| Content | Frank Rybka enjoys his personal life and thanks Karel Šebánek for his wishes [on his 75th birthday]. He was pleased to hear that KS is taking care of Bohuslav Martinů's works, but regrets that BM could not experience this. FR is in touch with Charlotte Martinů, but unfortunately her energy is waning. In response to a question about Vladimír Vaněk, he briefly describes his life story and how he met and became friends with BM - first in Paris, where he was employed by the Czechoslovak Embassy, and later in Rome, where they met almost daily. VV also wanted to write a biography of BM and Rafael Kubelík. FR goes on to describe the complicated situation regarding his friendship and subsequent falling out with Jan Novák. FR was instrumental in awarding the Jaroslav Ježek Prize to Jan Novák and supported him financially afterwards. JN met FR after winning a composition competition in Rovereto [with his composition Mimus magicus; 1969], where he went to collect his prize of 500,000 [Italian] lire and stopped at FR on the way. The quarrel concerned a loan they had agreed on during a visit to Louise [?]. In September FR went with Louisa to the [International] Music Festival in Brno, where the agreed sum was paid to him. They were in Czechoslovakia for about a month, after which they brought some things to JN in Rovereto. However, when JN wanted to pay back the loan, according to FR, he demanded a different amount of money than agreed. FR also describes his reaction to Eliska Nováková's telephone call and JN's letter, which he encloses. FR invites KS to visit. |