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At one of the pinnacles of his life and artistic career, after the triumphant premiere of the Fourth Symphony, H 305, near the end of the Second World War with the associated visions of a return to his homeland, Martinå received a commission from the Boosey & Hawkes publishing house to compose some short piano pieces. At this time he was one of the most famous composers in the United States and taught at prestigious colleges (to which he soon added Princeton University). His symphonic works were being performed by the most important American symphony orchestras. The largest American newspapers published extensive reviews of his new works and celebratory articles for his anniversaries. Boosey & Hawkes had published his symphonies and works for chamber orchestra, and so Martinů accepted this commission and during July and August 1945 composed the Etudes and Polkas - sixteen short pieces whose Czech style and similarity to the piano polkas of BedFich Smetana is no accident. However, in comparing the Etudes and Polkas with the Three Czech Dances, H 154, from 1926, for example, it is clear what transformations their creator's musical language had undergone in the intervening twenty years: the rhythm, although striking and precise, is no longer bound at all to bar lines, the melodies are free as in a fantasy, the overall character of the work is chaste and intimate, and the form of each piece is completely individual.
Aleš Březina, Bohuslav Martinů: Selected Masterpieces, © 2001 Supraphon Music a.s
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