Martinu?

[JSngry]

First exposure is this:

and....I dunno. Seems like there's a "there" there, but that's all that's there...pretty easy to follow (and get "satisfied") the first time around...not sure that further investment is warranted?

However, the man and his work have advocates here, correct? Maybe some of them can point me towards a different end result, maybe this is not the best record and/or work?

Because, yes, I enjoyed this, but otoh, it also quite often sounded like that, with a little paring down, it could be used as Cold War-era figure skating music.

But I'm open to suggestion, and more preferably, esthetic elaborations as to why this might in fact not be fleshed out Cold War-era figure skating music, so please state the case(s), please!

[Chuck Nessa]

[JSngry]

Same orchestra, different conductor, later works, this matters, I take it?

I tend to trust the Supraphon label in general when hunting around, which is how I got the one I got.

[Chuck Nessa]

An older recording with a legendary conductor. Good '50s sound.

[soulpope]

An older recording with a legendary conductor. Good '50s sound.

same applies here :

I believe most of Martinu`s music doesnt hit the spot from the very beginning (aka very first listening), but most likely will "reach you" step by step .....

[JSngry]

An older recording with a legendary conductor. Good '50s sound.

Found cheap thru Amazon Used...the album I have is from 1977 and not(?) a legendary conductor...there's enough variables there to give it a go, thanks.

[Chuck Nessa]

Neumann is a fine conductor. I can make a number of recommendations for his work.

[JSngry]

I believe most of Martinu`s music doesnt hit the spot from the very beginning (aka very first listening), but most likely will "reach you" step by step .....

Hoping that it and/or I evolves out of whatever it is that is triggering the Cold War-era figure skating associations. My problem, no doubt, but...

Neumann is a fine conductor. I can make a number of recommendations for his work.

I found the tempos on this one to be such that the music had a "pop" quality to it in even its darker moments...perhaps that is correct for those pieces, but I'm looking forward to hearing a different take on later works.

[Larry Kart]

Some overlap here, but "Les Fresques" may be my favorite Martinu work:

http://www.amazon.com/Martinu-Symphony-Memorial-Fresques-Francesca/dp/B00000JIYF/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432490370&sr=1-4&keywords=martinu+fresques

[soulpope]

Neumann is a fine conductor. I can make a number of recommendations for his work.

Definitely.

[Chuck Nessa]

Some overlap here, but "Les Fresques" may be my favorite Martinu work:

http://www.amazon.com/Martinu-Symphony-Memorial-Fresques-Francesca/dp/B00000JIYF/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432490370&sr=1-4&keywords=martinu+fresques

The duplication can be avoided by getting this:

[JSngry]

On a good day, you can get both of those Gold Edition discs at Amazon for a combined price that is less than a good lunch for two.

We're eating at home today, so this is one of those good days.

[soulpope]

On a good day, you can get both of those Gold Edition discs at Amazon for a combined price that is less than a good lunch for two.

We're eating at home today, so this is one of those good days.

as Mr. Nessa and me were championing for Vaclav Neumann, so on another of these "good days" you could go for this excellent Janacek Disc (japanese Reissue from a Supraphon 1982 recording for about USD 10 ....)

[Larry Kart]

Some overlap here, but "Les Fresques" may be my favorite Martinu work:

http://www.amazon.com/Martinu-Symphony-Memorial-Fresques-Francesca/dp/B00000JIYF/ref=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1432490370&sr=1-4&keywords=martinu+fresques

The duplication can be avoided by getting this:

One of the best Sinfoniettas too.

[JSngry]

On a good day, you can get both of those Gold Edition discs at Amazon for a combined price that is less than a good lunch for two.

We're eating at home today, so this is one of those good days.

as Mr. Nessa and me were championing for Vaclav Neumann, so on another of these "good days" you could go for this excellent Janacek Disc (japanese Reissue from a Supraphon 1982 recording for about USD 10 ....)

We'll be eating dinner in this evening, too.

[soulpope]

On a good day, you can get both of those Gold Edition discs at Amazon for a combined price that is less than a good lunch for two.

We're eating at home today, so this is one of those good days.

as Mr. Nessa and me were championing for Vaclav Neumann, so on another of these "good days" you could go for this excellent Janacek Disc (japanese Reissue from a Supraphon 1982 recording for about USD 10 ....)

We'll be eating dinner in this evening, too.

[MomsMobley]

Martinu mostly fantastic in all forms but there are masterpieces in ballets, cantatas, operas, serenades ++ that are relatively little known though nearly all have been recorded for Supraphon. Recently deceased, largly estimable if a smidgen dull sometimes in "early music" harpsichordist/conductor Christopher Hogwood was a GREAT Martinuvian... in a few works possibly even my fave Martinuvian but there's so much worth hearing, the symphonies very good, not 'the best,' cello concertos, all concertante violin works, goodly amount of piano music & concertos...

VERY interesting "jazz" & sports (really) influences in '20s, '30s too worth pondering, likewise transmigration of Czeck folk tales, literature, folk musics etc.

Jiri Belokalvek redoubtable

Super! Děkuji!!!!!

[Spontooneous]

He probably wrote too much. Could have slowed down and had a better proportion of inspiration to notes. (He was also a doodler; I remember seeing a reproduced manuscript page with a little steam train drawn up up the side.)

But you found a good starting place. I can't do without:

Symphonies 4 and 6 and sometimes 2 and 3

Piano Concerto 4 (!)

Frescoes

Flute Sonata

Julietta, short opera

Some of the solo piano music: Ritournelles; Sonata; Etudes and Polkas.

Violin and cello concertos are worth a look.

I remember hearing a really superior string quartet, maybe the Fifth, but I don't remember which one.

Lately my interest in his teacher Albert Roussel is growing. (Symphonies 3 and 4!)

[MomsMobley]

He probably wrote too much. Could have slowed down and had a better proportion of inspiration to notes. (He was also a doodler; I remember seeing a reproduced manuscript page with a little steam train drawn up up the side.)

Lately my interest in his teacher Albert Roussel is growing. (Symphonies 3 and 4!)

Spon, you should have ALL Roussel as a matter of course, including "Padmavati" & the melodies.

I like your Martinu list but will disagree with the 'wrote too much' though I once thought that myself.

But no. You're a healthy, fecund composer-- you compose. Just the ballets, operas and cantatas alone make for a world class composer and if he 'reverts' to 'formula' at certain times in certain works... who doesn't?

And, thankfully, Martinu was far from stuck within or inhibited by Austro-German monumentality etc.

Edited May 25, 2015 by MomsMobley

[soulpope]

Martinu mostly fantastic in all forms but there are masterpieces in ballets, cantatas, operas, serenades ++ that are relatively little known though nearly all have been recorded for Supraphon.

Super! Děkuji!!!!!

agreed - all of his "minor" works are worth seeking out ..... btw nice examples "Echec Au Roi ..."

[soulpope]

I remember hearing a really superior string quartet, maybe the Fifth, but I don't remember which one.

IMO both landmark recordings

[soulpope]

actually another excellent performance including string quartet no 5 - recently i`ve found via the net a letter Martinu wrote at the time while working on this euvre (and his double concerto), which gives an idea about his inspirations :

"… in the mountains, almost completely isolated from the outside world. – in a countryside full of sunlight and the song of birds – while somewhere in Europe the great tragedy that was relentlessly approaching the frontiers of my homeland was being prepared. With anguish we listened every day to the news bulletins on the radio, trying to find encouragement and hope that did not come. The clouds were quickly gathering and becoming steadily more threatening. During this time I was at work on the Double Concerto; but all my thoughts and longings were constantly with my endangered country, where only a few months before I had been fulfilled with such hope and joy by the unforgettable moments at the Sokol Festival."

Edited May 25, 2015 by soulpope

[mikeweil]

If you like violin concertos, Christopher Hogwood conducted a series of albums with Czech musicians which were widely appreciated. But any of the many recordings with Czech orchestras are great, there even is one collecting his jazz inspired works.

Besides that I love his piano music, which was splendidly recorded by Radoslav Kvapil, who has the perfect feeling for this music. He did a total of three CDs but the original issues are hard to come by, the one pictured is a cheap one disc excerpt.

There is a very good biography by Milos Safranek, but I have no idea whether there is an English translation.

[soulpope]

Besides that I love his piano music, which was splendidly recorded by Radoslav Kvapil, who has the perfect feeling for this music. He did a total of three CDs but the original issues are hard to come by, the one pictured is a cheap one disc excerpt.

There is a very good biography by Milos Safranek, but I have no idea whether there is an English translation.

The Kvapil Martinu recordings are mighty fine ....

[Larry Kart]

I found "Julietta" on LPs about 25 years ago. Magical.