Martinu

Martinů, Bohuslav (Jan) Page 1 of 14
Martinů, Bohuslav (Jan)

(b Polička, Bohemia, 8 Dec 1890; d Liestal, Switzerland, 28 Aug 1959). Czech
composer. Although he spent most of his creative life away from his native
Czechoslovakia, he is widely regarded, after Janáček, as the most substantial
Czech composer of the 20th century.
1. Life.
2. Music.
WORKS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JAN SMACZNY
Martinů, Bohuslav
1. Life.
Martinů was born in the small market town of Polička just on the Bohemian side
of the Bohemian-Moravian border. Until 1902, when they moved to a house in
the centre of the town, his family lived at the top of the church tower, where his
father combined his cobbler’s trade with fire-watching and ringing bells for
services. Martinů started school in 1897 followed by violin lessons twice a
week. He developed fast as a violinist, leading the Polička string quartet and in
1905 giving his first performance as a soloist. Another successful recital the
next year encouraged high hopes of a career as a virtuoso leading to the key
event of his early life: the local community raised funds to send him to the
Prague Conservatory, the entrance exam for which he passed in September
1906.
His studies in Prague were a desultory record of poor attendance and
suspension; after the near complete failure of his studies at the conservatory, a
year (1909–10) in its organ department resulted in expulsion for ‘incorrigible
negligence’. More positively, he found Prague’s cultural life captivating, found a
firm and later influential friend in the violinist Stanislav Novák and was
profoundly stirred by the Prague première (in German) of Debussy’s Pelléas et
Mélisande (1908). In order to acquire a professional qualification, Martinů took
the state teaching examination, failing in 1911 but passing the next year.
Although he had begun to compose Tři jezdci (‘The Three Riders’) for string
quartet as early as 1900, his first major outpouring of works came in 1910,
when he wrote, along with piano music and some 14 songs, Smrt Tintagilova
(‘La mort de Tintagiles’) and Anděl smrti (‘The Angel of Death’) for orchestra.
During the First World War Martinů lived with his family in Polička and eluded
conscription by a combination of simulated and real ill-health while sustaining
himself by teaching the violin. These years allowed him to concentrate on
composition, resulting in formative works such as the orchestral Nocturne and
Koleda (‘Carol’) and culminating in the nationalist Česká rapsódie, of which the
second performance on 24 January 1919, in the presence of President
Masaryk, did much for his reputation in Prague. After 1913 he often deputized
as a second violinist with the Czech Philharmonic; in the spring of 1919 he
travelled with the orchstra on a tour which included Geneva, London and Paris,
and between 1920 and 1923 he became a full member. He produced important
works in this period, including the ballets Istar and Kdo je na světě nejmocnější
(‘Who is the Most Powerful in the World?’), and studied briefly in Suk’s
composition class at the Prague Conservatory.
Having been much attracted by Paris, Martinů, with the aid of a small
scholarship from the ministry of education, returned there in October 1923 to
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study with Roussel. Although he often visited Prague and took frequent summer
holidays in Polička, Martinů never again lived in Czechoslovakia. In Paris his
range of musical experiences vastly increased: apart from lessons with Roussel
he heard the music of Stravinsky and Les Six and jazz. Impressed by La
bagarre, Koussevitzky took an interest in Martinů and in 1927 gave its hugely
successful première in Boston with the Boston SO. Late in 1926 Martinů began
to live with Charlotte Quennehen, whose activities as a dressmaker did much to
alleviate his near poverty. Martinů became increasingly prolific towards the end
of the 1920s, completing his first opera, Voják a tanečnice (‘The Soldier and the
Dancer’), much chamber music, inlcuding his important Second String Quartet
and a number of jazz-inspired works including the orchestral Le jazz, the
chamber Jazz Suite and the operas Les larmes du couteau and Les trois
souhaits.
By the 1930s many aspects of Martinů’s style were established and his
reputation was growing. His works were given, though not very frequently, in
Prague and Brno; performances included the premières of the Second Piano
Concerto (1935) and the opera Julietta (1938), both conducted by Václav
Talich. Other important premières included those of the First Cello Concerto in
Berlin (1931), the Concerto for string quartet and orchestra under Malcolm
Sargent in London (1932) followed rapidly in Boston by Koussevitzky, and the
orchestral Inventions at the ISCM Festival during the 1934 Venice Biennale.
While the compositions of the 1930s reveal a penchant for Baroque forms and
procedures, Martinů was also showing an interest in the folk music and culture
of Czechoslovakia in such works as the opera-ballet Špalíček (‘The Chap-
Book’), the Staročeská říkadla (‘Old Czech Nursery Rhymes’) and Kytice
(‘Garland’).
Despite his mother’s lack of enthusiasm for Charlotte, Martinů married her in
1931. During preparations for the première of Julietta in 1937, Martinů met the
promising young composer and conductor, Vítězslava Kaprálová. Encouraging
her to come to work with him in Paris in the autumn of 1937, he began an affair
which developed strongly over the next year. In June 1938 he went with her to
London where she conducted her Vojenská sinfonie (‘Military Symphony’). Later
that summer Martinů spent his last holiday in Czechoslovakia and in September
went to Schönenberg in Switzerland, where he completed the Double Concerto
for two string orchestras, piano and timpani for Paul Sacher and the Basle
Chamber Orchestra.
With the completion of the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939,
Martinů, named as cultural attaché by the Czechoslovak opposition, assisted
the large number of Czech artists coming to Paris as refugees. Kaprálová
began an affair with the writer Jiří Mucha and married him two months before
her death from tuberculosis in 1940. Too old for military service at the start of
the war, Martinů composed the nationally-coloured Polní mše (‘Field Mass’),
dedicated to the Free Czechoslovak Army Band. His personal situation
worsened when his music was blacklisted by the Nazis in the protectorate of
Bohemia and Moravia, and as the Germans approached Paris in the spring of
1940 he fled with Charlotte to the south of France, provisionally settling in Aix-
en-Provence at the beginning of September. In the last three months of the year
he continued to compose, including the Sinfonietta giocosa for piano and small
orchestra. Early in 1941 they went via Marseilles to Lisbon seeking passage to
the United States, eventually leaving Portugal on the SS Exeter on 21 March.
Although Martinů spent a considerable time in or near New York during the war
years, in the summers he would leave the city. His excursions included stays at
Middlebury (Vermont), Darien and Ridgefield (Connecticut) and Cape Cod and
South Orleans (Massachusetts) as well as composition teaching at Tanglewood

in 1942. Depression and homesickness compounded by a poor knowledge of
English made for a difficult start in America, but Martinů soon began composing
again. Koussevitzky provided an important stimulus with a commission for an
orchestral work, resulting in Martinů’s first symphony (1942). This was followed
in yearly succession by four more, the last of which was dedicated to the Czech
Philharmonic and first performed under Kubelík at the first Prague Spring
Festival in 1947.
At the end of the war in Europe, Martinů accepted the offer of a composition
professorship at the newly-founded Prague Conservatory, but remained
resident in America for the next seven years. In part this lack of a return to
Europe was explained by a serious fall Martinů incurred while teaching at
Tanglewood in the summer of 1946. Recovery was slow and he suffered from
tinnitus, headaches and depression for a number of years. His indecisiveness
about taking up his post in Prague was reinforced by the loss of his close friend
Stanislav Novák, the deteriorating political situation in Czechoslovakia and the
pursuit of an affair with the young composer Roe Barstow. Composition, not
least the important Toccata e due canzoni, was also severely disrupted by the
accident and it was only by 1948 that Martinů was producing work again in
quantity. After spending the summer of 1948 in France and Switzerland,
Martinů returned to New York to take up teaching appointments at Princeton
and the Mannes School of Music. Over the next three years he composed
steadily including the Sinfonia Concertante (1949) and a second Piano Trio
(1950); in 1952 he completed two operas for television, What Men Live By and
The Marriage. He also began work on his Sixth Symphony (Fantaisies
symphoniques) which he completed in 1953.
With the help of a Guggenheim scholarship Martinů returned to Europe in May
1953, living at first in Paris then in September moving to Nice where he spent
much of the next two years. This contented phase resulted in major
compositions such as the opera Mirandolina, the oratorio Gilgameš and,
inspired by an encounter with the artist’s work during a summer trip to Italy in
1954, Les fresques de Piero della Francesca. A return to New York in October
1955, though marked by considerable productivity, including a sonata for viola,
sonatinas for clarinet and trumpet and the completion of the Fourth Piano
Concerto, depressed Martinů and in May 1956 he returned to Europe and a
teaching post at the American Academy of Music in Rome, which he held until
the summer of 1957.
While staying in New York, Martinů began work on the greatest project of his
final years, the opera The Greek Passion based on Christ Recrucified by the
novelist Nikos Kazantzakis, whom he had met in Antibes in 1954. Another
important strand in his last years was a nostalgic interest in his native Polička,
and this resulted in four remarkably beautiful and dramatically complex cantatas
setting folk-inspired verse by Miloslav Bureš. Martinů moved to Switzerland in
November 1957 and was based there until his death. Towards the end of 1958
he became ill with stomach problems and his health deteriorated over the next
year. Despite illness, this final year was richly productive: Martinů completed
The Greek Passion, composed the second nonet, the cantata Mikeš z hor
(‘Mikeš from the Mountains’), Madrigaly (‘Part-Song Book’), the cantata The
Prophecy of Isaiah and much chamber music. On 8 August 1959 he entered the
hospital at Liestal suffering from stomach cancer and died there on 28 August.
In 1979 his body was reinterred in the family grave in Polička.
On his own admission, Martinů’s boyhood in the tower affected him in later life.
Compositionally, he stated that he strove to embody in his work the space
constantly before his eyes as a child; as a man, the isolation may well have
contributed to the elusive quality of his personality and a tendency to
disorientation when first encountering new places. This disorientation and the
narrow provincialism of his background undoubtedly compounded his inability to
handle the academic side of life in Prague; on the other hand, he soon adapted
to metropolitan cultural life in both Prague and Paris. The monolithic
architecture and hectic pace of New York proved far less congenial and
resulted in bouts of depression increased by worries about his home, first under
the Nazis and then under the Communists, a psychological state certainly
exacerbated by his accident. He could sometimes appear withdrawn and
abstracted in later years. His relationship with Charlotte, despite her loyalty at
crucial stages, was fragmented by his infidelity, but although they were not soul-
mates, Martinů retained a sentimental affection for her and they remained man
and wife until his death. Compulsive aspects of his personality surfaced in his
chain-smoking, voracious reading and a frequently workaholic approach to
composition. As a teacher he was mercurial and unmethodical, but although his
manner with students reflected his own lack of ease with academic discipline,
his ability to maximize the potential he saw in embryonic work was highly
valued.
Martinů, Bohuslav
2. Music.
Although Martinů did not produce work in quantity until his late 20s, he was, by
20th-century standards, very prolific, possessing a facility that allowed him to
write in virtually every instrumental and vocal genre. The music of his main
composition teachers had a certain impact on him: Suk in the use of
Impressionist orchestration and Roussel in his discrimination concerning
orchestral timbre; among his Czech predecessors he admired Dvořák, and the
influence of Janáček on his setting of the Czech language is clear. The two
non-Czech modern composers who were most decisively influential were
Debussy and Stravinsky. The presence of the former can be felt at its most
undiluted in the First String Quartet and of the latter in Half-Time. Although
these mainly harmonic and timbral influences were quickly absorbed, they could
surface as late as works such as the Sixth Symphony and the 1959 nonet. Jazz
became a major force in Martinů’s music between the mid-1920s and the early
1930s. Elements of the style are strong in the operas The Soldier and the
Dancer, Les larmes du couteau and Les trois souhaits, in the ballet La revue de
cuisine and in the Sextet for wind and piano, while in the orchestral Le jazz he
emulates Paul Whiteman’s big-band sound.
Martinů was profoundly receptive to earlier musics as inspiration and as a
means of extending his style. An encounter with English madrigals in 1922
prompted a study of Renaissance polyphony. In the 1930s he was much taken
by the concerto grossi of Bach, Corelli and Vivaldi, and when engaged on
symphonic compositions in the 1940s he cited Beethoven as an exemplar.
Notre Dame polyphony also exerted an influence in the late 1940s as did the
music of Monteverdi in the 1950s. Many of these early influences fuelled
inspiration rather than prompting pastiche: the ritornelli and coloratura in the
opera Ariane have a neo-classical rather than a Monteverdian air, and Martinů’s
works which are routinely seen as owing something to the concerto grosso
tradition, such as the Double Concerto of 1938, have a typically symphonic
motivic intensity.
Despite this range of influences, the description of Martinů as an eclectic is
misleading. He had developed a personal voice by the late 1920s and for the
rest of his career Martinů’s style remained one of the most distinctive of the
mid-20th century. To some extent the sense of isolation which characterized his
personal life guaranteed his musical individuality: while he was responsive to
new ideas he was never part of any identifiable school. Syncopated, sprung
rhythms and the superimposition of closely spaced harmonies against a
fundamentally tonal background are features apparent in his music as early as
the orchestral Nocturne in F minor of 1915, and they remained fundamental
aspects of his mature style. Although Martinů spoke with enthusiasm about his
leaning towards the concerto grosso principle, his approach to the development
of ideas, many of them extremely short, amounting to little more than three- or
four-note figures rotating around a central pitch, can certainly be construed as
symphonic. This naturally symphonic bent emerged strongly in his major
orchestral works of the 1940s and 50s enhanced by orchestration which on the
page can look thick, but in performance is invariably luminous.
Martinů’s modernist tendencies emerging in the late 1920s did much to
strengthen the musical language of the Fifth String Quartet and the Double
Concerto, both from 1938, in which the fast movements are energized by
powerful motor rhythms. Though Martinů’s harmonies could be extremely
dissonant, especially in the late 1920s and the 1930s, they were founded on a
fundamentally tonal harmonic framework. Strengthening throughout the 1930s,
this tonal basis was particularly prominent in works with a national accent, such
as the opera-ballet The Chap-Book, the opera Hry o Marii (‘The Plays of Mary’)
and the cantata Garland. This tendency crystallized even more strongly in the
symphonic works of the 1940s, notably in the Second Cello Concerto, and
reached an apotheosis in the 1950s in the cantatas on texts by Bureš and in his
five completed operas from this decade. Martinů’s harmonic language was
founded on a range of progressions, some of which were surprisingly
conventional, and strong cadence patterns, the most characteristic being a
modified plagal cadence formed by a chord of the dominant thirteenth (e.g. with
its bass on G) resolving on to the major chord a 4th lower (bass on D),
sometimes known as the Moravian cadence. He also showed a predilection for
harmonizing themes in 6ths and 3rds, and his pervasive use of second-
inversion chords often seems to ascribe to them the tonic function.
In a large output some works will inevitably fall below par. These usually contain
poorly assimilated elements, such as the Brahmsian figurations in the Third
Piano Concerto. In general, however, Martinů’s music from the late 1920s
onwards displays a high degree of quality and consistency: his six symphonies
are among the most successful of the 20th century and his extensive corpus of
chamber music provides a range of performers with a large repertory of high
quality. His vocal works reflect his particular genius at its most penetrating. In
musical-theatrical terms he was often at the forefront of experiment, composing
pioneering film, radio and television operas. His strong literary instincts gave
him a remarkable sensitivity to words and dramatic situation benefiting not only
his operas but small ensemble works, such as the exquisite Part-Song Book of
1959, and larger-scale choral compositions, notably Field Mass and Gilgameš.
Hitherto, commentary on Martinů has been limited, but, with the establishment
of the Martinů Foundation in Prague (1995), studies of the composer have
acquired new impetus. In terms of influence, Martinů does not loom large in the
20th century, but the range of his work and fresh approach to tonality mean that
his music remains an extensive and increasingly durable resource for
performers and audiences.
Martinů, Bohuslav
WORKS
(complete list apart from early works)
H number in Halbreich
dramatic
operas
162 Voják a tanečnice [The Soldier and the Dancer] (3, J.L. Budín [J. Löwenbach],
after Plautus: Pseudolus), 1926–7; Brno, 5 May 1928
169 Les larmes du couteau (1, G. Ribemont-Dessaignes), 1928; Brno, 22 Oct 1969
175 Les trois souhaits, ou Les vicissitudes de la vie (film op, 3, Ribemont-
Dessaignes), 1929; Brno, 16 June 1971
194 Le jour de bonté (3, Ribemont-Dessaignes, after I. Ehrenburg), 1933–4, inc.
236 Hry o Marii [The Plays of Mary] (4 pts: V. Nezval, after 12th-century Fr.; V.
Závada, after 15th-century Flem., trans. H. Ghéon; Moravian folk poetry;
Martinů, after J. Zeyer and folk poetry), 1933–4; Brno, 23 Feb 1935
243 Hlas lesa [The Voice of the Forest] (radio op, 1, Nezval), 1935; Czechoslovak
Radio, Prague, 6 Oct 1935
251 Veselohra na mostě [The Comedy on the Bridge] (radio op, 1, Martinů, after
V.K. Klicpera), 1935; Czechoslovak Radio, Prague, 18 March 1937
252 Divadlo za bránou [The Suburban Theatre] (3, Martinů, after folk poetry,
Molière and J.-G. Debureau), 1936; Brno, 20 Sept 1936
253 Julietta (3, Martinů, after G. Neveux: Juliette, ou La clé des songes), 1937;
Prague, 16 March 1938
255 Alexandre bis (1, A. Wurmser), 1937; Mannheim, 10 Feb 1964
336 What Men Live By (TV op, 1, Martinů, after L. Tolstoy), 1951–2; televised New
York, May 1953
341 The Marriage (TV op, 2, Martinů, after N. Gogol), 1952; NBC TV, New York, 7
Feb 1953
344 Plainte contre inconnu (3, Martinů, after Neveux), 1953, inc.
346 Mirandolina (3, Martinů, after C. Goldoni: La locandiera), 1953–4; Prague, 17
May 1959
370 Ariane (1, Martinů, after Neveux: Le voyage de Thésée), 1958; Gelsenkirchen,
2 March 1961
372 The Greek Passion (4, Martinů, after N. Kazantzakis: Christ Recrucified),
1954–7; Bregenz, 20 July 1999; rev. as h372b, 1957–9; Zürich, 9 June 1961
ballets
89 Noc [Night], 1913–14, unperf.
93 Tance se závojí [Dances with a Veil], 1912–14, lost
102 Stín [The Shadow], 1916, unperf.
112 Koleda [Carol], 1917, only lib survives
130 Istar (Zeyer, after Babylonian texts), 1918–21; Prague, 11 Sept 1924
133 Kdo je na světě nejmocnější? [Who is the Most Powerful in the World?]
(Martinů, after Eng. fairy tales), 1922; Brno, 31 Jan 1925
151 Vzpoura [The Revolt] (Martinů), 1925; Brno, 11 Feb 1928
153 Motýl, který dupal [The Butterfly that Stamped] (R. Kipling), 1926, unperf.
159 Le raid merveilleux (Martinů), 1927; TV perf., Prague, 1999 unperf.
161 La revue de cuisine (J. Kröschlová), 1927; Prague, Nov 1927
163 On tourne, 1927, unperf.
186 Echec au roi (A. Coeuroy), 1930, unperf.
214 Špalíček [The Chap-Book] (op-ballet, 3, Martinů, after Cz. fairy tales, songs,
nursery rhymes), 1931–2, rev. 1940; Prague, 19 Sept 1933
245 Le jugement de Paris (B. Kochno), 1935, unperf., lost
317 The Strangler (R. Fitzgerald), 1948; New London, CT, 15 Aug 1948
film and incidental music

134 Slovácké tance a obyčeje [Moravian-Slovakian Dances and Customs]
(documentary), 1922
179 Six Actors in Search of an Author, pf (improvised incid music, L. Pirandello),
1929
223 Melo (incid film music), 1932
233 Marijka nevěrnice [Unfaithful Marijka] (incid film music), 1933
239 Střevíček [The Slipper] (documentary), 1935
240 Město živé vody: Mariánské lázně [City of the Water of Life: Mariánské lázně]
(documentary), 1935
248 Oedipe (incid music, A. Gide), 1936
melodrama
82 Le soir (A. Samain), reciter, hp, 1913
83 La libellule (H. d’Orange), reciter, vn, hp, pf, 1913
84 Danseuses de Java (A. Symonds), va, hp, pf, 1913
orchestral
11 Dělníci mǒre (Les travailleurs de la mer), 1910, sketch
15 Smrt Tintagilova (La mort de Tintagiles), ov. after M. Maeterlinck, 1910
17 Anděl smrti [The Angel of Death], 1910
90 Composition, large orch, 1913–14, inc.
91 Nocturne, f , 1914–15
96 Nocturne ‘Růže noci’ [The Roses of the Night], 1915
97 Balade ‘Vila na moři’ [The Villa by the Sea], 1915
123 Malá taneční suita [Little Dance Suite], 1919
124 Sen u minulosti [Dream of the Past], 1920, inc.
131 Modrá hodina [The Blue Hour], 1922 [pt of inc. cycle of 3 sym. pieces: Míjející
půlnoc (The Passing of Midnight)]
142 Half-Time, 1924
143 Concertino, vc, chbr orch, 1924
149 Piano Concerto no.1, pf, chbr orch, 1925
155 La bagarre, 1926
168 Le jazz, 1928
171 La rhapsodie (Allegro symphonique), 1928
173 Concertino, pf left hand, chbr orch, 1926
181a Prélude en forme de scherzo, 1930 [orchestration of pf Préludes, no.2, h181]
196 Cello Concerto no.1, 1930
199 Serenade, chbr orch, 1930, rev. 1955
202a 3 études rhythmiques, str, 1958 [version of 7 études rhythmiques, pf, nos. 1, 2,
6, h202]
207 Concerto, str qt, orch, 1931
211 Slavnostní ouvertura k sokolskému sletu [Festival Ov. for a Sokol Rally], 1931
212 Partita (Suite no.1), str, 1931
215 Divertimento (Serenade no.4), chbr orch, 1932
219 Sinfonia concertante no.1, 2 orch, 1932
231 [Concertino], pf trio, str, 1933
232 Concertino, pf trio, str, 1933
232bis Violin Concerto no.1, 1933
234 Inventions, 1934
237 Piano Concerto no.2, 1934
246 Concerto, hpd, chbr orch, 1935
252 Concerto, fl, vn, chbr orch, 1936
263 Concerto grosso, chbr orch, 1937
264 Concerto no.1, 2 vn, orch, 1937

267 3 ricercari, chbr orch, 1938
269 Concertino, pf, orch, 1938
271 Double Concerto, 2 str orch, pf, timp, 1938
276 Suite concertante, vn, orch, 1938–45
276a Suite concertante, vn, orch, 1939-?1941 [version of h276]
280 Vojenský pochod [Military March], 1940
282 Sinfonietta giocosa, pf, small orch, 1940, rev. 1941
283 Sonata de camera, vc, chbr orch, 1940
285 Concerto de camera, vn, pf, perc, str, 1941
289 Symphony no.1, 1942
292 Concerto, 2 pf, orch, 1943
293 Violin Concerto no.2, 1943
296 Památník Lidicím [Memorial to Lidice], 1943
304 Cello Concerto no.2, 1945
309 Thunderbolt P-47, 1945
311 Toccata e due canzoni, chbr orch, 1946
316 Piano Concerto no.3, 1948
320 Fanfáry, 1948
322 Sinfonia concertante no.2, vn, vc, ob, bn, chbr orch, 1949
328 Sinfonietta La Jolla, pf, small orch, 1950
329 Concerto no.2, 2 vn, orch, 1950
330 Intermezzo, 1950
337 Rhapsody-Concerto, va, orch, 1952
342 Concerto, vn, pf, orch, 1953
343 Symphony no.6 ‘Fantaisies symphoniques’, 1953
345 Overture, 1953
346a Saltarello, 1954 [from Mirandolina]
352 Les fresques de Piero della Francesca, 1955
353 Concerto, ob, small orch, 1955
358 Piano Concerto no.4 ‘Incantation’, 1956
363 The Rock, 1957
366 Piano Concerto no.5 ‘Fantasia concertante’, 1958
367 The Parables, 1958
369 Estampes, 1958
choral
with orchestra
118 Česká rapsódie (cant., A. Jirásek), Bar, chorus, orch, org, 1918
253a 3 Fragments from the Opera Julietta, solo vv, chorus, orch, 1939
260 Kytice [Garland] (cant., trad. Cz. texts), solo vv, chorus, orch, 1937
279 Polní mše [Field Mass] (cant., J. Mucha, Cz. trans. of liturgical texts and pss),
Bar, male vv, wind, pf, hmn, perc, 1939
347 Hymnus k sv. Jakubu [Hymn to St James] (J. Daněk), solo vv, chorus, cl, hn,
str, org, 1954
351 Gilgameš (orat, Martinů, after Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. R. Campbell
Thompson), spkr, solo vv, chorus, orch, 1955
with other accompaniment
— České hádanky [Czech Riddles], children’s vv, pf, 1939
339 Trojhlasé písně posvátné [A Trio of Sacred Songs] (trad.), female vv, vn, 1952
348 Petrklíč [The Primrose] (Moravian trad.), female vv, vn, pf, 1954
349 Mount of Three Lights (cant., W.E. Morton, Moravian trad., Bible: Matthew),
spkr, solo vv, male vv, org, 1954
354 Otvírání studánek [The Opening of the Wells] (chbr cant., M. Bureš), spkr, solo
vv, female and children's vv, 2 vn, va, pf, 1955
360 Legenda z dýmu bramborové [Legend of the Smoke from Potato Tops] (chbr
cant., Bureš), solo vv, chorus, fl, cl, hn, accdn, pf, 1956
375 Mikeš z hor [Mikeš from the Mountains] (chbr cant., Bureš), solo vv, chorus, 2
vn, va, pf, 1959
379 Ptačí hody [Festival of Birds] (Třebiň MS), children’s vv, tpt, 1959
383 The Prophecy of Isaiah (cant., Bible), solo vv, male vv, tpt, va, pf, timp, 1959
383a The Burden of Moab (cant., Bible), male vv, pf, 1959, inc.
unaccompanied
121 2 Male-Voice Choruses (Lithuanian trad.), 1919
209 Staročeská říkadla [Old Cz. Nursery Rhymes] (K.J. Erben), female vv, 1931
235 4 písně o Marii [4 Songs of Mary] (Cz. trad.), mixed vv, 1934
278 [8] České madrigaly (Moravian trad.), mixed vv, 1939
321 5 českých madrigalů (Cz. trad.), mixed vv, 1948
338 Trojhlasé písně [A Trio of Songs] (trad.), female vv, 1952
361 Zbojnické písně [Brigand Songs] (Slovak trad.), male vv, 1957
364 Romance z pampelišek [Romance of the Dandelions] (Bureš), S, mixed vv,
1957
373 [3] Písničky pro dětský sbor [Songs for Children’s Choir] (F. Halas, Cz. trad.),
1959
380 Madrigaly (Part-Song Book) (Moravian trad.), mixed vv, 1959
— Znělka [Sonnet], children’s, vv, 1959
— Zdravice [A Toast], children’s vv, 1959, inc.
solo vocal
with piano accompaniment
104 unpubd songs for 1v, pf, 1910–32: h6–10, 14, 18–19, 21–3, 26–7, 29–31, 34,
37–41, 43–4, 48–55, 57, 66–7, 69–81, 87–8, 94, 106, 110–11, 114–15, 126,
135, 146–7, 184bis, 188, 197, 210, 225–6, 228
129 3 písně pro červenou sedmu [3 Songs for ‘Red Seven’] (J. Herold, J. Dreman,
F. Gellner), cabaret songs, 1921
188 Vocalise-Etude, 1930
230 Velikonoční [Easter] (Erben), 1933
259 Koleda milostná [Love Carol] (Cz. trad.), 1937
273 V'm hajíček [I know a little wood] (Moravian trad.), 1939, unpubd
– 4 písně [4 Songs] (Cz. trad.), 1940
288 Nový špalíček [New Chap-Book] (Moravian trad.), 8 songs, 1942
294 Písničky na jednu stránku [Songs on One Page] (Moravian trad.), 7 songs,
1943
302 Písničky na dvě stránky [Songs on Two Pages] (Cz. trad.), 7 songs, 1944
with organ accompaniment
58 offertorium, S, org, 1912
59 Ave Maria, S, org, 1912
with orchestral accompaniment
68 Niponari (Jap. poems), S, orch, 1912
119 Kouzelné noci [Magical Nights] (Li Bai [Li Tai Po], Tschang Jo Su), 3 songs, S,
orch, 1918 [3 songs]
chamber
7–12 instruments
2 Posvícení [Church Festival], fl, 3 vn, va, 2vc, dv, 1907
144 Nonet, wind qnt, vn, va, vc, pf, 1925, inc.
172 Jazz Suite, 12 insts, 1928
195a Borova, ob, cl, tpt, pf, str, ens, 1931 [version of op.195, pf, no.1]
200 Les rondes, ob, cl, bn, tpt, 2 vn, pf, 1930
218 Serenade no.3, ob, cl, 4 vn, vc, 1932
301 Fantasia, theremin, ob, str qt, pf, 1945
335 Stowe Pastorals, 5 rec, cl, 2 vn, vc, 1951
374 Nonet, wind qnt, vn, va, vc, db, 1959
5–6 instruments
35 Piano Quintet, 1911
161 La revue de cuisine, cl, bn, tpt, vn, vc, pf, 1927
164 String Quintet, 1927
174 Sextet, fl, ob, cl, 2 bn, pf, 1929
187 Wind Quintet, 1930
217 Serenade no.1, cl, hn, 3 vn, va, 1932
224 String Sextet, 1932, arr. str orch, h224a, 1958
229 Piano Quintet no.1, 1933
298 Piano Quintet no.2, 1944
334 Serenade, 2 cl, vn, va, vc, 1951
376 Musique de chambre no.1, cl, vn, va, vc, hp, pf, 1959
quartets
1 Tři jezdci [The Three Riders], str qt after J. Vrchlicky, ?1900–03
60 String Quartet, 1912, lost
63 2 Nocturnes, str qt, 1912
64 Andante, str qt, 1912
103 String Quartet, e , 1917
117 String Quartet no.1 ‘The French’, 1918
139 Quartet, cl, hn, vc, side drum, 1924
150 String Quartet no.2, 1925
287 Piano Quartet, 1942
314 String Quartet no.7 ‘Concerto de camera’, 1947
315 Quartet, ob, vn, vc, pf, 1947
325 Mazurka-Nocturne, ob, 2 vn, vc, 1949
trios
136 String Trio no.1, 1923
193 Piano Trio no.1 ‘5 pièces brèves’, 1930
198 Sonatina, 2 vn, pf, 1930
213 Sonata, 2 vn, pf, 1932
216 Serenade no.2, 2 vn, va, 1932
238 String Trio no.2, 1934
254 Sonata, fl, vn, pf, 1937
265 Trio, fl, vn, bn, 1937
266 Les madrigaux, ob, cl, bn, 1937
274 Promenades, fl, vn, hpd, 1939
275 Bergerettes, pf trio, 1939
291 Madrigal-sonata, fl, vn, pf, 1942
300 Trio, fl, vc, pf, 1944

327 Piano Trio no.2, 1950
332 Piano Trio no.3, 1951
works for violin and piano
3 Elégie, 1909
12 Romance, 1910
13 Concerto, 1910
32 Berceuse, 1911
33 Adagio, 1911
62 Phantasie, 1912
120 Sonata, C, 1919
152 Sonata, d, 1926
166 Impromptu, 1927
182 Sonata no.1, 1929
184 5 pièces brèves, 1929
188a Ariette, 1930 [version of Vocalise-Etude, h188, 1v, pf]
201a 7 arabesques, 1931 [version of h201, vc, pf]
202 7 études rhythmiques, 1931
208 Sonata no.2, 1931
261 4 Intermezzos, 1937
262 Sonatina, 1937
297 5 Madrigal Stanzas, 1943
303 Sonata no.3, 1944
307 Rhapsodie Tchéque, 1945
works for cello and piano
188b Ariette, vc, pf, 1930 [version of Vocalise-Etude, h188a, 1n, pf]
189 4 Nocturnes, vc, pf, 1930
190 6 Pastorales, vc, pf, 1930
192 Suite miniature, vc, pf, 192
201 7 arabesques ‘études rhythmiques’, vc, pf, 1931
277 Sonata no.1, vc, pf, 1939
290 Variations on a Theme of Rossini, vc, pf, 1942
378 Variations on a Slovak Folksong, vc, pf, 1959
other duos
157 Duo no.1, vn, vc, 1927
174a Scherzo, fl, pf, 1929 [version of movt 3 of sextet, H174]
191 Etudes faciles, 2 vn, 1930
306 Sonata, fl, pf, 1945
313 Duo no.1 ‘3 Madrigals’, vn, va, 1950
331 Duo no.2, vn, va, 1950
355 Sonata, va, pf, 1955
356 Sonatina, cl, pf, 1956
357 Sonatina, tpt, pf, 1956
365 Divertimento, 2 rec, 1957
371 Duo no.2, vn, vc, 1958
377 Pièce, 2 vc, 1959
keyboard
piano solo
44 unpubd pieces, 1909–21: h4–5, 16, 20,
24–5, 28, 36, 42, 46–7, 56, 65, 85–6, 95,

98–101, 104, 107–9
92 Loutky [Puppets], 4 pieces, 1912–14
105 Snih [Snow], 1917
113 Letní svita [Summer Suite], 1918
116 Loutky, 5 pieces, 1914–18
122 Kočičí foxtrott [Cat Foxtrot], 1919,
unpubd
125 Jaro v zahradě [Spring in the Garden],
1920
127 Motyli a rajky [Butterflies and Birds of
Paradise], 1920, unpubd
132 Improvizace na jaře [Improvisation in
Spring], 1922
137 Loutky, 5 pieces, 1914–24
138 Bajky [Fables], 1924
140 Prélude, 1924, unpubd
141 Untitled Composition, 1924, unpubd
145 Instruktivní duo pro nervózní
[Instructive Duo for the Nervous], 1925
148 Film en miniature, 1925
154 3 danses tcheques, 1926
156 Habañera, 1926, unpubd
158 Pro tanec [For Dancing], 1927
160 3 esquisses de danses modernes,
1927
165 Black Bottom, 1927, unpubd
167 Le noël, 1927
170 4 mouvements, 1928, unpubd
176 Blues, 1929, unpubd
177 La danse, 1929
178 Prélude, 1929, unpubd [for opening of
new theatre in Polička]
181 8 préludes, 1929
195 Borova: 7 Czech Dances, 1929
203–4 12 esquisses, 1931, unpubd
205 4 Untitled Pieces, 1931, unpubd
206 Jeux, 1931, unpubd
214c 2 Dances from Špalíček, 1932
220 5 esquisses de danses, 1932
221 4 dětské skladby [4 Children’s Pieces],
1932
222 Pièce, 1932
227 Les ritournelles, 1932
241 Lístek do památniku [Albumleaf], 1935
242 Skladba pro malé Evy [Piece for the
Little Evas], 1935
249 Dumka no.1, 1936
250 Dumka no.2, 1936
257 Čtvrtky a osminky [Fourths and
Octaves], 1937
258 Le train hanté, 1937
270 Fenêtre sur le jardin, 1938
272 Pohádky [Fairy Tales], 1939
281 Fantaisie et toccata, 1940
284 Mazurka, 1941

285bis Dumka, 1941
— Merry Christmas 1941, 1941
308 Etudes and Polkas, 1945
318 The Fifth Day of the Fifth Moon, 1948
319 Les bouquinistes du quai Malaquais,
1948
323 Morceau facile, 1949
326 Barcarolle, 1949
333 Improvisation, 1951
350 Sonata, 1954
362 Adagio ‘In memoriam’, 1957
other keyboard
180 Fantasie, 2 pf, 1929
185 Avec un doigt, pf 3 hands,
1930
244 2 Pieces, hpd, 1935
324 3 Czech Dances, 2 pf, 1949
359 Impromptu, 2 pf, 1956
368 Sonata, hpd, 1958
381 2 Impromptus, hpd, 1959
382 Vigilie, org, 1959 [completed
by B. Janáček]
Principal publishers: Associated, Bärenreiter, Boosey and

Hawkes, Český hudební fond, Eschig, Leduc, Schott,
Supraphon, Universal
Martinů, Bohuslav
BIBLIOGRAPHY
J. Bruyr: ‘Bohuslav Martinů’, L’Ecran des musiciens (Paris, 1933), 58–67
P.O. Ferroud: A Great Musician Today: Martinů (London, 1937)
M. Šafránek: ‘Bohuslav Martinů’, MQ, xxix (1943), 329–54
M. Šafránek: Bohuslav Martinů: the Man and his Music (London, 1946)
F. Popelka: Česká léta Bohuslava Martinů [Martinů’s Czech years] (diss., U. of
Brno, 1957)
Z. Zouhar: Sborník vzpomínek a studií [Volume of reminiscences and studies]
(Brno, 1957)
J. Mihule: Symfonie Bohuslava Martinů (Prague, 1959)
M. Bureš: Martinů: a českomoravská vysočina (Havlíčkův Brod, 1960)
M. Šafránek: Bohuslav Martinů: his Life and Works (London, 1962)
J. Mihule: Bohuslav Martinů v obrazech [Martinů in pictures] (Prague, 1964)
B. Martinů: Domov, hudba a svet [Homeland, music and the world] (Prague,
1966)
J. Mihule: Bohuslav Martinů (Prague, 1966)
The Stage Works of Bohuslav Martinů: Brno I 1966
J. Bártová: Pařížské začátky Bohuslava Martinů [Martinů’s beginnings in Paris]
(diss., U. of Brno, 1967)
H. Halbreich: Martinů: Werkverzeichnis, Dokumentation und Biographie
(Zürich, 1968)
J. Loudová: ‘Sonátová forma v klavírních koncertech Bohuslava Martinů’, HV,
viii (1971), 278–317 [with Eng. summary]
C. Martinů: Ma vie avec Bohuslav Martinů (Prague, 1971; Eng. trans., 1978)
J. Mihule: Bohuslav Martinů: profil života a díla [Martinů: profile of his life and
work] (Prague, 1974)

B. Large: Martinů (London, 1975)
M. Šafránek: Divadlo Bohuslav Martinů [The theatre of Martinů] (Prague, 1979)
T. Hejzlar, ed.: V náručí domova: sborník fotografií a článku o Bohuslavu
Martinů [In the shadow of home: a volume of photographs and articles
about Martinů] (Prague, 1980)
Bohuslav Martinů: Prague 1981
J. Kapusta: ‘Bohuslav Martinů v roce 1938’ [Martinů in the year 1938], HV,
xix/2 (1982), 162–75
M. Crump: The Symphonies of Bohuslav Martinů: an Analytical Study (diss., U.
of Birmingham, 1986)
P. Lambert: ‘Martinů's “Search for the Meaning of Truth and Life”’, Czech
Music, xvi/2 (1989–90), 8–17
G. Erismann: Martinů: un musicien a l’eveil des sources (Paris, 1990)
J. Jiránek: ‘Národní rysy hudebni řeči Bohuslava Martinů’ [National features of
Martinů’s musical language], HV, xxviii (1991), 115–24
J. Mabary: The Strangler: a Rite of Passage (diss., Washington U., MO, 1992)
P. Lambert: ‘Desperately Seeking Julietta’, Czech Music, xvii/2 (1991–2), 33–
40
M. Kuna: ‘Bohuslav Martinů trauma K.B. Jiráka’ [Martinů’s accident and Jirák],
HV, xxxi (1994), 99–105, 191–206, 339–43
A. Březina: ‘Die Martinů-Manuskripte in der Paul Sacher Stiftung Basel’,
Schweizer Jb für Musikwissenschaft, xiv (1994), 157–74
Count D.R.A. Cula [M. Henderson]: ‘The Case Against Bohuslav Martinů’,
Czech Music, xviii/2 (1993–4), 127–33
M. Henderson: ‘The Case For Bohuslav Martinů’, Czech Music, xviii/2 (1993–
4), 133–45
M. Henderson: ‘The Imaginary Staircase: Martinů’s Mysterious Accident’,
Czech Music, xix (1995–6), 94–116
Iša Popelka, ed.: Bohuslav Martinů: Dopisy domů [Martinů: letters home]
(Prague, 1996)
A. Březina: ‘Eine “phantastische Schule” des Komponierens für
Streichorchester: Martinůs Eingriffe in die Partita (1938) von Vítězslava
Kaprálová’, Schweizer Jb für Musikwissenschaft, xvii (1997), 95–113
J. Smaczny: ‘A Key to Martinů’s Julietta’, Opera, xlviii (1997), 1162–7

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Martinů, Bohuslav (Jan) Page 1 of 14

Martinů, Bohuslav (Jan)

South Orleans (Massachusetts) as well as composition teaching at Tanglewood

film and incidental music

264 Concerto no.1, 2 vn, orch, 1937

300 Trio, fl, vc, pf, 1944

24–5, 28, 36, 42, 46–7, 56, 65, 85–6, 95,

284 Mazurka, 1941

Principal publishers: Associated, Bärenreiter, Boosey and

work] (Prague, 1974)

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