Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959), one of the greatest Czech composers, is regarded as a natural successor of Smetana, Dvorák and Janácek. Many musicians and music lovers all over the world will celebrate the centenary of his birth on December 8, this year. (1990)
Martinu was born and brought up in eastern Bohemia. He studied violin and composition at the Prague Conservatoire and was violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for 10 years. In 1923 he left Prague for Paris which became his second home. The stimulating music scene of that time in Paris had a profound influence on the further development of the sensitive young composer and his style. It was Martinu's association with and admiration for Albert Roussel in particular that was so meaningful to him. During the war he lived in America where he became one of the most played composers at that time. The last few years of his life he stayed with his great friend, the distinguished Swiss conductor Paul Sacher, near Basel in Switzerland.
Martinu was a most prolific composer (he produced some 400 scores) and there is probably not one form of music he did not use, from simple lied, and the piano pieces, to grand opera, chamber music in all its forms, symphony, tone poem, concerto, suite, cantata and oratorio. It is however interesting to note that the oboe concerto is the only concerted work he wrote for a solo woodwind instrument. The other concerted works including woodwinds are the Divertimento for violin, viola, oboe, piano and strings (1932), the Concerto for flute, violin and chamber orchestra (1936) and the Sinfonia Concertante for violin, cello, oboe, bassoon and chamber orchestra (1949). The character and style of Martinu's writing is well described by Oscar Thompson: "The basic Czech elements have remained in Martinu's music, though it has not the folk lilt of Dvorak's or Smetana's. French influences are discernible in the clarity, the precision and the balance of his writing. He has developed a strong personal harmonic feeling and the distinctive instrumentation of his orchestral works definitely heighten this. The refinement and the technical artistry of his music have been widely recognized"
The contemporary French-Rumanian composer Marcel Mihalovici who considers Bohuslav Martinu one of the greatest musicians of our time said about him: "At the time when so many of our friends lost themselves in anxious self-questioning and experimentations, Martinu went his own way and remained himself, unconcerned about aesthetic discussions. Although he wrote music of superb spiritual elevation he had the courage to
express himself in a simple and accessible idiom where attention to detail never obscured the greatness of the theme. Without making the least concession to public taste he was able to invent a language which, in the words of Beethoven, born in the heart, went to reach all hearts"
After I left my homeland and settled in Australia in late 1950, 1 frequently felt a need to include in my programmes as a soloist and recitalist, a significant or major work written by a Czech composer. At that time Bohuslav Martinu had gradually been emerging as the leading and best known Czech composer after Janacek. It was a dream and most wishful thought for me to have a piece in the oboe repertoire by Martinu whose music attracted me immensely. The sparkling rhythmical vitality with lots of syncopations, the simple but most original and kaleidoscopic harmonic textures with touches of bitonality and polytonality always resolved, and the fresh, highly personal and colourful instrumentation were the characteristic elements of Martinu's music which I always found so appealing. And it was my admiration and love of his works known to me that made me write to him, asking him to compose something for the oboe. The first attempt was not successful. Martinu wrote back that he was much too busy at that time. However, he did not dismiss my plea and to my great pleasure he wrote later (22.9.1954) that he was now considering to write a concerto for me and that he would like me to give its first performance.
In his letter from May 14,1955, written in MontBoron, France he told me that the oboe concerto will be finished in about 10 days time and he continued: "The oboe part is brilliant, but there is always enough time for you to breathe. I am sure that you will have success with the concerto. Feel free to make final adjustments in the virtuoso passages to suit your own personal technique and the possibilities of the instrument. I wrote for you two cadenzas... and make sure that you will get a good fee for the first performance. . ."
And indeed, Martinu kept his promise, com- pleted the concerto in May 1955 and sent me a copy of his manuscript score shortly afterwards. The world premiere was arranged by the Australian Broadcasting Commission and I played the solo part with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt at a concert in the Sydney Town Hall in August, 1956. 1 also played the first European performance with the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt in Hamburg (March 1958), and recorded it for the Austrian Radio with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra (March 1958) in Vienna and gave
its first British performance on the Third Programme of the B.B.C. in London (June 1958).
Evelyn Rothwell played the work at a concert of the Halle Orchestra, conducted by her husband, Sir John Barbirolli, on August 24, 1959, just four days before Martinu died. The first performance of the concerto in the U.S.A. was given by Daniel Stolper, with the Eastman Chamber Orchestra in Rochester, N.Y., in July 1965.
In March 1958, after I had performed the concerto a number of times, I discussed it with the composer in Basel. On my suggestion Martinu agreed to omit the second cadenza in the last movement. I thought at that time, that it might be almost too much to have two cadenzas in a relatively short concerto. However later on, when I recorded the concerto, I wanted to be completely faithful to the original and I included and played the second cadenza as well. We also discussed the instrumentation of the last movement which I found a little too heavy for the solo part. He agreed and intended to thin down slightly the instrumentation in several sections. However his progressing illness prevented him from doing it.
Unfortunately, there are a few errors in the printed copies of both the solo part and the full score, with some minor discrepancies, or at least ambiguities, with the original manuscript.
The orchestra for the concerto comprises two flutes, two clarinets, a bassoon, two horns, trumpet, piano and strings.
In the first movement MODERATO, after the orchestral opening the oboe starts with a broad, vocal-like melody. The contrasting middle section has a scherzando character and the movement ends
calmly. Lyricism and deep feeling is evident in the orchestral introduction of the second movement POCO ANDANTE, with a prominent horn solo. The oboe enters alone and then is accompanied only by piano in a melody-like meditation. After another orchestral interlude the oboe continues in a series of virtuoso passages culminating on the top G-flat. The beautiful coda, simple, profound and harmonically most attractive, suggests a mood of deep peace and nostalgia.
The last movement POCO ALLEGRO, bubbles with vivacious, almost irresistible rhythmical vitality, reminiscent of a Czech "Polka" dance. In the middle of the movement the oboe has two cadenzas (the second one being omitted in the published score), before rejoining the orchestra in recapitulation of the opening sections. The concerto ends with a very bright and colourful conclusion.
Naturally I love the Martinu oboe concerto, and I think it is one of the finest in the oboe repertoire. I remember when rehearsing the concerto with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Karel Ancerl in 1961, that after we have played the first few bars of the last section in the second movement (between figures 5-6 in the printed copy), Ancerl suddenly stopped and with nearly tears of joy in his eyes he said, "This is absolutely beautiful:' and we continued.
I believe that the oboe repertoire has certainly been enriched
by this engaging and most original concerto which has already
found its way to major international woodwind competitions of
Europe.