The cycle Nový Špalíček, to texts from Moravian folk poetry, was written in June 1942. At the time when Martinů composed it, his thoughts gravitated toward events "of almost everyday simplicity, to things that are elementary but which can have a deep meaning, allow one to live life more easily, and help achieve the highest (spiritual) goals". For Martinů, in exile in America in the middle of the Second World War, and for his compatriots, to whom these songs are really addressed, they also represented a connection with the homeland--about which none of them had practically any reliable reports. Nový Špalíček is dedicated to Jan Masaryk, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak exile government and also a good pianist, who often performed the cycle with the singer Jarmila Novotná of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Aleš Březina, Bohuslav Martinů: Selected Masterpieces, © 2001 Supraphon Music a.s