Martinů contributed to the collection of modern vocalises (vocal exercises for singing without words) with a minor work entitled Vocalise for medium voice, H 188 – an instructional vocal piece dated 7 November 1929 (Paris). The work was published in 1930 by the Parisian music publisher Alphonse Leduc. Martinů wrote five opuses for this publishing dynasty, renowned mainly for its editions of high-quality instructional literature – Nocturnes, H 189, Pastorelas, H 190, Easy Etudes for Two Violins, H 191, and Miniature Suite, H 192.
The transcription of the instructive Vocalise created Arietta for violin and piano, H 188A, and Arietta for cello and piano, H 188B. In these instrumental settings we find a lower technical complexity derived from the original setting for the voice and its technical possibilities, i.e. a divorce from specifically violin technique and double-stops.
The Vocalise-Étude is a characteristic song piece that moves in the "waters" of jazz harmonies and rhythmic movements that appear in the music of Bohuslav Martinů's Paris years. It is characterised by its fresh and clever introduction to the metrical variability of contemporary music – a Parisian-Czech dance "mateník".
Kateřina Viktorová. Skladby pro sólový hlas a klavír pařížského období Bohuslava Martinů. Master Thesis, 2008, p. 69 [edited by Jana Burdová].