| Content | Bohuslav Martinů asks them to send him a contract that includes the new terms and conditions. He would be pleased if they told him in which compositions they are interested. Some of his small works are in the possession of other of BM’s publishers (Urbánek, Uměl. Beseda, Eschig), yet they would not be interested in them anyway. He has just completed an orchestral work, LA BAGGARE, and hopes that it will get to Berlin (Kleiber) and Boston (Koussevitzky). If they are interested in seeing the score, he will send it. The National Theatre will be staging his ballet WHO IS THE MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD, which has been performed to great acclaim at the theatre in Brno, and he hopes it will also be staged in Bratislava, Pilsen, Ostrava and Yugoslavia. They should inform him whether they are interested in the piano score, since the Umělecká beseda society has already shown an interest in it. He apologises for having amended their contractual terms and conditions, but he has been forced to do so to be able to live in Paris. The following two pages contain his biography: He attended the Prague Conservatory, was a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, studied with J. Suk and A. Roussel. He inclined to Impressionism; he created the works CZECH RHAPSODY and “Die blaue Stunde”. In 1924, the ballet ISTAR was staged at the National Theatre in Prague. The ballet sketch WHO IS THE MOST POWERFUL IN THE WORLD, performed in Brno in 1925, no longer bears traits of Impressionism. While in Paris, he found that his works are not influenced by French music in the slightest, he only pursues an entirely modern trend in music. I. Stravinsky was branded an ardent agitator. His HALF-TIME is a strongly reactionary work, which gave rise to a wave of criticism in Prague. In 1925, it was preformed at a festival (IGNM). The main thing is rhythm, this trend is connected with the Slavonic sound in the string quartet, which was performed by the Novak-Franck-Quartet in Germany. He also mentions the CONCERTO for piano and orchestra, performed by Denyse Molie; the DIVERTIMENTO for piano-left hand and orchestra; the SONATA IN D MINOR for violin and piano; the “Zwei Lieder mit Orchester”; piano pieces; and the ballet sketch THE REVOLT. He is now setting to music R. Kipling’s fairy tale THE BUTTERFLY THAT STAMPED, preparing a comic opera to an Old Czech text, as well as a large orchestral work, THE KITCHEN REVUE. |