| Content | Gerd Lippold apologizes for writing so late, but he has been very busy since their last letter [in the spring]. GL sends more information about himself and how he found his way to [Bohuslav] Martinů. GL is, among other things, the music advisor for the district of Lüneburg. He also worked in Norway for six years as a German language advisor. He came to BM through his musical studies, when, in addition to singing and piano, he also studied cello with Maurits Frank, for whom BM wrote CONCERTINO [for cello, winds, piano and percussion] and DUO [for violin and cello No. 1]. He also describes the choirs at the Gymnasium in Otterndorf and how he met Charlotte Martinů in the early summer of 1974. He then visited her and his wife in Vieux Moulin. The last time he and ChM were on a trip was in September 1978, when ChM drove the car well despite her old age. He later learned that this was her last trip. A few days later she broke her arm and her health was deteriorating. Thanks to her, GL also made numerous friendships with people in Czechoslovakia and with Jan Novak. GL and his wife were in Czechoslovakia in late August for the dedication of the honorary grave of Bohuslav and Charlotte Martinů, and for the reopening of the Martinů Museum in Polička. ChM would certainly have been bothered by the lack of Christian symbols on the grave, but in the present-day Czechoslovakia something like that on a state grave would be out of the question. GL, however, sees the symbolism of the cross in the very arrangement of the four granite slabs. They also took part in the unveiling of a memorial plaque to BM Na Kampa [in Prague] on the house where BM lived for a time. GL and his wife had already visited Polička in 1982, but at that time the Museum was closed, all the composer's legacy was in boxes and it was not certain whether anyone would deal with it. GL also drew the attention of the Czechoslovak Ambassador to Germany to the need to address the situation and asked him to appeal to the Minister of Culture [of the Czechoslovak Republic] on the matter. GL encloses photographs of the grave and the Museum. There is also a photograph of BM's death mask, which was not made until 1983. GL will explain how this came about in a further letter. |