| Content | Vladimír Vaněk thanks Bohuslav Martinů for his letter of 6.11. and expresses his concern about their cold, probably they are not out in the fresh air enough. VV did not know that [Nikos] Kazantzakis had died, it is a pity that BM could not reach him in Freiburg since it is so close to Basel, but one cannot please everyone. VV regrets that the news in Skliznia did not please BM, the purpose was as always to rejoice in Martin's successes. That's the way it is in biographies of famous men, there is something wrong here and there. Writing to order can be unfortunate if it is a cheap commodity. But not with BM - [Igor] Stravinsky wrote to order, Beethoven, Mozart, Bartók, Hindemith, Dvořák, Smetana - Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel to order. VV hopes that BM doesn't just write in a drawer, he could play it out in his heart and give up writing altogether. But BM doesn't crap on humanity and soaps his notes for the general and individual good - i.e. no one is making light of him with these commissions, BM is wrong. BM might be enthusiastic about "Dog in Space" [BM ironically mentions in a previous letter the intended poem Dog in Space on the occasion of the flight of Sputnik 2 with a dog on board] - I guess all the inhabitants of Mother Russia would like to be that dog - the only one who got out of this paradise without a passport! VV will be watching to see how the BM meeting in Zurich turns out [due to the introduction of the GREEK PASSIONS]. Did BM get the Czechoslovak Life magazine, where there is a three-page article about him? VV would lend it to him if he could. He and Kubicky [?] are looking for the concert with the Field Mass, it's a bit difficult with the choir. He's negotiating with Russicum, the backbone would sing it in Czech. What did BM want with [Artur] Rodzinsky? Did VV have something to tell him? Is [Jaromir] Měšt'an working? He promised to inform BM wherever it was being played in Germany, e.g. they were showing LIDICE at ND-Rundfunk in Hamburg on 17.11. |