In 1931 in Paris, Martinů composed two sets of Esquisses for piano. In Esquisses I, H 203, one can hear an underlying “sewing machine” kind of momentum in the first movement, where texture is important and the melody is subservient. The second features ragtime, with clear influences of American rhythm and triadic harmony. Again, texture and rhythm reign, while melody seems to be the result rather than the lead cause. The third features delicious conundrums of rhythm and metre. The fourth is quieter, more melodic, bringing to mind Debussy’s Girl with the Flaxen Hair and the importance of plagal cadences in Martinů’s music. The fifth is a little jazzy, with cross metres and a simple but effective melody repeated on different key centres. The sixth and final movement reiterates the feeling of the first but more directly melodic. The authograph is now archived in the Czech Museum of Music.
Giorgio Koukl, Martinů: Complete Piano Music, 6, Naxos, 2009.