General information
Title CZČeská rapsodie [auth.]
Subtitle CZpro orchestr, baryton, smíšený sbor a varhany
Title ENCzech Rhapsody
Subtitle ENfor orchestra, baritone, mixed choir and organ
Title DETschechische Rhapsodie
Subtitle DEfür Orchester, Bariton, gemischter Chor und Orgel
CategoryVocal Music
SubcategoryCantatas with Orchestra
Halbreich number118
Author of lyrics/libretto - Biblický / liturgický text, Biblical / liturgical text
Martinů, Bohuslav
Strejc, Jiří
Vrchlický, Jaroslav
Durata31´
Instruments2223-4331-Timp-Batt(GC,Ptti,Tam-tam)-Arpa-Org-Archi; Coro misto
Solo voiceBar
Dedicatee Jirásek, Alois
Diplomatic transcription of the dedicationMistru | Aloisu Jiráskovi
Note on the dedicationDedicated to maestro Alois Jirásek.
Origin
Place of compositionPolička
Year of origin1918
Initiation of composition05/1918
Completion of composition06/1918
First performance
Performer Čelanský, Ludvík Vítězslav
Date of the first performance12.01.1919
Location of the first performancePrague
Note on the first performanceLudvík Vítězslav Čelanský (cond.)
Ensemble Pražský Hlahol (Prague Hlahol); Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic)
Česká filharmonie
Hlahol
Autograph deposition
Owner of the sourceCentrum Bohuslava Martinů v Poličce
Note on the autograph depostitionThe sketch is also located at the Bohuslav Martinů Centre in Polička.
Copyright
CopyrightBoosey & Hawkes
Purchase linkbuy
First edition
PublisherBoosey & Hawkes
Place of issuePraha
Year of publication2007
Editions available at the BM Institute
Boosey & Hawkes, Prague, 2007
Call number at the BM Institute: 1342
Specification of the edition: 1st edition - large score + piano reduction
Details of this edition
Sources
References Related writings
Related images
Documents in the Library
About the composition

In cantata for orchestra, baritone solo, mixed choir and organ, Czech Rhapsody, H 118, Martinů abandons his current world of his inspiration and turns to youthful patriotic enthusiasm. The composer's diary from the time reads: "It originated in May and June 1918 following the famous vow of the Czech nation and under the spell of a beautiful speech by the writer Alois Jirásek." Martinů also dedicated the composition to the author, and on 18 November 1918 Jirásek sent him a thankyou note and wished the work succes.

Clearly enraptured by the idea of national freedom, Martinů chose several texts which taken together form a heterogeneous huddle, criticised by a number of music reviewers immediately after the work's premiere. The main connecting link is the Saint Wenceslas Chorale, which appears right at the beginning in the orchestral overture and is the work’s apex at the end of the entire composition. The second part is a formed by the setting of Psalm 23 “The Lord Is My Shepherd” [in translation of Jiří Strejc], which had inspired Martinů during his visits to the Evangelical church in Borová. Linking up to this choral part is the setting of Jaroslav Vrchlický's poem “Bohemia” with baritone solo. All four parts are connected by orchestral interludes. Stanislav Novák, the composer's lifelong friend and first violinist of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, said that Czech Rhapsody was a work of "ardent, almost Smetana-esque tone and, suprisingly, devoid of all the Impressionism that, however, would reoccur later on." Perhaps it was precisely owing to the fervent atmosphere that took possession of entire nation following the foundation of the Czechoslovak state that Martinů experienced the work‘s premiere as early as on 12 January 1919 at Prague’s Municipal House, even with a banquet following the concert (he did not forget to include the banquet in his caricatures, with which he cheered up his life). The cantata was such a great success that on 17 January it was repeated and on 24 January again performed (in the presence of the President of the Republic, T. G. Masaryk) at the concert for Czech writers and journalists.

The nation’s ecstasy was, however, not shared by the music critics who stressed that Martinů overburdened himself with this work and pointed to his inability to structurally conceive the theme. [...] Despite review written by Zdeněk Nejedlý for the magazine “Smetana”, other publications sang praises of the work. For Bohuslav Martinů, the performance represented an immense success, his entry into the Czech post-war music scene [...].

Sandra Bergmannová. Bohuslav Martinů: Nipponari, Magic Nights, Czech Rhapsody © 2008 CD Supraphon Music.

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