September 10, 1946

Mr. Bohuslav Martinu

24 West 58th Street

New York 19, New York

My dear Mr. Martinu:

On May first, second and third, 1947, the Department of Music at Harvard University is looking forward to presenting a Symposium on Music Criticism. Members of the music faculties of American colleges and universities, as well as representatives of the public press of the United States, will be invited to attend the meetings and concerts of this Symposium. Inview of the wide-spread use of the phonograph and radio, the composer and performer may now claim a far larger public than they had in former years; and, in consequence, the educational as well as the juducial responsibilities of the music critic are considerably enlarged. We feel that all musicians, and particularly music critics, will benefit from a redefinition of the aims and scope of music criticism and from a discussion of its problems under conditions peculiar to our people.

I am enclosing a program of the principal events of the Symposium. You will notice on the program that the first session of each day is to be devoted to the reading and discussion of papers on subjects which we consider apposite. In the evening of each day there will be a concert of music which we are offering solely as entertainment (in the large sense) for our guests; it is not our intention or our wish that this music should have any direct connection with any of the formal discussions.

You will see that the first concert is devoted to chamber music. I am writing to ask if you would do us the honor of writing a chamber work to be given its first performance at this concert, together with new works by Walter Piston and Arnold Schoenberg. Mr. Piston will write a string quartet, and I am asking Mr. Schoenberg to write a string trio. I should like to invite you to write a work for any instrument or combination of the instruments not to exceed in number, let us say, six. You may wish to combine the strings with piano, for instance, or with wind instruments; or you may wish to write for winds alone. You should be able to judge better than I what type of ensemble would be suitable for such a program, and I should like to leave this to your discretion. We should like the piece to be fifteen to twenty minutes long, let us say, and in whatever number of movements you see fit.

The expenses for this Symposium are being financed by funds which I have raised specifically for this occasion, and we are offering each of the composer of the chamber works an honorarium of $750.00.

Would it be possible for you to let me have the score by February 15, 1947? This will give us time for the copying of parts and adequate rehearsal.

With every hope that you will like the plan of the Symposium and that we may have the honor of your writing music for it, I am

Mostlysincerely yours,

A. Tillman Merritt

Chairman