| Content | Harry Halbreich hopes that Charlotte Martin has been successful on her journey, and assumes that she has already returned a few days ago. He urges her to meet him as soon as possible.
HH takes away a lot of information from Prague. There he has been studying the work of Bohuslav Martinů and the interests of ChM and has met many personalities, such as [Vojtěch] Strnad, [Václav] Dobiáš, [Karel] Šebánek and [Miloš] Šafránek.
VS entrusted the writer with a document concerning the inheritance proceedings, which ChM must sign. It is a power of attorney for the local notary. VS confirms by the document that the estate will be paid to Charlotte within a few weeks.
The cause of the difficulties regarding the financial settlement with Prague is allegedly Charlotte's US passport. If she had a French passport, the matter would probably have been settled by now.
The Czechs are willing to do a lot for Charlotte. They know of her material difficulties and that she wishes to acquire a house in Pierrefonds.
BM is revered in Prague and at least one of his works is performed every week. The emphasis is on his belonging to the Czech nation. His popularity has benefited greatly from his works on texts by Miloslav Bures, madrigals, choral works, etc. The most popular is the OPENING OF STUDENTS, which becomes a folklore like Bedřich Smetana's Vltava.
Jaroslav Mihule, a friend of KS, published a remarkable work on BM's six symphonies ["Bohuslav Martinů Symphonies", 1959], unfortunately in Czech. He sends Charlotte a copy with a dedication after the writer.
Supraphon is producing many new titles with BM's compositions, even at the expense of editorial plans. Since 1 January [1960] the following compositions have been recorded: PIANO TRIO No. 2 ["Trio en ré mineur"], SONATA No. 2 for Cello and Piano, SONATA FOR VIOLA AND PIANO, VARIATIONS ON SLOVAK PEOPLE'S SONG, TOCCATA E DUE CANZONI. PARABOLES is published these days. Within three weeks the SYMPHONY No. 1 will be published, and by the end of the year, among others, the CONCERT FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA No. 3, the CONCERT FOR VIOLINS AND ORCHESTRA [No. 2], the SMITH QUARTET No. 5, the NONET [No. 2].
HH informs the addressee of proposals from higher up. Above all, they want her to sign a consent for the transfer of BM's remains to Polička. HH explains the addressee's position to the Czech side. They are not asking for an immediate transfer, only an agreement that it will happen one day. They attach great importance to this.
The Czechs also wish to publish all of BM's unpublished works. They are hastily publishing and not even paying attention to editorial plans, as they did in the case of NONET [No. 2], ZBOJNICKY PÍSNÍ (men's choruses written for Brno and Prague), [cantatas on texts] MB (under pressure) [LEGEND FROM THE SMOKE OF BRAMBORO NATI, ROMANCE FROM PAMPELIŠEK, MIKE FROM THE MOUNTAINS], etc.
The Czechs, on the other hand, suggest publishing in collaboration with Bärenreiter. This should be well considered. Publishing works in Prague is advantageous. Given the number of performances, ChM will receive most of the royalties from Czechoslovakia.
HH lists what the Czech side offers Charlotte if she agrees to transport BM's remains to Polička and allows his unpublished works to be published in Prague.
It is necessary for HH and ChM to discuss everything calmly.
HH has been searching for BM's lost works in Prague and has achieved excellent results: apart from a dozen works whose fate has not been clarified, there are practically no more lost works, and several unknown BM works from before his marriage to ChM have been discovered.
In the Czech Music Fund, he came across other works such as HALF-TIME, CONCERTINO FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA from "1937" [completed 1938], DIVERTIMENTO (CONCERTINO) ["Concerto pour la main gauche"], two ORCHESTRAL SUITES FROM THE BALLET SPALICE, etc.
HH visited [Zdeněk] Zajíc of Panton, the publishing house of the Union of Czechoslovak Composers. Panton will be publishing CLASSICAL CONCERTS Nos. 2 and 3 in a few weeks (ChM was unaware of the fate of the latter; it is therefore in Prague ready for printing). Boosey and Hawkes have relinquished their rights. Other works will also appear in Pantone.
KS will go to London in two weeks. HH wants to meet him to talk about the publication of SYMPHONY No. 2 and SYMPHONY No. 3, which still exist only in manuscript form. Unless B&H expresses an interest, Panton will publish them before the end of the year.
Panton plans to publish a pocket score of SYMPHONIE No. 1 (and SYMPHONIE No. 2 and No. 3). B&H have released SYMPHONIE No. 1 only in large format and have committed to releasing a pocket score of SYMPHONIE No. 6 (SYMPHONIE Nos. 4 and 5 already exist in this format).
The formation of the "Association" [?] is going well, especially with VD. Everything will become clearer in May at the time of the [Prague] Spring. I can already say that an annual festival in Polička is being considered.
After returning to France, HH learned about the Grand Prix du Disque, which was awarded to the recording of SYMPHONIC FANTASIES and MEMORIAL TO HUMANS. It is a victory for Supraphon as well, even though the record sold well without such a sanctification. The KYTICE record, which has been on sale for a few days, is sure to be a success as well.
HH invites Charlotte to meet him again and is curious to hear news from America. He asks her to bring him the required records and scores.
He invites her to a gala evening of gramophone records on the 30th [3.] There will be a large audience there, and he could discuss everything with her in addition. He announces a change in the programme: The Field Mass is not yet ready in Prague and will be replaced by the Double Concert.
HH and Pierre Vidal are going to Brussels this weekend to perform SYMPHONY No. 1 under the baton of Rafael Kubelík. Will ChM join?
The little concert that France and Czechoslovakia are planning for the end of May and the beginning of June is beginning to take shape.
Does ChM have news from Zurich about the GREEK PASSIONS? Is the premiere still planned for this year?
HH in Prague also discussed MIRANDOLINA (whose performance he saw). Supposedly they could not send royalties for the performance ChM mentioned because the rights to the piece had already been assigned to Bärenreiter. |