| Content | Bohuslav Martinů writes to the audience of the Czech Philharmonic subscription concerts [after the not very well received premiere of HALF TIME on 7 December 1924]. BM writes that he knows the audience well from the stage of the Smetana Hall, where he played the second violin part for a long time. During the intervals he could get a good look at the faces of the audience, looking for interest and an effort to understand the pieces played. It was a nice theatre for him. BM admits that he sometimes did this at the expense of his part, in which he then lost himself as well as in the distance of the hall, where the faces disappeared and formed only a large group. BM was always brought back into the group by a colleague who knew this weakness of his. Those who were in the distance or upstairs were seen during the interval leaning against the pillar of the Representation House. When someone didn't come to their regular spot, BM wondered the reason. BM liked the audience as much as Václav Talich and the whole Czech Philharmonic Orchestra liked them. They all try to bring something beautiful on Sunday. But now BM had angered the audience. Still, BM is pleased that they gave their speech the proper expression. Several times he saw from the stage that the audience had a grim expression of displeasure and some seemed to want to hiss or whistle, but he was always disappointed. Until they finally got around to it, but unfortunately BM got burned in the process. BM thinks he made the audience a little happy. He has grown to prefer music where it is impossible to remain so still to music where the audience sits as if without a soul and is raised too high and counts the bulbs in the Smetana Hall during the endless melody until one is afraid to move a finger lest one should get out of that calm and beautiful mood that comes over us when it is very hot or when we are falling asleep. BM wants to inform the audience that his work is not a mere "farce" (farce). He doesn't forget that at the time it was crude to suddenly present this type of music, but sometimes you want to riot and smash your fists around, so there was nothing he could do but write it as it is. BM knows that many still wonder if they shouldn't have hissed or whistled instead of applauding as well, and some may think they should have actually clapped. However, these are little things that they soon forget. Audiences have surely noticed that they have been hearing music lately that makes them uneasy and uncomfortable and forces them to somehow participate and live with it whether they want to or not. On first listen they are often struck by some harshness and recklessness that makes them think fast and be prepared as if you don't know what will happen in a moment. The audience has their own ideas and perceptions that they have bought into, and so there is a reaction in everyone against convention, comfort and the constant repetition of the same words. BM writes that the audience observes a changed life, a different style and different images and works. This makes them uneasy, so they go to the concert hall to indulge in their usual experiences. Suddenly they find that even the hall is not a safe place to hide from what they cannot escape. Even BM acknowledges that this is hilarious. But if the audience thinks about it, they will come to see that it is unstoppable and find meaning in it. Times are taking a different turn, conditions are different, today's man craves certainty and precision and is no longer so impressed by words but by facts. We want everything in black and white. BM urges the audience not to be frightened or afraid that they will lose something, that their life will become flat and without beauty. They will come closer than ever to beauty because it will be true and not contrived and entangled in kink. The audience will know for itself that it is simpler and more beautiful. When it learns not to mix old ideals with new, it will find the true way to understand many things around it. That's what BM wanted to say to the audience, to get them to lean in again and correct some of the opinions they had picked up from somewhere after the premiere of HALF-TIME. BM isn't giving up hope that even those who hissed will come around to the opposite opinion. BM concludes by greeting the audience and wishing them not to be quiet. |