Bohuslav Martinu

See new article on Bohuslav Martinů: Bohuslav Martinů and Lucie Rosen: the Path to Fantasia for Theremin.

Bohuslav Martinů (December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer. He wrote a “Fantasia” for theremin, oboe, string quartet and piano, which he dedicated to Lucie Bigelow Rosen.

Bohuslav Martinů (December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer.

Martinů studied briefly at the Prague Conservatory (before being dismissed for “incorrigible negligence”) and later continued to study on his own.

He left Czechoslovakia for Paris in 1923, although 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.

New York, he was entrusted to compose a piece for theremin by Lucie Bigelow Rosen. Martinů started working on this job in the summer of 1944 and finished his “Fantasia” for Theremin, oboe, string quartet and piano on October 1 and dedicated to Mrs. Rosen, who premiered the piece as theremin soloist in New York on November 3, 1945, along with the Koutzen Quartet and Robert Boom.

Martinů was a very prolific composer, writing almost 400 pieces. He is not as well-known as his countryman, Leos Janacek, but several of his works are still performed, among them his choral work, The Epic of Gilgamesh (1955); his symphonies, particularly the sixth; his concertos, including those for cello, oboe and five for the piano; and his chamber music.

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 several works to show the influence of the Baroque concerto grosso. A number of his works were influenced by Czech folk music. He also admired the work of Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky, among other composers.

In His Own Words

“The artist is always searching for the meaning of life, his own and that of mankind, searching for the truth. A system of uncertainty has entered our daily life. The pressures of mechanisation and uniformity to which it is subject call for protest and the artist has only one means of expressing this, by music.” – Bohuslav Martinů

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