1110-pf.-archi

(without vl. II)Solo roles: Armanda (S),Alexandr (Bt),

Oskar (T), Philomene (Ms) – FemaleNarrator, Portrait (B) – Male Narrator

Performer(s) of premiere: G. Calder (cond.),G.Amberger (direc.), M. Krali (scen.)

Premiere: 18. 2. 1964, Mannheim, GermanyArchive: Polička, Památník Bohuslava Martinů,

Czech RepublicPublisher: Bärenreiter, Kassel, BA 4314, 1962Copyright: Bärenreiter, Kassel

ARIANE, LYRIC OPERA IN 1 ACT— Ariadna, lyrická opera o 1 dějství— Ariadne, lyrische Oper in einem Aufzug

Lyrics (French) by composer, among the playLe Voyage de Thésée from G. Neveux,German translation F. Schröder, Czechtranslation E. Bezděková.

Halbreich number: 370Durata: 42’Place of composition: Schönenberg - PrattelnDate of composition: 1958Performing forces: 2222-2220-timp.-batt.-ar.-

cel.-pf.-archiSolo roles: Ariane (S),Theseus (Bt), Burun (T),

Minotaurus (B or Bt), Sentry (T), Old Man(B), 12 Youths (T and B)

Performer(s) of premiere: L. Romansky (cond.),R. Schenkel (direc.)

Premiere: 2. 3. 1961, Gelsenkirchen, GermanyArchive: Polička, Památník Bohuslava Martinů,

Czech RepublicPublisher: Bärenreiter, Kassel, BA 3532, 1960 Copyright: Bärenreiter, Kassel

COMEDY ON THE BRIDGE,RADIO-OPERA IN 1 ACT— Veselohra na mostě, rozhlasová opera

o 1 dějství— Komödie auf der Brücke, Funkoper

in einem Akt

Lyrics (Czech) after V. K. Klicpera.English translation W. Schmolka, also freeadaptation from T. Kushner (2003)German translation E. RothFrench translation B. Horowicz.

Halbreich number: 247Durata: 38’Place of composition: ParisDate of composition: 1935Performing forces: 1111-2110-timp.-batt.-pf.-

archiSolo roles: Popelka (S), Sykoš (Bt), Eva (A),

Schoolmaster (T), Officer (speaking role),2 Sentry (speaking roles)

Performer(s) of premiere: O. Jeremiáš (cond.)Premiere: 18. 3. 1937, Czechoslowak Radio,

Praha, Czech RepublicArchive: Praha, Archive of the Czech Radio,

Czech RepublicPublisher: Boosey & Hawkes, B&H 17982,

1951 (ČR, SR - DILIA, Praha), D. L. 1290Copyright: Boosey & Hawkes, London –

NewYork

THE DAY OF GOOD DEEDS,OPERA IN 3 ACTS— Den dobročinnosti, opera o 3 dějstvích— Der Wohltätigkeitstag, Oper in drei

Aufzügen— Le Jour de Bonté

French libretto G. Ribemont-Dessaignes,German translation C. Hoffmann,Czech translation V. Fux.

Halbreich number: 194Durata: 75’Place of composition: ParisDate of composition: 1931Performing forces: 0121-0210-timp.-batt.-pf.-

archiSolo roles: Blonde (S), Lucas (T), Nicolas (T),

postman (T), desperate woman (mS),woman (A), vagabond (B), policeman (BBt),mayor (B), sacristian, others smaller parts,mixed chorus

Performer(s) of premiere: M. Kaňák (cond.),J. Průdek (direc.), P. Godefroid (scen.),D. Klán (Lucas), S. Sem (Nicolas),K. Hájovská (Blonde)

Premiere: 28. 3. 2003, České Budějovice,Czech Republic

Archive: Basel, Paul Sacher Stiftung, SwitzerlandPublisher: unpublishedCopyright: Panton International PrahaNotes: unfinished, reconstructed by M. Kaňák

THE MARRIAGE,COMIC OPERA IN 2 ACTS— Ženitba, komická opera o 2 dějstvích— Die Heirat, komische Oper in zwei

Aufzügen

Lyrics (English) by B. Martinů after N. Gogol,or more precisly after A. Baksky’sEnglish translation. German translationE. Roth, Czech translation E. Bezděková.

Halbreich number: 341Durata: 61’Place of composition: New YorkDate of composition: 1952Performing forces: 2222-2201-timp.-batt.-pf.-

archiSolo roles: Podkolyosin (Bt), Stepan (speaking

role), Fyokla Ivanovna (mS), Kochkarev (T),Agafya (S),Arina (A), Dunyashka (speakingrole), Ivan (B),Anuchkin (T), Zhavakin (T)

Commissioned by National BroadcastingCompany’s Opera Theatre

Premiere: 7. 2. 1953, New York, USAArchive: Polička, Památník Bohuslava Martinů,

Czech RepublicPublisher: Boosey & Hawkes, B&H 17384, 1953Copyright: Boosey & Hawkes, London –

NewYork

THE PLAYS OF MARY— Hry o Marii— Die Marienspiele— Les Jeux De Marie

1. Prologue.The Wise and FoolishVirgins. Drama in 1 act

— 1. Prolog. Panny moudré a panny pošetilé.Drama o 1 dějství

— 1. Prolog. Die Weisen und die törichtenJungfern. Drama in 1 Aufzüg

According to romance original arrangedV. Nezval.

Solo roles: Archangel Gabriel (cA), FoolishVirgin (mS), Dealers in Oils (Bt, B),Bridegroom (T, mS, cA, B)

Performing forces: 2020-4120-timp.-batt.-pf.-archi without vl. / at least eight each

2. Mariken of Nimégue. Miracle in 1 act— 2. Mariken z Nimégue. Mirakl o 1 dějství— 2. Mariken von Nimégue. Mirakl in

einem Akt— 2. Mariken de Nimégue

According to flemisch legend from15th century wrote Henri Ghéon,Czech translation V. Závada.

Solo roles: Mariken (S plus dancing role),Devil (Bt plus dancing role), Principal(speaking role), God (B), God’s Mother (A),Mascaron (T), Drunkard (B), Girl (S),Male and Female Choir, Dancers

Performing forces: 2222-4231-timp.-batt.-xlf.-pf.-archi

3.The Nativity of Lord. Pastoralein 1 act

— 3. Narození Páně. Pastorale o 1 dějství— 3. Die Geburt des Herrn. Pastoral

in einem Akt

Moravian folk lyrics.Solo roles: Maria (S), Blacksmith (B),

Blacksmith’s daughter (mS), Inn-keeper (B),Female, Male and Childern’s Choir

Performing forces: 3202-4110-timp.-trgl-archi

4. Sister Pascaline. Legend in 1 act— 4. Sestra Paskalina. Legenda o 1 dějství— 4. Schwester Paskalina. Legende in einem

Aufzug

Text by B. Martinů according to J. Zeyerand folk poetry

Solo roles: Paskalina (S), Marta (cA),Maiden (S), Speaker,Vocal quartet,Mixed Choir, Dancers

Performing forces: 2222-4231-timp.-batt.- xlf.-pf.- archi, arm., timp., String quartet behindthe Scene

Halbreich number: 236Durata: 131’Place of composition: ParisDate of composition: 1933–1934Performer(s) of premiere: A. Balatka (cond.),

R.Walter (direc.), F. Muzika (scen.),M. Hloušková (Gabriel), B. Žlábková(Mariken),V. Strelcová (Paskalina)

Premiere: 23. 2. 1935, Brno, Czech Republic Archive: Basel, Paul Sacher Stiftung,

Switzerland (only No.2), Praha, NationalTheatre Archive, Czech Republic

Publisher: DILIA, Praha, 1965Copyright: DILIA, Praha

LIST OF MARTINŮ’S WORKS

> LIST OF MARTINŮ’S WORKS > Category STAGE WORKS AND FILM MUSIC > Subcategory OPERAS

CATEGORY/ SUBCATEGORY/ | STAGE WORKS AND FILM MUSIC | OPERAS

u

dBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

MIRANDOLINA,COMIC OPERA IN 3 ACTS— Mirandolina, komická opera o 3 dějstvích— Mirandolina, komische Oper in drei

Aufzügen

Lyrics by B. Martinů after C. Goldoni’sLa Locandiera

Halbreich number: 346Durata: 103’Place of composition: NiceDate of composition: 1954Performing forces: 3222-4330-timp.-batt.-archi.

BalletSolo roles: Cavaliere di Rippafratta (B),

Marquis di Forlimpopoli (B), Countd’Albafiorita (T), Mirandolina (S), Ortensiaand Deianira (S resp.A), Fabrizio (T),Valet of Rippafratta (B),

Performer(s) of premiere: V. Kašlík (cond.),L. Mandaus (direc.), F.Tröster (scen.),A. Landa (choreography), M.Tauberová(Mirandolina)

Premiere: 17. 5. 1959, Praha, Czech RepublicArchive: Bärenreiter, Kassel, Germany,Copy of piano score in Bärenreiter, KasselPublisher: Bärenreiter, Kassel, BA 3551, 1959Copyright: Bärenreiter, Kassel

THE GREEK PASSION,OPERA IN 4 ACTS – 1st Version— Řecké pašije, opera o 4 dějstvích –

1. verze— Griechische Passion, Oper in vier

Aufzügen – erste Fassung

Libretto written by Martinů after Kazantzakisnovel Christ Recrucified.

Halbreich number: 372 IDurata: 130’Place of composition: Nice – New York –

Schönenberg – Pratteln – Rom – NiceDate of composition: 1956–1957Performing forces: 3333-4331-2timp.-3batt.-

cemb.-archiSolo voice 1: fl.-fisarmon., vl. (on stage)Solo roles: Katerina (S), Lenio (S), Manolios

(T),Yannakos (T), Michelis (T), Pannait (T),Nikolio (T), Grigoris (bBt),Archon (bBt),Fotis (Bt), Kostandis (B),Andonis (T),Dimitrios (Bt), Ladas (speaking role),Narrator (speaking role), other smallerroles, Boys Choir, 2 Mixed Choirs

Dedication: Sacher Paul, Graf HerbertOtto Teo

Performer(s) of premiere: U. Schirmer (cond.),D. Pountney (direc.), S. Lazaridis (scen.),N. Stemme (Katerina), Ch.Ventris(Manolios),A. Clarke (Kostandis), E. Silins(Fotis), E. Ruuttunen (Grigoris),WienerSymfoniker, Moscow Chamber Choir,Children Choir of Bregenz

Premiere: 20. 7. 1999, Bregenz, Austria Archive: Basel, Paul Sacher Stiftung,

SwitzerlandPublisher: Universal Edition,Wien, U. E.

31 003, 1998Copyright: Universal Edition,Wien

THE GREEK PASSION,OPERA IN 4 ACTS – 2nd Version— Řecké pašije, opera o 4 dějstvích – 2. verze— Griechische Passion, Oper in vier

Aufzügen – zweite Fassung

Libretto written by Martinů after Kazantzakisnovel Christ Recrucified.

Halbreich number: 372 IIDurata: 107’Place of composition: Schönenberg – PrattelnDate of composition: 1958–1959

Performing forces: 3333-4331-timp.-batt.-pf.-archi

Solo voice 1: fl.-fisarmon., vl. (on stage)Solo roles: Katarina (S), Lenio (S), Manolios

(T),Yannakos (T), Michelis (T), Pannait (T),Nikolio (T), Grigoris (bBt), Patriarcheas(bBt), Fotis (Bt), Kostandis (B),Andonis (T),Narrator (speaking role), other smallerroles, Boys Choir, 2 Mixed Choirs

Dedication: Paul Sacher, Graf Herbert OttoTeoPerformer(s) of premiere: P. Sacher (cond.),

G. Herbert (direc.), O.Teo (scen.),S.Warfield (Katerina), G. Peterson(Manolios), Chor des Stadttheaters Zürich,Chor des Stadttheaters Luzern

Premiere: 9.6. 1961, Zürich, SwitzerlandArchive: Wien, Universal Edition, AustriaPublisher: Universal Edition,Wien, U. E.

12 766, 1961Copyright: Universal Edition,Wien

JULIETTE (THE KEY TO DREAMS),LYRIC OPERA IN 3 ACTS— Julietta (Snář), lyrická opera o 3 dějstvích— Juliette, lyrische Oper in drei Aufzügen— Juliette (La clé des songes)

Lyrics by B. Martinů after Georges Neveaux,French translation B. Martinů,German translation L. Kaufmann,new version of text A. Březina, D. Bernet,English translation G.Thomsen,W. Schmolka, D. Pountney.

Halbreich number: 253Durata: 146’Place of composition: ParisDate of composition: 1937Performing forces: 3322-4331-timp.+batt.-

cmp.-pf.-archi, fisarmon.Solo roles: Juliette (S), Michel (T),

Commissar (T), Man with Helmet (Bt),Man in the window (B), Little Arab (mS orA), Old Arab (B), other 5 mS, 1 A, 2 T, 2 Bt,4 B, 1 speaking role, Mixed Choir

Dedication: Václav TalichPerformer(s) of premiere: V.Talich (cond.),

J. Honzl (direc.), F. Muzika (scen.), J. Jenčik(choreography), O. Horáková (Juliette)

Premiere: 16. 3. 1938, Praha, Czech RepublicArchive: Praha, National Theatre Archive,

Czech RepublicPublisher: DILIA, Praha, 1947 Copyright: DILIA, Praha

THE SOLDIER AND THE DANCER,COMIC OPERA IN 3 ACTS— Voják a tanečnice, komická opera

o 3 dějstvích— Der Soldat und die Tänzerin,

komische Oper in drei Aufzügen

Czech libretto: J. L. Budín after Pseudolus,comedy of Plautus, German translationK. Honolka.

Halbreich number: 162Durata: 135’Place of composition: Polička, ParisDate of composition: 1927Performing forces: 2222-2330-timp.-pf.-archiSolo roles: Simon (Bt), Malina (A), Kalidorus

(T), Pseudolus (Bt), Bambula (B), Fenicie(S),Aloisie (A), Harpax (T), Cook (T),other (7 S, 5 T, 1 Bt, 2 B, 6 speaking roles)

Performer(s) of premiere: F. Neumann (cond.),O. Zítek (direc.), B. Babánek (scen.), A. Pelz(Kalidorus), Z. Otava (Pseudolus), J. Čihák

Premiere: 5.5.1928, Brno, Czech RepublicArchive: Polička, Památník Bohuslava Martinů,

Czech RepublicPublisher: DILIA, Praha, 1966Copyright: Panton International Mainz

(ČR, SR: DILIA, Praha)

TEARS OF THE KNIFE,OPERA IN ONE ACT— Slzy nože, opera o 1 dějství— Die Tränen des Messers, Oper in einem

Aufzug— Larmes de couteau

French libretto G. Ribemont-Dessaignes,German translation I.Wenderholm,Czech translation E. Bezděková.

Halbreich number: 169Durata: 20’Place of composition: ParisDate of composition: 1928Performing forces: jazz.orch: 0111-sax.alto-

0220-tenorbanjo-tamt.-pf.-2vl.-1vlc (soli),altogether 14 musicians, fisarmon. behindthe stage

Solo roles: Mother (T), Eleonora (S), Satan (T)Performer(s) of premiere: V. Nosek (cond.),

L. Ogoun (direc.),V. Štolfa (scen.),L. Lesmanová (Mother), J. Jánská(Eleonora), R.Tuček (Satan)

Premiere: 22.10. 1969, Brno, Czech RepublicArchive: Polička, Památník Bohuslava Martinů,

Czech RepublicPublisher: DILIA, Praha, 1982Copyright: Panton International Praha

(ČR, SR: DILIA, Praha)

THEATRE BEHIND THE GATE,OPERA-BALLET IN 3 ACTS— Divadlo za bránou, opera-balet

o 3 dějstvích— Das Vorstadttheater, opera buffa

in drei Aufzügen

Lyrics by B. Martinů after Jean BaptistGaspard Debureau and Jean-BaptistMolière.

Halbreich number: 251Durata: 110’ I. ballet pantomime, II. and III. opera buffaPlace of composition: ParisDate of composition: 1936Performing forces: 2222-4220-timp.-batt.-xlf.-

pf.-archiSolo roles: Colombine (S), Harlequin (T),

Katushka (mS), Pierot (Bt), NightWatchman (B), Magistrate (B), Old man(B), Hag-exocist (A), Publican (B), Singers,Dancer and Mixed Choir

Dedication: A. Balatka Performer(s) of premiere: A. Balatka (cond.),

R.Walter (direc.), F. Muzika (scen.),M. Figarová (Colombina), E. Gabzdyl(Harlequin)

Premiere: 20. 9. 1936, Brno, Czech RepublicArchive: Polička, Památník Bohuslava Martinů,

Czech RepublicPublisher: DILIA, Praha, D. L. 1151, 1956Copyright: DILIA, Praha

THREE WISHES OR INCONSTANCY OF THE LIFE,FILM-OPERA IN 3 ACTS WITH PRELUDEAND POSTLUDE— Tři přání aneb Vrtkavosti života, filmová

opera o 3 dějstvích s předehrou a dohrou— Die drei Wünsche oder Die Wechselfälle

des Lebens, Film-Oper in drei Aufzügen,mit Vor- und Nachspiel

— Les Trois Souhaits our Les vicissitudesde la vie

French libretto G. Ribemont-Dessaignes,German translation M. Gammel,Czech translation E. Bezděková.

Halbreich number: 175Durata: 135’Place of composition: Paris

Date of composition: 1929Performing forces: 2222-4331-timp.-batt.-pf.-

archi; jazz.instr.: 2 sax., flexaton, banjo, pf.,fisarmon., jazzfl.

Solo roles: Nina Valencia/Indolende (S),Serge Eliacin/Adolphe (T), Arthurde Sainte-Barbe/Mr. Juste (Bt), LilianNevermore/Nulle (A),Adelaide (A),Eblouie Barbichette (S), Dinah (S),10 smaller roles, Choir, Male quartet,Mixed soloists quartet

Performer(s) of premiere: V. Nosek (cond.),E. Schorm (direc.), L.Vychodil (scen.),J. Souček (Juste), M. Šafránková (Indolende),E.Výmolová (Nulle), J. Škrobánek (Adolphe)

Premiere: 16. 6. 1971, Brno, Czech RepublicArchive: Polička, Památník Bohuslava Martinů,

Czech RepublicPublisher: DILIA, Praha, D. L. 540, 1970, 2000Copyright: Panton International Praha

(ČR, SR – DILIA, Praha),

THE VOICE OF THE FOREST,RADIO-OPERA IN 1 ACT— Hlas lesa, rozhlasová opera o 1 dějství— Die Stimme des Waldes, Funkoper

in einem Akt

Libretto by Vítězslav NezvalHalbreich number: 243Durata: 37’Place of composition: ParisDate of composition: 1935Performing forces: 2121-2110-timp.-batt.-pf.-

archi (4432)Solo roles: Bride (S),Young Forester (T),

Hostess (A), 3 Bandits (T, Bt, B), NarratorDedication: Otakar JeremiášPerformer(s) of premiere: O. Jeremiáš (cond.),

A. Slavická (Bride), J. Gleich (Huntsman),M. Šlechtová (Publican)

Premiere: 6. 10. 1935, Praha, Czech RepublicArchive: Praha, Czech Radio Archive,

Czech RepublicPublisher: DILIA, Praha, D. L. 1448, 1965Copyright: DILIA, Praha

WHAT MEN LIVE BY,OPERA-PASTORALE IN 1 ACT— Čím lidé žijí, opera-pastoral o 1 dějství— Wovon die Menschen leben, Pastoral-

Oper in einem Aufzug

Lyrics by Bohuslav Martinů after Lev Tolstoy’sThe Fairy Tale about the cobbler.

Halbreich number: 336Durata: 40’Place of composition: New YorkDate of composition: 1952Performing forces: 2232-2110-timp.-batt.-pf.-

archi (44332-66432)Solo roles: Martin Avdeyich (Bt), Old farmer

(B), Stepanich (B),Woman with a child (S),Old woman (A), Narrator (T), Boy(speaking role), Narrator (T), small choir

Premiere: May, 1953, New York, USAArchive: Polička, Památník Bohuslava Martinů,

Czech RepublicPublisher: Boosey & Hawkes, B&H 17358,

1953 Copyright: Boosey & Hawkes, London –

NewYork

Prepared by Lucie Berná & Jana Honzíková

> LIST OF MARTINŮ’S WORKS > Category STAGE WORKS AND FILM MUSIC > Subcategory OPERAS

Concerts—

fBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

THE SMETANA’S Litomyšl InternationalOpera Festival is the second-oldest musicfestival (after Prague Spring) and at thesame time the biggest “open air” classicalmusic festival taking place in the CzechRepublic. It has been held in the birthplaceof the founder of Czech national music,Bedřich Smetana, since 1949.The pro-gramme comprises opera productions,concert performances of operas, as wellas gala concerts, oratorios, cantatas andsong evenings, i.e. forms dominated byvocal art.The festival’s centre is thebeautiful Litomyšl State Castle, which in1999 was registered on the list of UNESCO

world cultural heritage sites. The mainevents take place in the castle’s secondcourtyard.

On 16 June the audience heard Martinů’scantata Bouquet of Flowers, H. 260,and Leoš Janáček’s ballet Rákos Rákoczy.Specially created for both pieces of theLitomyšl performance was a dance choreo-graphy and video projection. It concerneda unique attempt at giving stage form toMartinů’s cantata.The choreographer wasLadislava Košíková, the dancers were fromthe folk ensemble Hradišťan.

The radio cantata Bouquet of Flowers wascomposed in the summer of 1937 andis dedicated to the painter Jan Zrzavý,a friend of Martinů’s during his Paris years.Martinů wrote this cycle of compositionsto Czech folk texts for soli, mixed choirand small orchestra on commission forCzech Radio.The cantata consists of eightmovements, arranged in pairs, of whicheach contains one orchestral and oneorchestral-vocal movement (Overture-Sister Poisoner / Idyll-Cow Girls / Intrada-Sweetheart Dearer than Family) exceptin the case of the closing orchestral-vocalpair Carol – Man and Death. Martinů

chose the folk texts from the collectionsof František Sušil and Karel Jaromír Erben(in the case of “Carol”). In the orchestraMartinů employed two pianos.

In musical terms, Bouquet of Flowers linkedup to Špalíček (The Chap-Book, H.214),becoming its vocal-instrumental counter-part. It is one of the most remarkablereplicas of Czech folklore.The texts set tomusic all have an epical and balladic nature– the ballad of a prisoner inTurkish captivity(Sweetheart Dearer than Family), followedby the playfully jocose Koleda (Carol)in which Martinů ingeniously integrated

a children’s choir radiating humour andfreshness.The longest and most dramaticpart is Man and Death – a dialoguebetween the Human and Death.The storyof a human leaving this world is renderedhere in a combination of solo voices andcommentary of a mixed chorus.

The work itself, as well as its unusualstaging, including a dance and videocomponent, was a great surprise andprofound experience for the audience.We have selected a few reviews:

(…) YET FATE ULTIMATELY decidedotherwise: the evening gave me an experi-ence from a premiere of a splendid work.For the first time in my life I experiencedBohuslav Martinů (stage performance ofBouquet of Flowers) overshadowing LeošJanáček (arrangement of the ballet RákosRákoczy). I may not be entirely apt to com-pare the young Janáček and the matureMartinů, yet in the music and songs ofBouquet of Flowers there are so many formsof love and death, simplicity and sanctity –and they all sprang to life in the austereand non-formulaic rendition of Moravianperformers headed by young dancers

from Hradišťan and their choreographer,Ladislava Košíková.When the immenseresponse from the understanding audiencewas not dampened even by a power cutand a long pause, I felt that we wereprivileged to have witnessed a miracle.

(Jiří Černý – Hospodářské noviny)

ON SATURDAY 16 June a scenic collageof Leoš Janáček and a cycle of BohuslavMartinů’s compositions to folk texts inan original dance conception formed theevening programme in the second court-yard. Even though Leoš Janáček’s ballet

and Bohuslav Martinů’s Bouquet of Flowersare both inspired by folklore, they arevery different works. In 1891, when hisballet was premiered, Janáček was onlyat the beginning of his career, whereas atthe time of composing Bouquet of Flowersin 1937 Martinů was at the peak of hiscreative strength, with his work beingmuch weightier.The brilliant musicalperformance prepared by Roman Válekwith the Zlín Bohuslav Martinů Philhar-monic Orchestra, soloists and the chorusof Ostrava’s Moravian-Silesian NationalTheatre provided a sturdy undercarriagefor the dancers from the Hradišťanensemble. Ladislava Košíková’s choreo-graphy follows the text and story ofindividual parts, as well as their generalmeaning. (…) Bohuslav Martinů’s cantataclings more to folk ballads and medievalfolk plays, making the texts splendidlyglisten with its original music. Alongsidea chorus with four soloists, also perform-ing in the penultimate part of Bouquet ofFlowers (Carol) is the Holešov Children’sChoir. An original stage form, preparedas a premiere for the Litomyšl festival,supplemented by lights and video projec-tion, gave the work a suggestive shape.

(Jindřich Bálek, Czech Radio 3 – Vltava)

ONE OF THE APEXES of this year’sSmetana’s Litomyšl festival was BohuslavMartinů’s Bouquet of Flowers in LadislavaKošíková’s ballet choreography and

performed by the Zlín Bohuslav MartinůPhilharmonic Orchestra under the batonof Roman Válek.The choreography wascustom-made for the festival.

(Jindřich Bálek, HARMONIE,August 2007)Texts compiled by Lucie Berná

Leoš Janáček: RÁKOŠ RÁKOCZYBohuslav Martinů: BOUQUET OFFLOWERSAntonín Stehlík – baritoneKateřina Kněžíková – sopranoKamila Ševčíková – mezzosoprano Tomáš Kořínek – tenorAdam Plachetka – bass Hradišťan Dance GroupHolešov Children’s Choir – Moravské děti Dana Zapletalová and Lenka Polášková –choirmastersThe Moravian-Silesian Theatre Choir OstravaJurij Galatenko – choirmaster The Zlín Bohuslav Martinů PhilharmonicOrchestracostumes – Eva Jiříkovskávideo art – Tomáš Hrůzalight design – Arnošt Janěk choreography Ladislava Košíkovádirector Alena Vaňákováconductor Roman Válek

MARTINŮ DAZZLES at the Smetana’s Litomyšl 2007International Opera Festival

Phot

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išek

Renz

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Interview—

gBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

LUCIE BERNÁ

Since 2005 the Czech conductorJAKUB HRŮŠA (1981) has beenMusic Director of the Zlín BohuslavMartinů Philharmonic Orchestra.He studied conducting at theAcademy of Performing Arts inPrague where his teachers includedJiří Bělohlávek. Since his graduationin 2004, for which he was given theopportunity to conduct Suk’s AsraelSymphony with the Prague RadioSymphony in the Rudolfinum, JakubHrůša has built a strong reputationin his home country. In addition tohis titled positions with the PraguePhilharmonia and the BohuslavMartinů Philharmonic, he hasconducted all the major Czechorchestras and has also appearedat the Prague National Theatre.

What, in your opinion, is the greatestsuccess a conductor can achieve?

Sorry, but this question is absolutelyimpossible to answer, as is, for example,another that I’m frequently asked:Who is your favourite composer? Every artist’s personal success is, I wouldsay,“just” the fact that he does not losehis permanent internal inspiration, thatwithin him remains an inner fire inflamingmoments of festiveness, that he keepsdeeming important every, even theslightest, musical (artistic) work. Asregards the everyday, more working level,I consider it a success, or rather perhapsa life sanctification, if a conductor (artist)finds a permanent path of addressing reallysignificantly his colleagues – they first ofall – and together with them all thosewho come to encounter art.When itcomes to the personal level, I am happywhen I succeed in harmonically combiningthe steps connected with my beautifulvocation with the moments of life that arenot directly related to my profession.Or, if they are and must be related, thenwhen I succeed within their frameworkor through them in also exalting the(necessary) more ordinary moments.

You have great experience ofconducting student ensembles –you work with the Prague StudentOrchestra and the Czech StudentOrchestra.What is the main virtueof a student orchestra?

Owing to my work with these twoorchestras, I have gained truly extensiveexperience in this field – and that gratifiesme. My collaboration with them has beenbeautiful.At the present time, however,when my diary contains various stand-in

and, primarily, permanent engagementswith professional orchestras both in ourcountry and abroad, I no longer have muchtime for activities with student ensembles.The main advantage of student orchestras,in my opinion, is and will for ever remainthe enthusiasm of their members, the factthat their relationship with music is nottainted by professional concerns thatare not among the most joyful ones –apprehensions about, for example,earnings, tension between colleagues,tiredness (psychic in the worse case)or any type of resignation. Students’diametrically opposed qualities make itpossible for them to deal with technicalshortcomings and intricacies of musictexts at an especially felicific level. I stillfondly recall many moments when I feltgreat joy since I sensed and witnessedabsolute engagement of many membersof these orchestras during rehearsals,concerts, as well as competitions.

How did you perceive Martinů’smusic as a student, and how was itreceived by your classmates?

I personally: with absolutely naturalenthusiasm.Above all, at that time I did notunderstand what I understand now a littlemore, the fact that despite Martinů’sgenius, his compositions are eithermagnificent – or merely excellent. I lovedevery one of his miniature pieces (how,as a young pianist, I adored his Colombinesfrom the piano cycle Marionettes)as much as I did his grand operaticcompositions I knew from gramophonerecords.When in my first year at theAcademy of Performing Arts I participatedin the Prague Spring competition, I choseto play in the second round Martinů’sFantaisies Symphoniques, H. 343.This was the composition (besides someJanáček pieces) I perhaps most frequentlylistened to when studying at Brno grammarschool. It raised my spirits during breaksbetween biology and chemistry…It is difficult to speak on behalf of myclassmates.At the grammar school, whereI did not have many kindred spirits whenit comes to musical taste, probably no oneknew Martinů properly.At the Academyit was certainly different, but I can’t reallysay what my classmates’ real relationshipto his music was. Martinů has alwaysbeen played a lot, and will continue to beplayed – if only for the fact he has a reallywide range of compositions for variousinstruments and ensembles.Yet I can mention my peers’ relationshipto Martinů. In the Prague StudentOrchestra we played for a long time hisdifficult Double Concerto for Two StringOrchestras, Piano and Timpani, H. 271– and the orchestra members, althoughit is so weighty and modern, developed

a special, striking penchant for it. Martinů’smusic contains a lot of indefinable,irresistible energy.

In 2004 you conducted the CzechPhilharmonic Orchestra for thefirst time. On the occasion, youperformed The Parables – one ofMartinů’s major orchestral works.Since 2005 you have been theprincipal conductor of the ZlínBohuslav Martinů PhilharmonicOrchestra. How has your perceptionof Martinů’s music changed?

I firmly believe, in the direction of deeperunderstanding! I have already answeredthis question to a certain extent – todayI clearly realise what a qualitative differ-ence there is between The Parables,H.367, The Epic of Gilgamesh, H.351and The Greek Passion, H.372 on theone hand and some of his ballet pieces,concertante (more casual) compositionsor chamber (more instructive) pieces onthe other. If only other composers had somuch spirit even when creating smallerpieces!Of interest in this regard was myexperience as assistant to VladimirAshkenazy in the Czech PhilharmonicOrchestra. I think he really esteemedMartinů (and also performed his musicseveral times), yet, as he confessed to me,was hindered by the certain lack ofdiversity of Martinů’s work. For instance,he found, to put it simply, individual

symphonies to be too similar to each other.Accordingly, he only valued the mostoriginal compositions (most of all FantaisiesSymphoniques) – and then those somehowotherwise (mostly thematically) captivating.I remember that he mentioned Memorialto Lidice, H. 296. I would add, for instance,Field Mass, H. 279 or (when it comes totheatre) The Greek Passion. I must say thatI personally have never had this impression.For sure, you can find with, for example, thesymphonies very similar working principles,but lack of originality simply doesn’t enterinto the equation. My perception ofMartinů’s music has been transforming inthis sense too:The more I encountera relatively large quantity of literature of(not only) that time, the more I appreciatethe value and originality of Martinů’s work.I was extremely gratified by the possibilityto perform The Parables with the CzechPhilharmonic Orchestra. I have come toterms with the composition and includedit in my debut with the BBC SymphonyOrchestra this February (15. 2.).The Englishpeople present, who otherwise highlyesteem Martinů’s music owing to the long-time promotion by Czech artists, primarilyJiří Bělohlávek, had not encountered TheParables before – and they were in raptures.

After three years, your name hasreturned to the programme ofMartinů Days.With the PraguePhilharmonia and Brno CzechPhilharmonic Choir you will performMartinů’s cantata Bouquet of Flowers,

Jakub Hrůša

with…

JakubHrůšaJAKUB HRŮŠA

cerning the “situation when it comes toMartinů”.The fact that to date I have notsucceeded in getting his work on theprogramme, as I would like, does not meanthat the situation is bad when it comesto performing his music abroad! I mustagain draw your attention to, above all,Jiří Bělohlávek, an exemplary Martinů’s“advocate” (in the best sense of theword), in whose programmes abroadMartinů works figure quite often!

In 2005 your recording with theZlín Bohuslav Martinů PhilharmonicOrchestra, which also containsMartinů’s Suite from the balletThe Chap-Book, was released.Whichof Martinů’s works would you like toinclude in the permanent repertoireof this orchestra?

I would like to continue with other sym-phonic pieces – for example, SymphoniesNo.1 and 6 (Fantaisies Symphoniques). I amalso planning to present concertantepieces (for violin and piano). I would liketo perform Field Mass.There’s just somuch to choose from!

Thank you for the interview. n

back in February. However, I must confessthat getting Martinů’s works into myprogramme abroad is not as easy as in thecase of our older classical composers orLeoš Janáček today. In this respect, Britainis rather exceptional, it yearns for newpieces – or at least the BBC orchestradoes. But I hope that over the course oftime it will change and I will be able to getMartinů on the programme abroad too.(Recently, to my regret, a promisinglydeveloping project about my conductingThe Greek Passion at Teatro Lirico inCagliari fell through – still for me anincomprehensible and unpleasant breachof an agreement with an opera house withwhich I established contact last autumnwhen I performed with its orchestraBeethoven symphonies.)However, I have continuously had many ofhis pieces at my concerts at home – so atleast I am gathering experience. In recenttimes it has concerned Bouquet of Flowers(which I am now scheduled to performagain), The Parables, H. 367, Estampes,H. 369, Symphony No. 4, H. 305. In thisseason I will also conduct Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra,H. 337, Concerto for Oboe, H. 353and Symphony No. 3, H. 299.I would like to make a small note con-

Interview—

hBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

H. 260. But let’s return to the concertwithin Bohuslav Martinů Festival2004.The circumstances of yourengagement were a little unusual…

How else – being a stand-in. However,I had thoroughly studied three of the fourcompositions that were on the programme(although I had done just one of them withprofessionals – Dvořák’s Serenade for Wind);but when it came to Martinů’s Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, H. 337I didn’t even have it at home. So I really hadmy work cut out to learn it properly withinthe single weekend between receiving theoffer and the first rehearsal. But I encoun-tered two of my beloved composers –Janáček and Martinů – so I could nothave wished anything better for my debut!The other thing is that they were ratherdemanding compositions (and I thinkfor the orchestra too – The Parables inparticular).

Bohuslav Martinů had close relation-ship with the conductors whopremiered his works – Václav Talich,Sergei Koussevitsky, Ernest Ansermet,

etc.You also collaborate with contem-porary composers? How do you viewthe composer/conductor relationship?

I sincerely strive for this collaboration.I have a circle of composers/peers withwhom I have already established a profes-sional (and sometimes human too)personal relationship. Naturally, my task willbe to constantly extend this “circle”. I hopeI won’t be disappointed in this process!

The composer/conductor relationshipcould be the theme for a whole book.It’s an extremely tense matter – and whenit happens that they bring joy to eachother, it is one of the most amazing thingsin the conductor’s profession (and I canalso imagine it being the same with thecomposer).

Over your brief career you havealready had the chance to performin opera houses – at the NationalTheatre in Prague you conductedthe monodrama Krapp’s Last Tapeby Marcel Mihalovici, a long-timefriend of Martinů’s, and LeošJanáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen.Which Martinů opera would you liketo perform? The feature-length TheGreek Passion or poetic one-acterssuch as Tears of the Knife or The Voiceof the Forest? What type of operaconductor are you?

Definitely The Greek Passion, or TheMiracles of Mary, H. 236. Or Ariane,H. 370. I gravitate towards more weightypieces; that’s the way I am…

You have received numerous invita-tions to conduct foreign ensemblestoo – have you interpreted Martinů’smusic with non-Czech orchestras?What, in your opinion, is the situationlike when it comes to performingMartinů’s works beyond the CzechRepublic?

I had the most pleasant experience of thiskind with the BBC Symphony Orchestra

LEAMINGTON CZECH MUSIC FESTIVAL WEEKEND RICHARD PHILL IPS

DURING THE HOLIDAY weekend of 2–6 May 2008, the Royal Pump Rooms inLeamington Spa, a beautiful town in the centre of England, will have ten concertsof Czech music, with works by Martinů in almost all of them.Artists appearing in the Festival Weekend include the Martinů and Škampa Quartets,Guarneri Piano Trio, Schubert Ensemble of London, Ensemble 360, Jana Novákováand Martin Kasík. Jaroslav Tůma will also give an organ recital in All Saint’s Church.Highlights of the weekend will include also various quintets and sextets by Martinů:

2 May – Piano Quartet, H. 287 (Schubert Ensemble of London)3 May – String Quartet No. 5, H. 268 (Škampa Quartet)4 May – String Quintet and String Sextet, H. 224 (Martinů Quartet with

members of Škampa Quartet)5 May – Vigilia, H. 382 and organ transcription of Harpsichord Sonata, H. 368

(Jaroslav Tůma)5 May – Piano Quintet No. 2, H. 298 (Martinů Quartet with Martin Kasík)6 May – Bergerettes, H. 275 (Guarneri Piano Trio)

This is the fourth festival of Czech music put on in the Royal Pump Rooms in thelast fifteen years and there can be no more appropriate building since during WorldWar Two the Choir of the Czech Free Army, stationed in the Leamington area, usedto rehearse in the elegant assembly Hall there.The conductor was Vilem Tauský, whohad been with Martinů in France when the German invasion of 1940 took place.In the nearby Jephson Gardens is the memorial to the patriots who were stationedin Leamington before being parachuted into Czechoslovakia to assassinate Heydrich.

Full details of the Festival Weekend will be available in February, including specialoffers of accommodation for those wishing to stay in Leamington. Leamington hasgood connections by train from London (about ninety minutes) and the nearestairport is Birmingham International (thirty minutes). See www.leamingtonmusic.orgor call the Festival Director, Richard Phillips on 01926 497000 for more details. n

The Bohuslav Martinů Festival 2004, Jakub Hrůša with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestraand Isabelle van Keulen (viola) Photo Zdeněk Chrapek

News—

Obituaries—

jBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

IN THEIR MATURITY, composers seldomendorse the icons of their youth.They donot want to risk being accused of eclecti-cism and dependence on their older idols.Yet the Czech composer Jindřich Feldchampioned Bohuslav Martinů until theend of his life and was truly proud of thisprofessional alliance. He was even willingto sacrifice a certain part of his life tochairing the Bohuslav Martinů Society. Alladmirers of Martinů’s music owe him a greatdebt for this.Alongside Stravinsky, Bartók,Honegger and Hindemith, in the 1950sMartinů was one of Feld’s main icons (hislater development took in dodecaphonyand serialism in his own direction). Hence,Feld sent to Paris through the violinistLadislav Jásek scores of two of his compo-sitions (Quartet No. 2, 1952, and Sonatinafor Two Violins, 1953) for judgment byBohuslav Martinů, who promptly replied.

In the following interview with AlešBřezina, Director of the Bohuslav MartinůInstitute, Jindřich Feld talks about hiscorrespondence with Bohuslav Martinů(letter dated 1 July 1955).

What do you consider the mainfeature of Martinů’s letter?

The lesser the artist and pedagogue, themore overbearingly he behaves and themore categorical is the advice he gives.A great artist and pedagogue knows thatthere is no simple prescription for creation.I was truly impressed by Bohuslav Martinů’smodesty and positive approach, a collegialrespect shown to a young composer. Hismaxim of “always seeking the good in mypupils”, which should apply to every teacher,had a great influence on me in my laterpedagogic work. However, in his letterMartinů does not only talk about what helikes, but focuses on criticism too. Naturally,he gives advice based on his own musicalfeeling, absolutely in accordance with howhe himself composes. And this is the mostvaluable when it comes to advice.Thosewho know his music immediately under-stand that his advice could not be anydifferent.Yet Martinů also respects differ-ent creative techniques, therefore relativis-ing his advice in advance, saying that hehimself does not always adhere to it.

In his comments, Martinů paysgreatest attention to work withrhythm.Yes, Martinů does not write anythingabout melodic line, harmony, instrumen-

tation, etc.When he mentions “creatingthe theme”, he means its rhythmic-metricaspect. I think that at that time it was notpaid sufficient attention to at Prague’sconservatory and the Academy ofPerforming Arts, despite the fact that itconcerns a primary constituent, oftendecisive for the overall construction ofa music composition. Of course, Martinůwas right when he advised me not to

Jindřich Feld

THE ORGANIST AND COMPOSER BEDŘICH JANÁČEKborn May 18, 1920 Prague, died June 3, 2007 Lund

CZECH COMPOSER JINDŘICH FELDborn February 19, 1925, died July 8, 2007

J ANA HŘEBÍKOVÁ

THE ORGANIST AND COMPOSERBedřich Janáček died in Sweden thisJune at the age of 87. Bohuslav Martinůdedicated to him the only compositionhe wrote for solo organ, Vigilia (H. 382).

Bedřich Janáček studied organ with FranjoLučić in Zagreb and Bedřich AntonínWiedermann at Prague’s Conservatoryand Master School. He began giving inde-pendent concerts in 1938 and also regularlyperforming within Czech Radio’s Sundayorgan concerts. In August 1948 he emi-grated to Sweden, where he worked as anorganist in a church in Lund. His extensiveconcert activity included performances inchurches and concert halls in Scandinavia,Germany, Switzerland, France, England andother European countries, as well as twotours of the United States (1968 and 1970).Pride of place in his large repertoire wasoccupied by works of Czech composers(J. Zach, F. X. Brixi, B.A.Wiedermann, J. B.Foerster, R.Týnský, L. Janáček). Under thebaton of Rafael Kubelík, he played on therecording of Glagolithic Mass for DeutscheGrammophon (1964). He participated inthe arrangements for the release of K. B.

Janáček recalls his encountering Martinůin a text on the origination of Vigilia.1)

They met in Rome in 1956. Martinů workedduring the 1956–1957 season at theAmerican Academy in Rome as composerin residence. At that time, Janáček had twoorgan concerts in Rome. Martinů attendedboth of them and after the second, whichtook place at Pontificio Instituto di MusicaSacra, he examined the console withinterest. During their meetings, Janáčekalso asked Martinů whether he couldcompose a piece for solo organ.

For illustration, Janáček sent to Martinůseveral contemporary organ compositionsby Hindemith, Pepping, Messiaen andDurpé. Martinů replied in a letter dated8 July 1958: “Dear friend.You surprisedme with your present in the form of organcompositions, as well as a detailed descriptionof technique. I was also surprised by thecompositions’ relative simplicity. What I havealways been apprehensive of is the oppositesince, as you know, the organ sounds likean extremely complex instrument. So itencourages me to write something for thatinstrument of yours.”

In one of the letters to Martinů, Janáčekalso writes about his concert activity(7 April 1959): “During this winter seasonI was an organist and chorus-master, firsthere in Hässleholm and from January onin the nearby town of Kristianstad. In the

summer, however, I will abandon this activityand will again become a freelancer, so I willhave more opportunities to also apply modernmusic at concerts in Sweden and, above all,abroad. Nevertheless, recently (at the end ofFebruary and in the first half of March) I wason a tour of Belgium and England. I enclosea programme from London.”

Martinů intended to compose for Janáčekseveral organ “vigilias”. Vigilia refers to theevening, night or worship before a greatholiday of the Christian calendar. However,Martinů only got around to composing thefirst Vigilia in the spring of 1959, when heand his wife left Schönenberg, Switzerland,to spend a month in Nice. At that time,he left the composition’s conclusionunfinished and after the 87th bar onlymade a note:“da capo”.To the first Vigilia,he also sketched the beginning of thesecond Vigilia. Martinů sent Janáček thesheet music for assessment, and enclosedan organ cadenza from his cantata Mountof Three Lights, H. 349 and asked Janáčekto arrange it for the instrument.

Janáček replied to the first Vigilia withenthusiasm and enclosed in his letter a listof revisions. However, at that time Martinůwas already seriously ill and, following hisreturn to Schönenberg, on 30 May he washospitalised in Liestal. In the meantime,Janáček sent Martinů several proposalsfor arrangement of the organ part of

Jirák’s Preludes and Fugues, op. 77, andcompleted, revised and subsequentlyperformed at his concerts BohuslavMartinů’s Vigilia. As regards composing,he was an autodidact and only begancomposing in exile. In his creation hefocused on pieces for solo organ, forwhich he found major inspiration inProtestant choral. J. S. Bach was for himthe greatest organ composer of them all.

repeat two-bar units with the samerhythmic structure. In his opinion, perma-nent regularity is “baggage” makinga composition stiff and weakening thetheme itself, as well as the furtherdevelopment of the work.Yet how manycompositions drawing upon this Czechmusical tradition suffer from this veryacademism! Martinů, who himself primarilyused syncopation in his creation, aboveall recommended to me a change, a newrhythmic element, freedom, fantasy – i.e.irregularity. I also see in this advice thestrong influence of French music (andStravinsky) on Bohuslav Martinů’s thinking.I recall that in the 1950s it was widelysaid that Martinů’s music is like a Czechdumpling with a French sauce. My responseto this statement has always been: So it is.And why not? Without the sauce, the drydumpling would no longer be edible!

What significance did BohuslavMartinů’s letter have for yourcreative work? Really immense, already then, forty yearsago. And today I see it in the same waytoo. In a very stimulating manner, hetouched on the very problems I consid-ered, and still consider, fundamental.

Bedřich Janáček

Obituaries—

kBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

Guy was awarded the highest distinctionsfrom French authorities, as well as theCzech medal “Artis Bohemiae Amicis”.He was of course the best bridge betweenmusical cultures of both countries. Nodoubt he liked very much the proactiveactions of the Centre Tchèque in Paris.

He clearly said that Martinů was his next“crusade” for Czech music in France,which can be very well understood in the

context of Guy’s actions, and that thepreparation of the 50th anniversary hadto be the first objective of MouvementJanáček. He thought Janáček has nowreached the status of major composer inFrance (with an appreciable place in OperaBastille repertoire), and he had a leadingpart in this success.

Now, after Guy’s death, I remember mylast private conversation in March thisyear, and also the board meeting laterwhen he was desperately eager to havea successor for the Mouvement he hadcreated. He was very happy to achieve thisgoal as the pianist Jean-François Ballèvreaccepted the challenge to be the nextPresident.

He was certainly aware that his illness wasvery serious, but none of us was preparedto the sudden degradation. Guy’s incred-ible energy, passion, should be aninspiration to all of us, lovers of Czechmusic, Martinů in particular.It is a terrible loss to Czech music loversin both countries. n

Guy Erismann

GUY ERISMANNborn March 24, 1923, left music lovers September 6, 2007

Although later on I accepted a host ofother stimulations from modern music,I have always considered the basic thingthe sense for the compositional centuryheaded by Martinů.

I respected Bohuslav Martinů’s wish anddid not tell anyone of the letter, under-standing his “I don’t want it to becomea habit, I really don’t have the time for it”.And, unfortunately, in 1955 he did nothave time ahead of him – I only regretthat meeting him in person was out of thequestion at that time.And I am pleasedthat in his commentary on a recording ofmy compositions the French musicologistPierre-E. Barbier says that I have inte-grated into my aesthetic some principlesspecific to French culture, and calls mean “heir to Martinů”,“who has foundthe concertante vein of his compatriot”,“freedom of melodic invention” anda “baroque largesse worthy of his prede-cessor”. n

Excerpted from Bohuslav Martinů Society News,issue No. 30, 2007

Aleš Březina / Lucie Berná

the cantata Mount of Three Lights, whichhe also considered well written for theinstrument.

Following the death of Bohuslav Martinů(28. 8. 1959), Charlotte Martinů grantedJanáček consent to completing the firstVigilia and preparing it for publication.As Janáček states in his memoirs, hefinished the last part of Vigilia (19 bars) inSeptember 1962, revised the composition,i.e. elaborated the dynamic, agogic andregistration, and for the publication wrotea preface with a list of all his alterations tothe score.The composition was publishedby Max Eschig in Paris in 1965. Janáček,however, points out that the first printcontains a host of errors, thus only thesecond edition (1987), which he revised,was error-free.The autograph andfacsimile of Vigilia, including the attachedletter with Janáček’s manuscript, aredeposited in the PBM archives. n

1) Bedřich Janáček: Vyprávění Bedřicha Janáčka o tom,jak vznikla “Vigilia” pro varhany od Bohuslava Martinů(Bedřich Janáček recounts the origination of BohuslavMartinů’s Vigilia for organ).The sheet with text isattached to the correspondence between BohuslavMartinů and Bedřich Janáček, a copy is depositedat the Bohuslav Martinů Institute.

EDITORIAL BOARDOF THE BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ COMPLETE EDITION

Sharon Choa (University of East Anglia,Norwich) presented the editorial issuesof Symphony No. 4, H. 305 and PaulSilverthorne (first viola player of theLondon Symphony Orchestra andProfessor at the Royal Academy of Music)familiarised those present with thesource situation and editorial problemspertaining to Rhapsody-Concerto forViola and Orchestra, H. 337. Sandra

Bergmannová from the Bohuslav MartinůInstitute introduced a volume of earlyorchestral works for the first time. n

More information: www.martinu.czThe project is coofinanced by

WITH FINANCIAL SUPPORTfrom the Czech Science Foun-dation, the fifth session of theinternational Editorial Board ofthe Bohuslav Martinů CompleteEdition (BMCE) took place atthe Bohuslav Martinů Institutebetween 2 and 4 June 2007. Itsparticipants were acquaintedwith the activities and resultsof the research carried out atthe BM Institute over the pastyear (donated autographs /publications / correspondenceon-line / the Martinů Revisited2009 project).They discussedthe detailed editorial plan andcreated a list of volumes for thefirst 10 years – it was updatedand divided into three phaseswith 18 volumes in total. ChristopherHogwood introduced the C. P. E. BachGuidelines and on the basis of hisrecommendation two versions of theguidelines were created: EditorialGuidelines for editors’ internal use anda reduced version for the public –Editorial Principles for the BohuslavMartinů Complete Edition. Editors fromabroad were also present at the session –

Conference—

PATRICE CHEVY

GUY HAD A GREAT professional life inthe institutions of French Radio, where inparticular he led the musical programmesof France-Culture, a radio devoted to thebest of cultural tendencies.He also directed French radio contribu-tion to the Avignon Festival, where manyworks were created (about 50).

After 1988, he devoted all his efforts tocreate a unique corpus of biographiesof Czech composers, in particular the“tetralogy” Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček,Martinů.

He founded the “Mouvement Janáček” inFrance to promote the music of the greatcomposer, but from the beginning, it wasthe promotion of Czech music, the sameway Dvořák society is currently working.

The biographies he has written are themost comprehensive in French. But, moreimportant, they are works of a poet,a lover of this music. Guy’s biographieshave a unique signature. His Martinů“Un musicien à l’éveil des sources”(reference to the Bureš cantatas), is thebest possible illustration of his greatpersonality.

Giselher Schubert and Annette Thein

From the left Lucie Berná, Sharon Choa, Paul SilverthornePhotos Lucie Berná / Petr Procházka

26 and 27 March 2008

• Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg,Austria The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca,H. 352Conductor: Adrian LeaperMozarteum Orchester Salzburg

27 & 28 March 2008 / 7.30 pm

• Janáček Theatre, Brno, CZRhapsody-Concerto for Violaand Orchestra, H. 337Conductor: Jakub HrůšaAntoine Tamestit (viola) Brno Philharmonic

8 April 2008 / 7.30 pm

• Dvořák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague, CZSymphony No. 6 (Fantasies Symphoniques),H. 343Conductor: Vladimír Válek Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

21 April 2008

• Rudolfinum, Prague CZConcerto for String Quartetand Orchestra, H. 207Talich QuartetConductor: Kaspar ZehnderPrague Chamber Orchestra

16 May 2008 / 8.00 pm

• Opéra, Strasbourg, FranceCinq pièces brèves, H. 193Le Dumky Trio

18 May 2008 / 6.00 pm

• Sendesaal, Frankfurt/Main, GermanyQuartet for Clarinet, French Horn,Violoncello and Side-Drum, H. 139Ulrich Büsing (clarinet)Gerda Wind-Sperlich (horn),Daria Balashova (cello),Andreas Hepp (side-drum)

This is only a selection of Martinů performancesall over the world. Please, help us to compile theconcert calendar; inform us about events involvingMartinů’s music!

�O P E R A S B A L L E T S

20 January 200824 February 200824 March 20081 April 200811 April 200813 April 2008

• Opernhaus Zürich, Schweizwww.opernhaus.chballet Before Nightfall,with music: Double ConcertoforTwo String Orchestras,Piano andTimpani, H. 271Choreographer: Nils Christe

20 & 31 January 2008 / 7.00 pm

• The Estates Theatre, Prague, CZKitchen Revue, H. 161Dance Conservatory PragueChoreographer: Jiří Srnec

6 & 14 March 2008 / 7.00 pm14 April 2008 / 7.00 pm

• The National Theatre,Prague, CZ

www.narodni-divadlo.czThe Greek Passion, H. 372 IIConductor: Zbyněk MüllerDirector: Jiří Nekvasil

22 March 2008

• Volkstheater, Großes Haus,Rostock, Germany

Who is the Most Powerfulin the World? ballet comedy,H. 133 (national premiere)Conductor: Christian Hammer

19 January 2008 / 10.00 am / rehearsal19 January 2008 / 7.00 pm / premiere

• Philharmonie München,Germany

http://www.mphil.de/mphil/de/ The Frescoes of Piero dellaFrancesca, H. 352Conductor: Markus PoschnerMünchner Philharmoniker

20 January 2008

• Philharmonie München, Germany The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca, H. 352Conductor: Markus PoschnerMünchner Philharmoniker

11 February 2008 / 7.30 pm

• Salon Philharmonia, Krocínova 1, Prague, CZString Trio No.1, H. 136Hana Roušarová (violin)Dagmar Mašková (viola)Sylva Jablonská (cello)

27 February 2008 / 2.00 pm

• Llandaff Cathedral,The Cathedral Green,Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, UK

http://www.bbc.co.uk/walesBBC National Orchestra of WalesCello Concerto No. 2, H.304Conductor: Grant Llewellyn Danjulo Ishizaka (cello)

12 March 2008

• Rudolfinum, Prague, CZBergerettes, H. 275Puella Trio

15 March 2008 / 2 and 8.15 pm

• Solothurn, SwitzerlandThe Revolt, ballet sketch, H. 151Conductor: George VlaiculescuStadtorchester Solothurnhttp://www.stadtorchester-solothurn.ch

25 March 2008

• Rudolfinum, Prague, CZSonata for Violin and Piano No. 1, H. 182Bohumil Kotmel (violin)Jiří Kollert (piano)

Events–

lBOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

ALEŠ BŘEZINA

THE INTERNATIONAL MusicologicalSociety originated in 1927 in Basel.Between 10 and 15 July 2007 Zurichhosted its 18th congress, organised by theInstitute of Musicology of Zurich Univer-sity headed by Hans-Joachim Hinrichsenand Laurenz Lütteken. Immediately in theirintroductory speeches, they drew attentionto two momentous jubilees – the 80thanniversary of the International Musico-logical Society and the 50th anniversaryof granting emeritus status to one of itsmost famous members, the composerPaul Hindemith. I had the chance to attendthe congress and present the BohuslavMartinů Complete Edition project.Events of this type afford to musicologistsa precious opportunity to feel that theirbranch is great and significant. Severalhundred participants from all over theworld arrived at the congress and gave

their lectures in parallel, sometimes up to16 simultaneously. Fortunately, the numberof visitors was even higher, with theirinterests being so diverse that few lecturerscould complain of there being empty seats.Every day opened with a keynote lecturegiven by a prominent personality signifi-cantly transcending the borders of his/herspecialisation. I had the opportunity tolisten to some of them. I was particularlyintrigued by Ludwig Finscher’s lecturetitled “Was heisst und zu welchem Endestudiert man musikalische Gattungs-geschichte?” [What is the history of musicalgenres and for what purpose do we studythem?] The initial lectures were followed bySymposia & Free Paper Groups, whichwere divided into the following sections:I. From Antiquity to Renaissance, II. 17th &18th Centuries, III. 19th Century, IV. 20thCentury till Today,V. Genres & NationalTraditions,VI.Theory & Methods, and VII.Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Complete

editions were included in the “Institutes,Societies & Research Projects” section.In addition to my Martinů presentation,individual projects were introduced by, forexample, Jarmila Gabrielová (New DvořákComplete Works Edition), Daniela Philippi(Gluck Complete Edition), Peter Jost(Richard Wagner Gesamtausgabe), SusanneSchaal-Gotthard (Paul Hindemith InstituteFrankfurt), Michael Kube (New SchubertEdition) and Ludwig Finscher (Triosonata.Catalogue raisonnée).The latter project,currently being launched, is financed fromthe money Ludwig Finscher receivedtogether with the Balzan-Preis 2006 honour(a historic first for a musicologist) on con-dition that he would invest it in a researchproject. As regards other thematic groups,I was captivated by the extensive “Wagnerand Zurich” section, one extremelypopular with the audience, and the no lessfascinating subsection “Implicit musicalpoetic in the operas of Paul Hindemithin the music historical context”.

The congress was supplemented bya number of concerts, sightseeing toursof monuments in Zurich and other Swisscities with music history significance, visitsto eminent institutions such as, for exam-ple, Basel’s Paul Sacher Foundation, theMuseum of Musical Instruments and ScholaCantorum. In addition, there was also theComplete Critical Editions exhibition anda number of exhibitions of individual musicpublishers.Within the congress, the com-pletion of the new revised edition of the“Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart”encyclopaedia at Bärenreiter was cele-brated. On this occasion, Leonhard Scheuchdrew attention to another two extensiveprojects of his publishing house that arenearing completion: complete criticaleditions of the works of J. S. Bach and W. A.Mozart. According to Mr Scheuch, theyhave been superseded by two new projects:the New Dvořák Complete Works Editionand the Bohuslav Martinů Complete Edition.The gala event symbolically concluded inthe Swiss premiere of Bohuslav Martinů’sString Trio No.1, H.136 performed bymembers of the young German ensemblecasalQUARTETT. n

�C O N C E R T S24 December 2007

• Oji Hall,Tokyo, JapanPartita (Suite No. 1)for String Orchestra, H. 212 Limato Chamber Ensemble

HEATH QUARTET, UK

String Quartet No. 2, H. 150

12 January 2008 / 7.30 pm

• Holland Concerts, South Holland Centre,Spalding

17 January 2008 / 7.30 pm

• Grimsby Concert Society,Grimsby Central Hall, Grimsby

24 January 2008 / 7.30 pm

• North Cumbria Recitals, Carlisle

26 January 2008 / 8.00 pm

• Edinburgh Society of, 3 Belford Road,Edinburgh

27 January 2008 / 3.00 pm

• Dunblane Cathedral Arts Guild,Dunblane Cathedral, Dunblane, Stirling

28 January 2008 / 7.30 pm

• Aberdeen Chamber Music Club,Cowdray Hall, Aberdeen

29 January 2008 / 7.30 pm

• Pollock House, Glasgow

13 & 15 January 2008

• Allerheiligen Hofkirche, München,Germany

Sextet for Piano and Wind Instruments, H. 174KKISS-Quintett des BayerischenStaatsorchestersIrina Puryshinskaja (piano)

18th CONGRESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY IN ZURICH

Conference—

N E W C D s & D V D

News––CDs––

THE HYPERION/ MATOUŠEK SERIES

Martinů, Prokofiev

Sergey Prokofiev: Symphony-Concertoin E minor for Cello and Orchestra,Op. 125Bohuslav Martinů: Concerto No. 2for Cello and Orchestra, H. 304Michal Kaňka – celloVladimír Válek – conductorPrague Radio Symphony OrchestraRecorded in 1999 and 2005 Radioservis, DDD, CR0368-2, 2007

DVD The Greek Passion

Bohuslav Martinů: The Greek Passion,H. 372/IITomáš Šimerda – director, screenplaySir Charles Mackerras – conductorBrno Philharmonic OrchestraSoloists of the Welsh National Opera,CardiffPrague Philharmonic ChoirKühn Children’s ChoirRecorded in 1981, TV film from 1999 Supraphon Music, SU 7014-9, 2007

GREGORY TERIAN

READERS will be aware of the difficultieswhich have beset Bohuslav Matoušek’sadmirable project to record all theconcerto works by Martinů with violinand orchestra. Happily matters have nowly been resolved and the first CD inthe series has now appeared in the UK(Hyperion CDA 67671). It containsthe Concerto for Flute,Violin andOrchestra, H. 252 (1936) whereMatoušek is joined by the flautist JanneThomsen, the Duo Concertante for TwoViolins and Orchestra, H. 264 (1937)with Regis Pasquier and the ConcertoforTwo Violins and Orchestra, H. 329(1950) with Jennifer Koh.The CzechPhilharmonic Orchestra is conductedby Christopher Hogwood.

This is a first rate product in every respectwith exemplary performances from thesoloists, spirited support from the con-ductor and orchestra, all complementedby fine sound.The two concertos findMartinů at his most appealing and cannotfail to lift the spirits. I understand that allconcerned with this project are delightedwith the results.

Ted Perry, the founder of HyperionRecords, was a great Martinů enthusiast.His son Simon has followed the tradition

and all Martinu devotees will be gratefulfor his enterprise in bringing us these fineperformances.

The next disc in the series is due to bereleased in January and will include thefirst recording on CD of the Concertofor Piano,Violin and Orchestra, H. 342.The remaining issues will follow during2008. n

> CZECH MUSIC QUARTERLYNo. 3/2007: In this volume on pp 36–47you can find very nice article “Music forme is the idea of light. A view of thelife and music of Bohuslav Martinů.”by musicologist Lucie Berná.

Jaroslav MotlíkViola

Johannes Brahms: Sonata in F minorfor Viola and Piano, Op. 120, No. 1Ladislav Vycpálek: Suita for ViolaSolo, Op. 21Igor Stravinsky: Elegy for Viola SoloBohuslav Martinů: Rhapsody-Concertofor Viola and Orchestra, H. 337Jaroslav Motlík – viola Květa Novotná – pianoCzech Philharmonic OrchestraZdeněk Košler – conductorRecorded in 1961, 1973, 1979, 1993 ArteS MON, AS 723-2, 2007

Martinů: CompletePiano Music, Vol. 3

Fantasy and Toccata, H. 281Piano Sonata, H. 350Etudes and Polkas, H. 308Three Czech Dances, H. 154Giorgio Koukl – pianoRecorded in 2006 / Naxos, DDD, 8.557919, 2007

;BOHUSLAVMARTINŮNEWSLETTER3)2007

The concert programme is subject to change

bTHE BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ FOUNDATION , IN ASSOCIATION WITH

THE BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ INSTITUTE, ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS IN PRAGUE, INSTITUT FRANÇAIS DE PRAGUE, PRAGUE PHILHARMONIC AND CZECH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA,PRESENTS THE 13TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL

www.martinu.czManagement of the festival: The Bohuslav Martinů Institute | tel.: +420 257 31 31 04 | More information: martinu@martinu.cz

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BohuslavMartinůDays3—15 December 2OO7 PRAGUE3 Dec 2007 7.30 pm / Martinů Hall, Academy of Performing Arts, Malostranské nám. 13, Prague 1

Concert of Prize-winners from the 2007 Martinů Foundation Competition in the Piano Category

4 Dec 2007 7.30 pm / Martinů Hall, Academy of Performing Arts, Malostranské nám. 13, Prague 1

THE KINTON–ANAGNOSON PIANO DUO (Canada)Martinů Mozart Stravinskij Lutosławski Dvořák Gershwin

5 Dec 2007 7.30 pm / Gallery, Academy of Performing Arts, Malostranské nám. 13, Prague 1HOMAGE TO ZDENĚK ZOUHAR (born 1927)

THE BRNO ACADEMIC CHOIRJAROSLAV KYZLINK conductor / VLADIMÍR CHMELO baritoneMartinů Zouhar

7 Dec 2007 7.30 pm / Pálffy Palace, Valdštejnská 158/14, Prague 1In association with the Institute Français de PragueHOMAGE TO GUY ERISMANN (born 1923, died 2007)

LE DUMKY TRIO (France) / THE SMETANA TRIOMartinů Smetana Fauré

1O Dec 2007 7.30 pm / Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall, Nám. Jana Palacha, Prague 1Concert Serie of the Prague Philharmonia

PRAGUE PHILHARMONIABRNO CZECH PHILHARMONIC CHOIRJAKUB HRŮŠA conductorMartinů Brahms

14+15 Dec 2007 7.30 pm / Rudolfinum, Dvořák Hall, Nám. Jana Palacha, Prague 1Closing concert

THE CZECH PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRAJAROSLAVA PĚCHOČOVÁ piano

JIŘÍ BĚLOHLÁVEK conductorMartinů Dvořák

• TICKETS FOR THE CONCERTS ON 3 |4 |5 | 7 DECEMBER WILL BE ON SALE ONE HOUR BEFORE THE CONCERT Reservations: martinu@martinu.cz (The Bohuslav Martinů Institute) | price: CZK 50/150

• Tickets for the concert on 10 December will be on sale at the Czech Philharmonic box office one hour beforethe concert (Address: Rudolfinum, Nám. Jana Palacha) | Reservations: tel.: +420 224 232 488 | price: CZK 100/400

• Tickets for the concerts on 14 and 15 December will be on sale at the Czech Philharmonic box office (Address: Rudofinum, Nám. Jana Palacha) | price: CZK 100/600 | tel.: +420 227 059 227 | www.ceskafilharmonie.cz

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