The Sextet for wind instruments and piano was composed between January 28 and February 4, 1929, in Paris. It is specifically composed for flute, oboe, clarinet, two bassoons, and piano. With this composition, Martinů competed for a prize worth $1,000 in a competition for a chamber work for five wind instruments organized by the foundation of American patron Elizabeth Sprague-Coolidge. However, Martinů was unsuccessful. His sextet comprises five movements of roughly equal duration, running between about two-and-a-half and three-and-a-half minutes each. Snazzy syncopations alert us to the fact that jazz is to play a role in this work, although in the Preludium those allusions are modest. On the whole the flavour is more that of Stravinsky or of Poulenc’s mischievous mode. The premiere took place on December 29, 1929, in Berlin.
Jaroslav Mihule, Martinů: Osud skladatele, Prague: Karolinum, 2002, p. 167.
James M. Keller, Next New York Philharmonic Ensembles concert at Merkin Concert Hall (January 8, 2006).