| Content | A series of reflections by Bohuslav Martinů written during his stay in Ridgefield [from June to October 1944]. The texts were used in the publication "Bohuslav Martinů: Home, Music and the World". The diary includes Advice to a Composer [June 1944], The Influence of Dynamism on the Construction of a Composition, The Meaning of a Work, Emotions when Listening to Music, Something about the French Influence, Czech Components, The Orchestra is Not a Machine, Towards a Better Understanding of Music, Musical perception, Functions of music, Relation to music changes, Composer's idea, Personality and style, Work as expression of relationships, Question of rhythm, Small time problem, Opinion of the artist, National song, Perception of music, The importance of pause, On analysis, The requirement of messiahship, The composer's "message", The effect on form, Sonata, Intensity and dynamism, Listening to a piece of music, Connection with life, What does not contribute to the understanding of music, Universal education, Feeling the epoch, The mystery of composition, On the emotional part, The player and the orchestra, Emotion, Self-forgetfulness, Drama real and fictional, The function and role of the conductor, The idea of the whole, Why we have so few good composers. BM's own reflections are sometimes supplemented by quotations from other authors. |
| Note | published in ŠAFRÁNEK, Miloš, ed.: Bohuslav Martinů - domov, hudba a svět: deníky, zápisníky, úvahy a články. 1. vyd. Praha: SHV, 1966, pg. 140-192 |