Bohuslav MARTINŮ (1890-1959)
Sonata for Flute, Violin and Piano H.254 (1937) [16:26]
Sonata for Flute and Piano H.306 (1945) [17:35]
Madrigal Sonata for Flute, Violin and Piano H291 (1942) [9:01]
Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano H.300 (1944) [19:24]
Agata Igras-Sawicka (flute), Bartłomiel Nizioł (violin), Marcin
Zdunik (cello), Mariusz Rutkowski (piano)
rec. Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Hall, Warsaw, Poland, January,
March, August, 2010
DUX 0768 [62:16]
For me Martinů has the most distinctive voice of any composer
in history in that I can identify his music more easily and more speedily
than any other. His individual musical ‘signature’ makes him highly
attractive as a composer. He was one of my great discoveries when I worked
in Prague in the late 1970s and I came back to the UK with a large number
of records of music by him and added to them during each subsequent visit.
However, should I wish to obtain everything he wrote it would be a tough call
as he produced almost 400 works. The son of a shoemaker, bell-ringer and part-time
fire warden, he was born and lived in the church tower of St Jacob’s
church in Polička, a small town in Bohemia, close to the Moravian border.
The people of his home town must have been highly incensed, when, having raised
sufficient money to send him to study at the Prague Conservatory he was expelled
for “incorrigible negligence” after four years, caused mainly
due to his refusal to attend lectures that he considered far too rigid in
their dry pedagogy, preferring to learn by himself. Leaving his country in
1923 he headed for France where he continued his studies with Albert Roussel
and, when the Wehrmacht were close to Paris early in World War 2 he left and
ended up in New York in 1941, where he spent the next twelve years writing
many works, including his six symphonies.
The four compositions on this disc are very typical of Martinů and are
delightful and highly successful with his characteristic ‘joie de vivre’
evident at every turn. In the Sonata for Flute, Violin and Piano of
1937 his recognisable voice is immediately to the fore with all three instruments
sounding very “bird like”, setting up a fast pace right from the
off and each equally sharing the tunes. When I use the phrase ‘joie
de vivre’ I don’t mean that Martinů lacks a serious side
but the second movement is a reflective rather than a sad adagio and
the mood soon returns to sunny in the third movement which returns to the
themes of the first, even though it too has some serious moments. The final
movement marked moderato also has a staid aspect but is generally happy
sounding and the piece ends on an optimistic and upbeat note. The Sonata
for Flute and Piano of 1945 again begins with Martinů’s trademark
sound with a dialogue between the two instruments that is both beautiful and
playful at the same time. It sounds like two children playing a game of ‘catch
me if you can’. The adagio strikes a sombre note with a lovely
main theme carried by the flute though there is plenty for the piano to do
with some powerful statements from it around two minutes in, after which they
both share the theme. This sonata is the only one of its type Martinů
wrote and it enjoys the position as one of the most popular and frequently
performed chamber works for the flute of the last century alongside works
such as those by Poulenc and Prokofiev. The third and final movement, so the
booklet informed me, has its roots in a summer holiday in Cape Cod where Martinů
heard a whippoorwill, an American nightjar, calling all night. It is clearly
represented throughout in the movement’s happy and joyful tone.
The Madrigal Sonata for Flute, Violin and Piano is a short two movement
work and was composed to celebrate a specific event - the 20th
anniversary of the League of Composers in New York. Coming shortly after his
First Symphony and not long after he had arrived in the USA it was performed
as soon as it was completed. Martinů was a sought after composer right
from the beginning of his stay in America enjoying greater success than many
others who had fled the Nazi onslaught in Europe. Madrigals had exerted a
musical influence right from the 1920s when he attended a concert of English
madrigals in Prague. The inspiration the madrigal permits is evident in several
other of his compositions which include the word in their titles (Madrigals-Four
Pieces for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon (1938), Eight Madrigals for Mixed
Voices (1939) and Four Madrigals for Mixed Voices (1959)). The
sonata is a beautifully, perfectly formed and highly satisfying work which
has a songlike quality that highlights its influence from that renaissance
form. The middle section of the second movement is interesting for its jazzy
piano accompaniment.
Commissioned by Martinů’s flautist friend from Paris days René
Le Roy, the Trio for Flute, Cello and Piano of 1944, and the final
work on the disc, is light and happy sounding with cleverly concealed overtones
of Czech and Moravian folk music. Only the central movement involves a more
reflective tone. The American critic Virgil Thomson wrote that “It is
a gem of bright sound and cheerful sentiment; it does not sound like other
‘music’”. It is interesting to note that Martinů’s
music divides people between those who criticise him for being “derivative”
while others stoutly defend him as incredibly inventive displaying a boundless
energy that made him the most prolific of Czech composers. Jiří
Bělohlávek, principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra
says "I think the richness of styles in Martinů's work is due to his
inextinguishable thirst for novelty and inspiration, and his ability to extract
from many sources the right amount of elements into his own musical language.
Martinů is also probably the most prolific Czech composer and, of course,
you can find different levels of genius among them. But at his best, he is
irresistibly original, cosmopolitan and Czech in one stroke." That certainly
explains why I enjoy his music so much and one can only say that for those
who don’t it is their loss. This is a great disc and the young Polish
musicians clearly find an affinity with the music and the flautist Agata Igras-Sawicka
and pianist Mariusz Rutkowski give particularly fine performances. This will
give boundless enjoyment to any lover of Martinů’s music and I
would urge any who are unsure to try it too - they will also find musical
gems here.
Steve Arloff
Will give boundless enjoyment to any lover of Martinů’s music and
I would urge any who are unsure to try it too - they will also find musical
gems here.