Comments on On An Overgrown Path: More of Martinu's music please

You ask, "But sadly that set doesn't have the Slov...

2007-10-20T08:31:00.000+01:00

You ask, "But sadly that set doesn't have the Slovak 'edge' of the Neumann records, or is that wonderful analogue sound on the Czech LP pressings?" The answer, of course, is that both the Slovak "edge" of Neumann and other Slovak artists, plus those marvelously thick Supraphon pressings were both responsible for some of the great recordings in the history of music. They will never be replaced, oddly enough.

Martinu has a wonderful quartet for Clarinet, Horn...

2007-10-19T14:49:00.000+01:00

Martinu has a wonderful quartet for Clarinet, Horn, 'Cello, and Side Drum. It such a rarity for percussionists to be involved in a quartet like this. It's a joy to play and great music.

Email receivedDear PliableAs a fellow East Anglian...

2007-10-19T06:24:00.000+01:00

Email received

Dear Pliable

As a fellow East Anglian and music-follower I've read your blog with great interest for a while now, and I've always enjoyed reading your informed opinions. Today I felt moved to write as Martinu has long been a favourite composer of mine (since playing his extraordinary Memorial to Lidice with my County Youth Orchestra, many years ago..) and it's lovely to read something (anything!) about him for a change.

I wonder if you've heard his surrealist opera, Julietta (or The Key to Dreams) after the play by Georges Neveu. (I have it on an elderly Supraphon CD which is also no longer available, sadly). It's a really glorious work which has never received the attention it deserves - it meant a great deal to the composer, and he was working on revising it while on his deathbed. If you've never heard it I thoroughly recommend it!

All best wishes with the blog, long may it continue!
Jude

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Jude Brimmer

Parts of Martinu's setting of the Epic of Gilgames...

2007-10-18T22:00:00.000+01:00

Parts of Martinu's setting of the Epic of Gilgamesh are refreshingly new and unusual music ...

Yes, it is ironic that Martinu's music gets perfor...

2007-10-18T19:36:00.000+01:00

Yes, it is ironic that Martinu's music gets performed so seldom in the U.S.

With reference to my earlier post, I should have mentioned that Claus Peter Flor, during his years as Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony, DID perform a few Martinu works. In fact, Flor's performance of the Third Symphony is still talked about in Dallas.

Thanks for the Martinu interview link.

There is an MP3 file of an interview with Martinu,...

2007-10-18T19:15:00.000+01:00

There is an MP3 file of an interview with Martinu, in English, here. Duration is 2.57"

Drew, kind of ironic, isn't it, that Martinu is ra...

2007-10-18T19:13:00.000+01:00

Drew, kind of ironic, isn't it, that Martinu is rarely performed in the US?

He left France for the US in 1941, and became an American citizen in 1952.

But he returned to Europe in 1953, and died there in 1959.

Martinu's music is very seldom performed in the U....

2007-10-18T18:24:00.000+01:00

Martinu's music is very seldom performed in the U.S., and I have always regretted that. I have greatly liked every piece of Martinu's music I have ever heard.

The last conductor working here who programmed a Martinu composition every now and then was Dohnanyi when he was at the helm of the Cleveland Orchestra.

There is another (deleted) set of Martinu symphonies that is quite good, a set Claus Peter Flor recorded in the late 1980's for RCA. It did not last very long in the domestic catalog, however.

Email receivedI can never get enough Martinu.The s...

2007-10-18T15:05:00.000+01:00

Email received

I can never get enough Martinu.

The symphonies are a masterpiece.And the surreal opera Juliette, or the Key to Dreams is just out of this world.

Cheers

David Cavlovic