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HIGH-BORN
- victorshramko
- 13 minutes ago
- 4 min read
NLWM No 32 04/12/2025
One could say of him: from birth he aimed high. Or: he was high-born. Which doesn't mean: born with a silver spoon in his mouth! His father was a shoemaker, also worked as the church sexton and town fire watchman in Policka, Moravia, Bohemia. For this reason, he lived with his family in a 193-step tower. His son, Bohuslav Martinu, was born there in 1890. As a small boy, he was sickly and frequently had to be carried up on the back of his father or older sister.
He was known to be very shy. But as a violinist, he developed excellently. After a public concert in his hometown, the townspeople raised money to fund his schooling. The young teenager joined Prague Conservatory.
Finding Own Path
Bohuslav was a case of a 'difficult student'. More interested in learning on his own, going to concerts, and reading books on various topics than attending lectures and practicing for hours. Dropped from the violin program, he was moved to the organ department that taught composition. Finally, he was dismissed in 1910 for 'incorrigible negligence'.
He returned to his hometown Policka and passed the exam for a teacher's license. And at home, until the blow of WW I (1914), he studied and composed on his own, encouraged by the composer of the time, Josef Suk.
Flag On the Home Tower...
Among other countries of Eastern and Mid-Europe, Czechoslovakia was also declared The Independent Republic. On the wave of patriotism, Martinu's celebratory cantata Czech Rhapsody gained great acclaim. He returned to the stage. As a violinist, he toured Europe with the National Orchestra and completed his composition studies (under J. Suk).
...And On the Arc de Triomphe
In 1923, he received a small grant for a short trip to Paris. He spent 17 years there. In Paris, you can find everything (and lose anything too). He found there a master, a protector, and – a wife. The Master, Albert Roussel, taught him to the end of his days. A famous conductor, Serge Koussevitzky, whom Martinu met by chance in a cafe, decided to present in Paris and Boston his symphonic triptych, inspired by 'Lindbergh boom' (first flight over the Atlantic). At last but not least, he got married to a Paris seamstress, Charlotte, an important force in his life.
From Fruits to Roots
Jazz, surrealism, neoclassicism, industrial and social revolution shocked and inspired him. This is visible ('audible') in his few Parisian ballets. Paris was the birthplace of ballet as a distinct art form. The 'Classic' in the 16th century to King Louis XIV, who was a ballet lover and a talented dancer. And the 'Modern' one, in the 20th century with such ballet masters as Diaghilev, Béjart, Petit, or Legris. However, every year Martinu returned for vacation to his roots in Bohemia, to Moravia with its folk melodies and rhythms. And the most famous of his 10 ballets is that Bohemian, 'Spalicek'. He also created the most popular Double Concerto for 2 string orchestras, piano & timpani at the time he fell madly in love with his student, Vitezslava Kapralova. However, the coming tragedy was at the door already.
Stupidity and Betrayal Are the Makers of Tragedy
The roots of the WWII tragedy were in the Munich Agreement (Sept. 30, 1938), when Europe and The World became so stupid and handed Czechoslovakia over to Hitler. President Edvard Benes formed government and military units in exile in France and the UK. Martinu tried to join them but was rejected because of his age. As a tribute, he composed the Field Mass broadcasted from England to occupied Czechia but the composer became blacklisted by Nazis and in 1940 he had to flee Paris from the occupiers. Thanks to his friends he finally reached the US through France, Spain, and Portugal.
It's Hard to Find Yourself So Far
He found it difficult to find his place in 'the noisy Manhattan'. He returned to composing, moving to the quiet Queens. He composed 'in his head' during night walks, but sometimes he got lost and his friends found him and took him home. But America liked him and was supportive. He became known, liked, and appreciated. He lectured at Princeton University among others. His US output included 6 symphonies, numerous concertos, chamber music, even... a TV comic opera The Marriage.
Finally Home
To reach real home was difficult. The Soviets drove the Nazis out of the Czech land. But they remained there as dominators. The remnants of democracy fell in 1948. Communists branded Martinu as a formalist and émigré traitor. In 1953 he went back to Europe and settled in France. In 1956 he visited a friend in Switzerland and there passed away. His ashes returned to his beloved Policka 20 years later, in 1979.
Enough words.
Let us play:
B. Martinu – Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano and Timpani
Written by
Cezary Owerkowicz
Co-founder of Kuwait Music Academy and
Director of Treasure of Talents Festival in Kuwait
