Martinů
in Paris: A Synthesis of Musical Styles
and Symbols
By
Erik Anthony
Entwistle
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABSTRACT
Introduction
I.
A New Beginning: Life In Paris
II.
How Martinů
"Got Rhythm"
III.
Of Folk Tunes, Pastorals, and the Masses
IV.
Dvakrát Svatý Václave
(St. Wenceslas, Twice)
V.
An Aspect of Minor/Major Significance.
VI.
Fin de séjour: Julietta
and Musical Symbolism.
VII.Conclusion:
Martinů’s
Parisian Legacy.
MUSICAL WORKS
CITED
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABSTRACT
Martinů in Paris:
A Synthesis of Musical Styles and Symbols
By
Erik Anthony Entwistle
The Czech composer Bohuslav
Martinů
(1890-1959) left Prague
for Paris in 1923, a decision that profoundly
influenced his developing musical style.
Though he intended to stay for only
three months, Martinů
became a permanent resident of the French
capital, fleeing only days before the
Nazi occupation in June 1940. During
this seventeen-year period the composer
cultivated a highly personal style marked
by the use of national, "Czech"
elements (polka rhythms, the Svatý
Václave chorales, and stylized
folk tunes, for example) along with
the more modern musical trends prevalent
in Paris. Of primary consideration in
this study is Martinů’s
syncretic approach to these elements.
This has been touched upon in the existing
Martinů
literature but up until
now has not been examined in detail.
Immediately striking in the
Paris oeuvre is Martinů’s
new approach to rhythm, with the composer
creating an individual, syncopated rhythmic
language blending stylistic elements
of jazz, Stravinskian primitivism and
Czech folk dance. Also apparent is Martinů’s
frequent use of humor and parody, which
is balanced, however, by a more sober
musical language in which conservative
elements act as a foil to more dissonant,
distinctly "modern" ones.
This is one important impetus behind
the composer’s use of folk tunes and
passages in pastoral style. Such deceptively
simple music often functions as a refuge
from the musical harshness that surrounds
it, an apparent metaphor for man’s longing
for solace amidst the relentless bustle
of modern life. This folk-inspired melodic
style also comes to represent the struggle
of the masses in several works with
distinct socialistic overtones.
The approach of war at the
end of the thirties coincided with the
composer’s intense affair with his pupil
Vítĕzslava Kaprálová,
and his symbolic use of national elements
gained new potency (and, given Kaprálová’s
premature death at age 25 and Martinů’s
future destiny as an exile, poignancy
as well). The works from this period
mark the end of this most significant
chapter in Martinů’s
life, one that yielded a fascinating
and rich musical legacy.
Introduction
I.
A New Beginning: Life In Paris
II.
How Martinů "Got Rhythm"
III.
Of Folk Tunes, Pastorals, and the Masses
IV.
Dvakrát Svatý Václave
(St. Wenceslas, Twice)
V.
An Aspect of Minor/Major Significance
VI.
Fin de séjour: Julietta
and Musical Symbolism
VII.Conclusion:
Martinů’s Parisian Legacy
