The Incantation is a Concerto for piano in form of Symphony or Fantasy. I am

trying to come out of the traditional form on piano-Concerto, which in geometrical

and rather static and too much definit form and leave a sma little opportunity

to a free development. The choise [sic] of the tittle „Inca[n]tation“ needs, of course, some ex-planation. Webster dictionary describe it as a spell, charm, magic,

and that´s exactly what I meant. Magic is a royanme of

music. There is always some program in the musical piece. It reflects,

even if it is not especially or verbaly indicated, the inner life of an

artist, his conviction and his conception of the world, his struggle to expres[s]

himself and it could mean even a refuge for a protest. He is always

searching for a meaning of life, the mankind life and his own, searching

for truth. He feels the pressure of the contradictory forces, he

would like to find the „common denominator“ which could absorbe

these contradictions. System of uncertainty came to our daily life.

The pressure of mechanization and uniformity which our life is subject

to, evoke his protest and he has only one mean to express it,

in music. He goes through plenty of emotiones [sic], he try [sic] to catch

some of them in a tangible form, to find the appropriate melody,

theme and form to express it. But the moment he got a control

of melody, (and of course of the substance and form) and put it on the

paper, he starts something of a quitte [sic] different order. The melody

gets a musical justification and the emotional impulse cease [sic] to

be importent [sic]. Music has a different laws. There could come in the

development some dramatic or tragic accident in the private life

of an artist, or the meaning of even much deeper conception of a

human destiny or faith, but when this drama is exposed in

music it beaam became a part of a musical formal building

of music. The meaning is displaced and is focused to the

the musical form. problem. Now the question of „what you meant

by it“, is rather embar[r]as[s]ing for a composer because he still

believe that music has to speak for itself.

Amen.

Milý Rudo: Posílám ti ten artikl, oprav to a přihobluj to,

nemám zvláštní náladu o tom psati [sic] více, ale myslím že to stačí,

můžeš to doplnit svými dojmy při studiu, chcešli. S pasem se to

čím dál tím více zamotává a nevím jak z toho vybereme, asi až

v Italii, jestli vůbec. Zůstaneme ve Švýcarsku, Sacher nám zase

dal k disposici tu vilu a piano a tak zde přebytujeme až do cesty

do Říma. Hospodine, pomiluj. Charlie nemůže dostat ani francouzsky pas

protože by musela žít ve Francii aspoň měsíc, a tam právě nemůže. Pojedu

sám pro bednu do Cannes. Napiš mi pokud možno čitelně co je s tebou.

Mnoho tě a Martu zdravíme. Tvůj Bohuslav Martinů

[připsáno jinou rukou] Schönenberg-Pratteln (Basel)

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