| Content | Bohuslav Martinů proposes to Karel Šebánek to give him a hug. He is very much looking forward to the publication of the songs [NEW PAGE, SONGS ON ONE PAGE, SONGS ON TWO PAGES]. He informs that TOCCATA E DUE CANZONI is not free. He hopes that KS has received the corrected CONCERT FOR HOUSEL AND ORCHESTRA No. 2 from Jaroslav Špaček and that the corrections have not caused any difficulties. He looks forward to the piano lift. He is pleased that the PLAYS ABOUT MARY is finally in order and that KS has the definitive version of the Spale with him. Regarding the pocket edition of SERENADS and ROND, KS has to think about a title for the rondeau. He explains that this is not a form of rondo but rather a round dance. He would like to have a score of INVENTIONS. He would like them to make a decision about the CONCERT FOR CLAVIER AND ORCHESTRA No. 2. In case they want to [publish] it, they should not use the version that Germaine Lereux has, but the new, corrected version played by Rudolf Firkušný. He has completed a new CONCERT FOR PIANO AND ORCH. [No. 3], which should be played by RF at the [1948 Prague Spring] Festival. However, he does not know whether he will go to Europe, as he still has shoulder problems since his injury in South America. He would welcome the publication of 'small operas' [?], especially THE BRIDGE OF THE BRIDGE. He will try to get a copy of the score and a piano extract from the radio, the same with KYTICA. BM also asks about the changes that have taken place at Melantrich, its current status, undefinitive contracts, issues of foreign representation with other publishers, and billing for all their published works. He asks about the English translation of JULIETTA, he cares very much about it. There is a stage production of Juliette in the pipeline and BM sees his chance in that as well. After Arturo Toscanini heard BM's SYMPHONY No. 5, he was so enthusiastic that he wants to get to know his other works. BM would like to show him not only the piano excerpt, but also the score of Juliette, which KS had carefully preserved throughout the war. He wonders if and how it would be possible to safely send him the original or a copy, if it exists at all. A performance by Paul Sacher in Geneva appears to be another possibility. He would need a score for this too. He asks what is happening around Václav Talich and Rudy Firkušný. He does not know what they can expect. He asks about Jan Löwenbach and about VT's next steps, whether he will go to America. BM thinks he could have the same success as Charles Munch or Ernest Ansermet. He asks KS to prevent arbitrary publishing and recording of BM's works, he may get into big trouble if the work is with some other publisher. The Artists' Union has told him that he has some money with them for publishing piano stuff (Scherzo and Tango). BM assumes they reprinted them from FILM IN MINIATURE. |
| Diplomatic transcription of the letter | March 25. 1948.
Mily priteli Sebanku Karle,
Mel jsem radost kdyz dosel dopis z 19/3,nevedel jsem zdali jsi v Parizi nebo nekde jinde.[1]Jak vidim stale uradujes a tak aby vymena dopisu mezi nami, jez mozna bude jeste nejaky cas trvat,dostala srdecnejsi vztah,tak bych te prosil,abys mi tykal,tak i kdyz neco budes miti proti me,muzes to lepe vyjadrit a samozrejme ja take.Prozatim nic takoveho neexistuje ale pres to si muzeme tykati.[2]
Tak ti odpovidam na tvuj dopis.
Tesim se mnoho na Spalicek a ostatni pisnicky.[3]
Toccata e due canzoni[4] volne nejsou.
Doufam, ze jsi dostal(Myslim od Min. Spacka) ten opraveny houslovy koncert,partituru,a ze ty korrektury neudelaly mnoho obtizi k oprave. [5] Myslim ze pro provadeni prozatim staci ty photostaty partitury,na klav. vytah se tesim, hodne to pomuze.
Tak s Hrami o Marii, je to konecne v poradku,jak doufam, a take definitivni Spalicek (Balet) tam mas.[6]Tak se mi jedna velmi mnoho ted o Julletu ,jeste se k tomu vratim.
Co se tyce kapesniho vydani, Serenad a Ronde,bylo by to snad dobre,nevim ovsem jake nastanou ted disposice u vas,k tomu se take vratim,tento dopis je dlouze zalozen.V tom pripade premyslej o titulu pro Ronde,to neni forma ronda, nybrz les Rondes,coz znamena spise kolove tance,do kola,jako Beseda nebo do kolecka.[7]Invence bych rad mel v partiture.
Rad bych abyste se rozhodli co se tyce klav.koncertuNr. 2.,ten co hraje Leroux a Firkusny,ja jsem jist ze by sel do prodeje,modernich koncertu je malo.V pripade ze byste jej chteli,neuzivejte ten co ma Germaine,(co se s nimi stalo,nemam zpravy?)nybrz ten novy opraveny, ktery hraje Firkusny.[8]Dokoncil jsem ostatne pro neho novy koncert,ktery mel hrati na Festivalu,ale nevim zdali pojede do Evropy,ma stale trouble s tim ramenempo jeho urazu v Jizni Amer.[9]
Co se tyce vydani tech malych oper,byl bych pro to,a hlavně Komedii na Moste,kterou bych vubec zde potreboval,myslim ze pozadam Radio aby mi poslali kopii partit. a klav. vytah.To same o Kytici.[10]
Tak zde maše odpovedit na tvoje[11] dotazy,a ted ja mam nekolik dotazu sam.
Domnivam se zeMelantrich byl znacionalizovan,kdo vede ted celou firmu a do jake miry se meni muj statut a moje,stale nedefinitivni smlouvy s vami?[12]Jake stanovisko jste zaujmuli v otazce zahranicniho zastoupeni u firem jako je Boosey & Hawkes nebo Mr. Tompkins Assotiated a podobne, Pro Evropu i Ameriku,tedy pro zapad.??Az dosud jste do mne investovali penize,a poslali i neco do Policky,rad bych vsak videl nejake vyuctovani zdali z toho neco mam.Neber tohle jako nejakou vycitku proti tobe,jenom pozadej prislusny office aby mi podali zpravu,davam ted do poradku tyto veci se vsemi edicemi,tak bych chtel vedet jak to vlastne vypada a take jake je stanovisko ted pri zmene vasi redakce,nevidim dobre do situace ani vasi ani vlastni.Tak tohle vse neni vlastne tak dulezite[13]
O mnoho dulezitejsi je pro mne tohle:
A sice anglicky preklad Julliety.Jaka je situace? Muzete jej poridit a dost rychle? A nebo se mam pokusit zde?[14]
A ted jinou velmi vaznou otazku.Zde se pripravuje take Julliette pro pristi saisonu jako divadlo,s tim ja se samozrejme mohu svesti.
Pri provedeni 5te symfonie[15] byl(i na vsech zkouskach)pritomen Toscanini, a byl tak nadsen,ze chce poznati dalsi veci[16],mluvil o mne vsem svym znamym s velkymi elogemi[17],tak de by byla velka moznost jej zainteresoavti pro Jullietu,coz by samozrejme byla velka parada. Ja jsem jiz udelal nejake kroky abych mu predal vytah,ale samozrejme budu potrebovati partituru,a tady je ten kamen urazu.Kopie nebyla porizena?Jak by sem bylo mozno dostati bezpecne partituru,aby se neztratila,jeli jenom original k disposici?Pochybuji,ze se ted bude hrat v Narodnim,kdyz tam Talich zase neni,a ja ji budu nutne potrebovati.[18]
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