General information
Title CZNový Špalíček
Subtitle CZcyklus písní na texty moravské lidové poezie
Title ENNew Chap-Book
Subtitle ENcycle of songs on Moravian folk poetry
Title DEDer neue Špalíček
Subtitle DELiederzyklus nach Texten der Mährischen Volkspoesie
CategoryVocal Music
SubcategoryWorks for Solo Voice and Piano
Halbreich number288
Author of lyrics/libretto - Lidový text, Folk lyrics
Parts of the composition (movements)1. The Rich Sweetheart; 2. Forsaken Love; 3. Longing; 4. The Inquisitive Girl; 5. The Gay Girl; 6. The Unhappy Lover; 7. The Request; 8. The High Steeple
Durata9' 30''
InstrumentsV Pf
Dedicatee Masaryk, Jan
Diplomatic transcription of the dedicationVěnováno | Janu Masarykovi
Note on the dedicationDedicated to Jan Masaryk.
Origin
Place of compositionJamaica - New York City, New York
Year of origin1942
Initiation of composition06/1942
Completion of composition06/1942
First performance
Performer Masaryk, Jan
Novotná, Jarmila
Date of the first performance11.01.1943
Location of the first performanceNew York, USA
Note on the first performanceJarmila Novotná (S), Jan Masaryk (Pf).
Autograph deposition
Owner of the sourceCentrum Bohuslava Martinů v Poličce
Note on the autograph depostitionAutograph, two reproductions of the autograph and the copy in a copyist's hand are held by the Bohuslav Martinů Centre in Polička.
Copyright
CopyrightBärenreiter Praha
Purchase linkbuy
Editions
Sources
References Related writings
Documents in the Library
Note Further published by Supraphon, Prague 1978, 1983.
Nos. 5 and 6 are switched in the autograph score (see the deep-rooted order of songs as published in the printed editions above).
Date of origin of the composition given on the title page of the autograph: Spring 1942.
In 2013, Jiří Teml arranged the composition for voice and small ensemble (1111-1000-Vl-Vl-Vla-Vc-Cb).
About the composition

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

 

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