Bohuslav Martinů did incorporate organ into his scores liberally enough throughout his compositional career, and yet he did not begin to ponder writing a solo work for this instrument until the end of his life, in April 1959, during a stay in Nice. What he had in mind then was most likely a cycle of several compositions, which he wished to call Vigils., H. 382 Eventually, serious illness, to which Martinů succumbed in Liestal, Switzerland, on August 28 of that year, prevented him from carrying his plans any further. All that has survived are sketches for one incomplete Vigil, plus the beginning of another one. The torso of that first number was later given a definitive shape by Czech-born organist settled in Sweden, Bedřich Janáček, for whom Martinů had written the work. This Vigil (Moderato) is a slow, meditative movement, less than seven minutes long, characterized by the equilibrium and straightforwardness of its idiom. It exudes an aura of contemplative reconcilement, suggesting the composer's peace of mind upon the realization of life's approaching end.
Hana Jarolímková, Czech organ music across the centuries, © 2002 Multisonic