Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)

[nut-job]

We can get to 9 if we include Frescoes of Piero della Francesca. I'm surprised he didn't mention that one, since it may be Martinu's most frequently performed orchestral work (and certainly one of his best).

Excellent.  I recommend you hasten to listen to Brahms Symphony #13.  (Brahms also wrote many works he did not realize were symphonies, but I know better.)

[Dundonnell]

Did anybody else buy the Supraphon disc containing the Czech Rhapsody, 'Nipponari' and 'Magic Nights'? I enthused about these early vocal/choral works a few months ago(page 4 of this thread).

Jeffrey...I know that you have heard the pieces

[Bulldog]

Excellent.  I recommend you hasten to listen to Brahms Symphony #13.  (Brahms also wrote many works he did not realize were symphonies, but I know better.)

That's an excellent wise-guy response.  Of course, each of us is free to call an orchestral work a symphony, but doing so can only create confusion.

[snyprrr]

I think nut-job has a point though.

I've been trying to squelch my hysterics ! THAT was funny 0:)!

Counting IS a fundamental buildingblock of society. oy

So Mahler comes to Martinu in a dream...

Seriously, I think I meant Fresques, Parables, Estampes as an analogy to imaginary syms. 7-9, plus, leading off the pack, Symphonies Fantastiques, making it 6-9.

wow...good save!
but I appreciate nut-job's comments. Made my day! ;)Brahms 13 too.

[karlhenning]

Cato is now on the Martinů bandwagon!

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I went to an all-Martinu concert at the Conservatory last night.

The combined forces of 2 chamber orchestras (one based in Moscow and the other in St. Petersburg), plus soloists and a conductor I'd never heard of, played 2 double concertos (the flute/violin one & the piano/timpani one), plus the suite from the opera Comedy on the Bridge.

The Flute/Violin Cto was new to me - it dates from the 1930s and sounds to me as if poised between his earlier neo-Baroque style (which I find less interesting) and the more complex style he was starting to develop about that time. On a first hearing, I liked this piece, but it didn't strike me as top-drawer Martinu. There was some muddled playing in the orchestra, which didn't help.

The Piano/Timpani Cto, of course, is a major masterpiece, and it did come across that way. It was maybe a bit more frantic than it should have been and there were some balance issues, but the players put it across with a lot of conviction. They even encored the finale.

This concerto, however, has the distinction of being the only Martinu piece I've managed to hear twice in concert. The last time was under Martin Turnovsky at the Prague Spring festival in 2002. Turnovsky and his players produced a much tighter and more focused reading at that time, which is hardly surprising, as the music was probably a lot more familiar to them then it was to these Russian players.

I'm not complaining, though. How often does one get a chance to hear an all-Martinu event outside the Czech Republic?

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Bringing this to the attention of Martinu-ites: the BBC has a nice program analyzing the 2nd PC and the Inventions (for piano & orch.):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p69gh

Good till Sunday, so hurry!

[pjme]

Maris Jansonss and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw O. will play Martinu's Concerto for Double stringorch.,piano and timpani Friday 18th in Brussels. I suppose they'll be touring with the same program through Europe?

On the same program : Smetana : The bartered bride ovt; and Brahms' symph. nr 4

P;

[karlhenning]

Excellent program!

[Mirror Image]

Along with Leos Janacek, Bohuslav Martinu was one of the twin giants of Czech music in the twentieth century, a composer with a distinctly individual voice and a versatility that led him to excel in every medium from stage works to symphonies to string quartets. Martinu was born in the Moravian town of Policka. Starting violin lessons at the of seven, he gave his first recital when he was 15. By the age of 10 he had written his first compositions; his juvenilia include songs, piano music, symphonic poems, string quartets, and ballets. In 1906, he entered Prague Conservatory, but reading and the theater diverted Martinu from his studies, and he was finally expelled for "incorrigible negligence" in 1910.

However, he continued composing. Exempted, as a teacher, from military service, Martinu produced many works during the World War I, including the patriotic cantata Czech Rhapsody (1918). Although this work and two ballets, Istar (1918-1921) and Who is the Most Powerful in the World? (1922-1923), gained favorable attention. Martinu felt the need for additional training. Returning to the Conservatory, he studied composition Josef Suk, later working in Paris with Albert Roussel, whose muscular, rhythmically vigorous music eventually influenced Martinu's own.

Martinu's music was well received in postwar Paris. Like many of his contemporaries, Martinu absorbed the influence of jazz, as evidenced in such works as the ballet La revue de cuisine (1927), which also incorporates South American rhythms, and the one-act operaLes larmes du couteau (The Tears of the Knife; 1928). In 1930, Martinu's constant desire to learn more led him to the music of Corelli, Vivaldi, and Bach, signaling a new concern with rhythmic continuity and contrapuntal technique.

Following the resounding success of his opera Juliette in Prague in 1938, World War II forced Martinu to flee his adopted home of Paris. After spending nine miserable months in the south of France, the composer and his wife made their way to Spain, and then to America, in the early months of 1941. For the duration of the war, Martinu lived in various cities in the Eastern United States, surviving on commissions and producing five symphonies by 1946.

Though Martinu had planned to return to Czechoslovakia after the war, injuries and health problems prevented him from traveling. After Czechoslovakia fell to the communists in 1949, it gradually became clear to Martinu that he was no longer welcome in his native land, a source of great pain to him. He eventually regained his health, however, producing such works as the Sixth Symphony (1951-1953), widely regarded as a masterpiece, two operas for television, and many chamber compositions. Martinu became an American citizen but spent much time in Europe; in 1953-5 he was based in Nice and in 1955-6 he was teaching at the American Academy in Rome. After a final New York sojourn he took up residence as the guest of Paul Sacher in Liestal, Switzerland, where he died in 1959.

Harry Halbreich's catalog of Martinu's music, to which the composer did not assign opus numbers, lists nearly 400 compositions. Well established in the repertoire, Martinu's best works confirm Martinu's status as an important twentieth century composer.

[Article taken from All Music Guide]

I just love Martinu now, but I went through a period where I just wasn't attracted to any of his music. I guess my turning point was hearing Double Concerto for String Orchestra. This work is what finally turned me onto his music. The recording I heard was Jiri Belohlavek/Czech Philharmonic on Chandos, which is coupled with his very underrated Symphony No. 1. I think Martinu's music at its best incorporates very strong rhythms with lush harmony (he was a big fan of unique chord voicings) with excellent orchestration. From here, I bought many recordings including complete symphony cycles with Thomson/Chandos, Jarvi/BIS, and Valek/Supraphon. I also have most of Belohlavek recordings both on Supraphon and all of his Chandos recordings.
Anyway, what do all of you think of this composer? Do you have any recommendations for someone just getting into Martinu? What are you favorite works?

[not edward]

You might want to look at the older thread: http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,3689.0.html

[Mirror Image]

You might want to look at the older thread: http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,3689.0.html

Oh crap....I didn't know a thread already existed and I did a search too. I guess I didn't put in the correct name. I put Martinu instead of Martinů.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

There's also a thread devoted specifically to the chamber music:

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,10236.msg255433.html#msg255433

[Mirror Image]

I just love Martinu now, but I went through a period where I just wasn't attracted to any of his music. I guess my turning point was hearing Double Concerto for String Orchestra. This work is what finally turned me onto his music. The recording I heard was Jiri Belohlavek/Czech Philharmonic on Chandos, which is coupled with his very underrated Symphony No. 1. I think Martinu's music at its best incorporates very strong rhythms with lush harmony (he was a big fan of unique chord voicings) with excellent orchestration. From here, I bought many recordings including complete symphony cycles with Thomson/Chandos, Jarvi/BIS, Neumann/Supraphon, and Valek/Supraphon. I also have most of Belohlavek recordings both on Supraphon and all of his Chandos recordings.

I'm becoming more and more interested in his music and learning all of his musical phases. There is one set of Martinu recordings that I've been eyeballing for the past few months and they are the Christopher Hogwood recordings with the Czech Philharmonic on Hyperion. Hogwood seems an unlikely Martinu conductor, but I've heard nothing but good things. Anybody here own these Hyperion recordings (I think there's four volumes)?

[snyprrr]

I just love Martinu now, but I went through a period where I just wasn't attracted to any of his music. I guess my turning point was hearing Double Concerto for String Orchestra. This work is what finally turned me onto his music. The recording I heard was Jiri Belohlavek/Czech Philharmonic on Chandos, which is coupled with his very underrated Symphony No. 1. I think Martinu's music at its best incorporates very strong rhythms with lush harmony (he was a big fan of unique chord voicings) with excellent orchestration. From here, I bought many recordings including complete symphony cycles with Thomson/Chandos, Jarvi/BIS, Neumann/Supraphon, and Valek/Supraphon. I also have most of Belohlavek recordings both on Supraphon and all of his Chandos recordings.

I'm becoming more and more interested in his music and learning all of his musical phases. There is one set of Martinu recordings that I've been eyeballing for the past few months and they are the Christopher Hogwood recordings with the Czech Philharmonic on Hyperion. Hogwood seems an unlikely Martinu conductor, but I've heard nothing but good things. Anybody here own these Hyperion recordings (I think there's four volumes)?

I only know the Hogwood disc on Decca, which has lots of good stuff.

Has anyone heard the Inventions, three pieces for orchestra with piano? I like them best out of his baroque period.

[snyprrr]

LOL

[Sid]

Like some other composers of the century (Milhaud, Hovhaness, Villa-Lobos), Martinu was very prolific, and perhaps this worked against him. When buying a Martinu disc without knowing the music, it could either turn out to be a masterpiece or just one of those pieces he wrote to (maybe) pay the bills. But I have never heard anything by him that didn't engage me on some level, even if it's relatively light like his Sinfonietta "La Jolla." In that work (as in others, no doubt) the slow movement has these repetitive ostinato phrases which surely prefigure Steve Reich?

I also like the intensity of the Double Concerto for piano, timpani and string orchestra, which was virtually a protest against the Nazi invasion of his homeland (the Nazis didn't miss the subtext, and it was the first of his works to be banned in occupied Europe). His music is often connected to current political events, such as the sorrowful Memorial to Lidice or the Symphony No. 4 (which I understand was written as the events of D-Day were occuring). Another political work is the haunting Field Mass, written in memory of soldiers who died in the war (don't remember if it was WW1 or 2?).

I have not yet heard any of his chamber, solo piano, or choral/operatic works. His music seemed to encompass many styles, from Romanticism, Impressionism and the various strands of Modernism. I really like the way he uses colour in his music, it has this lightness and delicacy. The Frescoes of Piero Della Francesca are probably one of the best evocations of visual art by a classical composer.

[vandermolen]

Like some other composers of the century (Milhaud, Hovhaness, Villa-Lobos), Martinu was very prolific, and perhaps this worked against him. When buying a Martinu disc without knowing the music, it could either turn out to be a masterpiece or just one of those pieces he wrote to (maybe) pay the bills. But I have never heard anything by him that didn't engage me on some level, even if it's relatively light like his Sinfonietta "La Jolla." In that work (as in others, no doubt) the slow movement has these repetitive ostinato phrases which surely prefigure Steve Reich?

I also like the intensity of the Double Concerto for piano, timpani and string orchestra, which was virtually a protest against the Nazi invasion of his homeland (the Nazis didn't miss the subtext, and it was the first of his works to be banned in occupied Europe). His music is often connected to current political events, such as the sorrowful Memorial to Lidice or the Symphony No. 4 (which I understand was written as the events of D-Day were occuring). Another political work is the haunting Field Mass, written in memory of soldiers who died in the war (don't remember if it was WW1 or 2?).

I have not yet heard any of his chamber, solo piano, or choral/operatic works. His music seemed to encompass many styles, from Romanticism, Impressionism and the various strands of Modernism. I really like the way he uses colour in his music, it has this lightness and delicacy. The Frescoes of Piero Della Francesca are probably one of the best evocations of visual art by a classical composer.

I like all these works and Parables (after St Exupery). I've just ordered the Neumann set of the symphonies which I look forward to hearing, although I like the box set by the much underrated Bryden Thomson.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Has anyone heard the Inventions, three pieces for orchestra with piano? I like them best out of his baroque period.

Yeah - that's fun, "spicy" music. I think there's only one recording of it (Neumann/CzPO).

I also like the intensity of the Double Concerto for piano, timpani and string orchestra, which was virtually a protest against the Nazi invasion of his homeland (the Nazis didn't miss the subtext, and it was the first of his works to be banned in occupied Europe). His music is often connected to current political events, such as the sorrowful Memorial to Lidice or the Symphony No. 4 (which I understand was written as the events of D-Day were occuring) [sic-actually that was #3]. Another political work is the haunting Field Mass, written in memory of soldiers who died in the war (don't remember if it was WW1 or 2?).

I think the political aspects of some of these works shouldn't be overstated. From what I've read, there were various impulses behind them. The Double Concerto was also written at the time of his tempestuous romance with the young composer Vitezslava Kapralova, which was threatening his marriage, and VK's early death in 1940 cast a kind of reflective pall over a lot of his works thereafter. The contemporaneous 5th String Quartet also reflects this period of tension.

[Mirror Image]

I like all these works and Parables (after St Exupery). I've just ordered the Neumann set of the symphonies which I look forward to hearing, although I like the box set by the much underrated Bryden Thomson.

"Parables" is a great work. I have only one recording of it with Belohlavek and the Czech Philharmonic. I really enjoy Thomson's Martinu cycle. I think he brings a much needed power to the scores and offers a different interpretation that one may not be accustomed to hearing.