Bohuslav Martinů (8 December 1890, Polička – 28 August 1959, Liestahl) was … Read Full Bio ↴Bohuslav Martinů (8 December 1890, Polička – 28 August 1959, Liestahl) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He was very prolific, writing almost 400 pieces, among them 6 symphonies, choral works, operas, concertos, including for cello, violin, oboe and five for the piano and his chamber music, including seven string quartets. His artistic history content more creative periods, incl. postimpresionism, neo-classicism, expressionism etc.
Biography:
Bohuslav Martinů was born in a bell-tower where his father, a shoemaker by trade, was a watchman. Even as a child, he developed a reputation locally, and he gave his first public concert in his hometown in 1905. In 1906 Martinů became a violin student at the Prague Conservatory. He studied briefly there (before being dismissed for “incorrigible negligence”) and later continued to study on his own.
He spent the First World War in his hometown as a teacher, where he pursued his interests in composition. He also joined the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra as a violinist. His ballet Istar was completed in 1922. He left Czechoslovakia for Paris in 1923, where he became a pupil of Albert Roussel, though he retained many links with his birthplace.
When the German army approached Paris early in the Second World War, he fled, first to the south of France, and then to the United States in 1941, where he settled in New York with his French wife. In later life he lived in Switzerland, never returning to his homeland.
Martinů’s music displays a wide variety of influences: works such as La Revue de Cuisine (1927) are heavily influenced by jazz, while the Double Concerto for two string orchestras, piano and timpani (1938) is one of many works to show the influence of the Baroque concerto grosso. Other works are influenced by Czech folk music. He also admired the music of Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky, among other composers.
A characteristic feature of his style of orchestral writing is the near omni-present piano; most of his orchestral works include a prominent part for piano, including his small concerto for harpsichord and chamber orchestra.
The bulk of his writing from the 1930s into the 1950s was in a Neoclassical vein, but with his last works he opened up his style to include more rhapsodic gestures and a looser, more spontaneous sense of form. This is easiest to see by comparing his sixth symphony, tellingly titled Fantaisies symphoniques, and his previous efforts, all from the 1940s.
One of Martinů’s lesser known works is a piece featuring the theremin commissioned by Lucie Bigelow Rosen. Martinů started working on this commission in the summer of 1944 and finished his Fantasia for theremin, oboe, string quartet and piano on October 1, dedicating it to Mrs Rosen, who premiered the piece as theremin soloist in New York on 3 November 1945, along with the Koutzen Quartet and Robert Boom.
Biography:
Bohuslav Martinů was born in a bell-tower where his father, a shoemaker by trade, was a watchman. Even as a child, he developed a reputation locally, and he gave his first public concert in his hometown in 1905. In 1906 Martinů became a violin student at the Prague Conservatory. He studied briefly there (before being dismissed for “incorrigible negligence”) and later continued to study on his own.
He spent the First World War in his hometown as a teacher, where he pursued his interests in composition. He also joined the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra as a violinist. His ballet Istar was completed in 1922. He left Czechoslovakia for Paris in 1923, where he became a pupil of Albert Roussel, though he retained many links with his birthplace.
When the German army approached Paris early in the Second World War, he fled, first to the south of France, and then to the United States in 1941, where he settled in New York with his French wife. In later life he lived in Switzerland, never returning to his homeland.
Martinů’s music displays a wide variety of influences: works such as La Revue de Cuisine (1927) are heavily influenced by jazz, while the Double Concerto for two string orchestras, piano and timpani (1938) is one of many works to show the influence of the Baroque concerto grosso. Other works are influenced by Czech folk music. He also admired the music of Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky, among other composers.
A characteristic feature of his style of orchestral writing is the near omni-present piano; most of his orchestral works include a prominent part for piano, including his small concerto for harpsichord and chamber orchestra.
The bulk of his writing from the 1930s into the 1950s was in a Neoclassical vein, but with his last works he opened up his style to include more rhapsodic gestures and a looser, more spontaneous sense of form. This is easiest to see by comparing his sixth symphony, tellingly titled Fantaisies symphoniques, and his previous efforts, all from the 1940s.
One of Martinů’s lesser known works is a piece featuring the theremin commissioned by Lucie Bigelow Rosen. Martinů started working on this commission in the summer of 1944 and finished his Fantasia for theremin, oboe, string quartet and piano on October 1, dedicating it to Mrs Rosen, who premiered the piece as theremin soloist in New York on 3 November 1945, along with the Koutzen Quartet and Robert Boom.
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Sonata No.1 for piano
Bohuslav Martinů Lyrics
No lyrics text found for this track.
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
gregory barton
@Wanderer You mean the point in time where I find allusions to other composers? Hmmm. Let me see. It's a game of trivial pursuits which detracts nothing from the whole But here goes:
Opening: Feinberg - reminds me of the 7th and 8th sonatas (perhaps early Miaskovski 2,3,4)
1:30 Shostakovich op. 87
2:25 Miaskovski - around the period of the 6th sonata
2:54 The vivo in the first movement: Liszt
4:56 Moderato opening: Golberg 28
5:34 Liszt Aida Paraphrase
6:08 Medtner ?
6:40 Feinberg/Miaskovski
7:44 Shostakovich
9:16 Debussy
11:33 Chopin
12.05: poco allegro Prokofiev, or maybe Barber sonata
13.20 is a wonderful moment, anticipating the coda in the end, but holding it back and returning to the agitato rhythm wich resolves at 15:15 but alas, in this recording too fast for my liking to bring out the pathos.
dawggonecrazee
if you have any more Martinu,PLEASE upload olla,I adore his compsitions,can't get enough <3
R Brilla
Really great music, especially the 1st movement (if the world was a fair place, this should get more attention than Rachmaninoff sonatas). And a very good performance, although a little bit timid with dynamics.
P Jimenez
You really must be joking to say this is anywhere near Rachmaninoff.
gregory barton
"especially the 1st movement", and the second movement, and the third movement. I would say, a little too fast.
2Keyblades
Oh my dear lord how im i only just seeing this now! If been a follower of your channel for a while and went on a martinu binge a while back. How i didnt see it on this channel ill never know. Thanks for the fantastic upload!
gregory barton
Please share your binge discoveries.
MetsuHadoken
2:20 i think he's the best man ever lived
MetsuHadoken
how can you compose such hyper human beauty things
George Henderson
At 6:46 and 10:31 there is a catchy phrase that is also heard in Kapralova's piano concerto; so perhaps not just Rachmaninov and Brahms!
gregory barton
@Blabla blu :)