Martinu?

[JSngry]

Before I get too far into this guy (and the non-symphonic works posted here are working for me much more than did the record I opened the thread with), this whole thing about "Cold War-era figure skating music"...does anybody else hear how I'm hearing that, or am I just having an total associative hallucination?

And if I'm not having that, can somebody redirect my potential associations to something less....that?

Serious question/call for help/etc.

Also, what's the deal with the sports pieces? That notion is one I find intriguing.

[Larry Kart]

Before I get too far into this guy (and the non-symphonic works posted here are working for me much more than did the record I opened the thread with), this whole thing about "Cold War-era figure skating music"...does anybody else hear how I'm hearing that, or am I just having an total associative hallucination?

And if I'm not having that, can somebody redirect my potential associations to something less....that?

Serious question/call for help/etc.

Also, what's the deal with the sports pieces? That notion is one I find intriguing.

I think I know exactly what you mean. Having come to like Martinu somwhere between a fair bit and a good deal over the years, there is a kind of blandly jolly tunefulness to some of his work, often coupled with motoric, sewing-machine rhythms, and there you have, if I'm thinking along the same lines you are, "Cold War-era figure skating music."

As for the sports connection, Janacek's "Sinfonietta" was commissioned by a gymnastic organization, who apparently planned to do co-ordinated mass exercises to it. Probably things of this sort were prominent in Czech culture.

[JSngry]

I think I know exactly what you mean. Having come to like Martinu somwhere between a fair bit and a good deal over the years, there is a kind of blandly jolly tunefulness to some of his work, often coupled with motoric, sewing-machine rhythms, and there you have, if I'm thinking along the same lines you are, "Cold War-era figure skating music."

Bingo, yes, exactly., thank you.

So, doctor, how do I get re-programmed?

[Larry Kart]

I find the Violin Concerto from 1943-4, commissioned by Mischa Elman, impressive (actually it's Concerto No. 2, but No. 1, from the early '30s, was lost/under wraps for many years because Samuel Dushkin, who commissioned it, had qualms, never performed it, and for some reason prevented anyone else from doing so until finally the cloak was lifted. I have Concerto No. 2 on an old Artia LP (via Supraphon), with Bruno Belcik (concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic) and Neumann. There are well-regarded versions on CD -- one with Isabelle Faust and Belhovcek, the other with Hogwood and a Czech violinist whose name I don't recall. Haven't heard either of them. There probably are others on CD as well.

[JSngry]

Ok, not to belabor the point, but these now-identified "moments"...is there a context of irony or code or some other reference that I should have in mind while hearing them, or this this just the way those cats rolled with it? Circus music, perhaps?

Just wanting to make sure that I don't get into one of those zones where the impression is so strong yet so inaccurate that when it comes time to choose, the strength wins out because the accuracy has not been properly fed...if that makes any sense...and I do appreciate the responses to this point, all of them.

[A Lark Ascending]

A relatively recent book:

http://www.toccatapress.com/cms/book/martinu-symphony-crump.html

Haven't read that but I read a bio many years back - very interesting life.

Martinu strikes me as one of those composers who just had to write - whether from inner compulsion or in order to earn his keep. So you inevitably get a mixture of very intense and quite pretty music. He reflects a number of the different trends of the time - from the relatively 'serious' symphonies through neo-classicism, that strange mid-European take on 'jazz' and a Hindemith-like wish to write functional music.

The symphonies are remarkable - I first got to know them on those 70s Supraphon CDs. There's a strange, phantasmagorical world in amongst the motor-rhythms - reminds me of that description that Bartok gave to some of his music as 'insect music'. Been enjoying the string quartets on Naxos that Soulpope mentions above in the last couple of years.

I don't know the full Juliette but this is a recent disc of abstracts:

Martinu is one of those composers who every now and then I overdose on. Probably because there is a lot more music than Janacek.

Edited May 26, 2015 by A Lark Ascending

[soulpope]

Before I get too far into this guy (and the non-symphonic works posted here are working for me much more than did the record I opened the thread with), this whole thing about "Cold War-era figure skating music"...does anybody else hear how I'm hearing that, or am I just having an total associative hallucination?

And if I'm not having that, can somebody redirect my potential associations to something less....that?

Serious question/call for help/etc.

Also, what's the deal with the sports pieces? That notion is one I find intriguing.

I think I know exactly what you mean. Having come to like Martinu somwhere between a fair bit and a good deal over the years, there is a kind of blandly jolly tunefulness to some of his work, often coupled with motoric, sewing-machine rhythms, and there you have, if I'm thinking along the same lines you are, "Cold War-era figure skating music."

As for the sports connection, Janacek's "Sinfonietta" was commissioned by a gymnastic organization, who apparently planned to do co-ordinated mass exercises to it. Probably things of this sort were prominent in Czech culture.

To put things into perspective, Janacek was mandated by the large national gymnastic organization "Sokol" (= "The Falcon") to compose a brass fanfare for them. Janacek work on this fanfare ended this being the first of five movements of "Sinfonietta", which he finalized within 3 weeks in 1926.

By no means this gymnastic organization was directly influental on the czech composers at that time, this was the (IMO) only mandate they ever granted - of course they used some works of czech composers for their festivities, for instance by Josef Suk ("V nový život" aka "In to a new Life" op. 35 c 1919/20 later dedicated to Sokol).

Nevertheless there was some connection between Janacek and Sokol, as Sokol was mainly a political aka national democratic organization (during the reign of communism 1949-1989 emigrants founded a lot of international Sokol entities abroad to maintain their hope they will be allowed to come back into a democratic Czech Republic one time ...... and a long - for manny too long - wait it was ....) and Janacek from his youth was member of Sokol - furthermore he was of the opinion that a national (Czech) democratic structure could be only preserved by a stable military safeguard and therefore he named the first draft of the forementioned work "Military Sinfonietta" .... still in 1926 he was invited to England by enterpreneur Rosa Newmarch and dedicated the composition - now as "Sinfonietta" to her ....

Hope the forementioned doesn`t put any harm on JSangry`s relief after Larry Kart previous explanation ;-) .....

Edited May 26, 2015 by soulpope

[papsrus]

I'm confused ....

[soulpope]

I'm confused ....

?

[Larry Kart]

Before I get too far into this guy (and the non-symphonic works posted here are working for me much more than did the record I opened the thread with), this whole thing about "Cold War-era figure skating music"...does anybody else hear how I'm hearing that, or am I just having an total associative hallucination?

And if I'm not having that, can somebody redirect my potential associations to something less....that?

Serious question/call for help/etc.

Also, what's the deal with the sports pieces? That notion is one I find intriguing.

I think I know exactly what you mean. Having come to like Martinu somwhere between a fair bit and a good deal over the years, there is a kind of blandly jolly tunefulness to some of his work, often coupled with motoric, sewing-machine rhythms, and there you have, if I'm thinking along the same lines you are, "Cold War-era figure skating music."

As for the sports connection, Janacek's "Sinfonietta" was commissioned by a gymnastic organization, who apparently planned to do co-ordinated mass exercises to it. Probably things of this sort were prominent in Czech culture.

To put things into perspective, Janacek was mandated by the large national gymnastic organization "Sokol" (= "The Falcon") to compose a brass fanfare for them. Janacek work on this fanfare ended this being the first of five movements of "Sinfonietta", which he finalized within 3 weeks in 1926.

By no means this gymnastic organization was directly influental on the czech composers at that time, this was the (IMO) only mandate they ever granted - of course they used some works of czech composers for their festivities, for instance by Josef Suk ("V nový život" aka "In to a new Life" op. 35 c 1919/20 later dedicated to Sokol).

Nevertheless there was some connection between Janacek and Sokol, as Sokol was mainly a political aka national democratic organization (during the reign of communism 1949-1989 emigrants founded a lot of international Sokol entities abroad to maintain their hope they will be allowed to come back into a democratic Czech Republic one time ...... and a long - for manny too long - wait it was ....) and Janacek from his youth was member of Sokol - furthermore he was of the opinion that a national (Czech) democratic structure could be only preserved by a stable military safeguard and therefore he named the first draft of the forementioned work "Military Sinfonietta" .... still in 1926 he was invited to England by enterpreneur Rosa Newmarch and dedicated the composition - now as "Sinfonietta" to her ....

Hope the forementioned doesn`t put any harm on JSangry`s relief after Larry Kart previous explanation ;-) .....

My only point, based on the connection between Janacek and Sokol, is that sports organizations of various sorts (gymnastic outfits, soccer teams, etc.) perhaps played a somewhat different and more prominent role in Czech life than they do in American life, were a force for social solidarity beyond the limits of simple fandom.. Also, I get a belated whiff of one aspect of Futurism, the idea that team sports were a quintessentially modern activity. Didn't Soviet composers (e.g. Shostakovich) write some "sports" scores?

P.S. Yup.

http://musicmotionblog.com/2010/07/world-cup-music-shostakovichs-soccer-match/

[soulpope]

Before I get too far into this guy (and the non-symphonic works posted here are working for me much more than did the record I opened the thread with), this whole thing about "Cold War-era figure skating music"...does anybody else hear how I'm hearing that, or am I just having an total associative hallucination?

And if I'm not having that, can somebody redirect my potential associations to something less....that?

Serious question/call for help/etc.

Also, what's the deal with the sports pieces? That notion is one I find intriguing.

I think I know exactly what you mean. Having come to like Martinu somwhere between a fair bit and a good deal over the years, there is a kind of blandly jolly tunefulness to some of his work, often coupled with motoric, sewing-machine rhythms, and there you have, if I'm thinking along the same lines you are, "Cold War-era figure skating music."

As for the sports connection, Janacek's "Sinfonietta" was commissioned by a gymnastic organization, who apparently planned to do co-ordinated mass exercises to it. Probably things of this sort were prominent in Czech culture.

To put things into perspective, Janacek was mandated by the large national gymnastic organization "Sokol" (= "The Falcon") to compose a brass fanfare for them. Janacek work on this fanfare ended this being the first of five movements of "Sinfonietta", which he finalized within 3 weeks in 1926.

By no means this gymnastic organization was directly influental on the czech composers at that time, this was the (IMO) only mandate they ever granted - of course they used some works of czech composers for their festivities, for instance by Josef Suk ("V nový život" aka "In to a new Life" op. 35 c 1919/20 later dedicated to Sokol).

Nevertheless there was some connection between Janacek and Sokol, as Sokol was mainly a political aka national democratic organization (during the reign of communism 1949-1989 emigrants founded a lot of international Sokol entities abroad to maintain their hope they will be allowed to come back into a democratic Czech Republic one time ...... and a long - for manny too long - wait it was ....) and Janacek from his youth was member of Sokol - furthermore he was of the opinion that a national (Czech) democratic structure could be only preserved by a stable military safeguard and therefore he named the first draft of the forementioned work "Military Sinfonietta" .... still in 1926 he was invited to England by enterpreneur Rosa Newmarch and dedicated the composition - now as "Sinfonietta" to her ....

Hope the forementioned doesn`t put any harm on JSangry`s relief after Larry Kart previous explanation ;-) .....

My only point, based on the connection between Janacek and Sokol, is that sports organizations of various sorts (gymnastic outfits, soccer teams, etc.) perhaps played a somewhat different and more prominent role in Czech life than they do in American life, were a force for social solidarity beyond the limits of simple fandom.. Also, I get a belated whiff of one aspect of Futurism, the idea that team sports were a quintessentially modern activity. Didn't Soviet composers (e.g. Shostakovich) write some "sports" scores?

P.S. Yup.

http://musicmotionblog.com/2010/07/world-cup-music-shostakovichs-soccer-match/

My only point was to elaborate on the Janacek - Sokol connection, which was cited in your original statement slightly misleading ....

[papsrus]

No longer confused ...

[Larry Kart]

My only point was to elaborate on the Janacek - Sokol connection, which was cited in your original statement slightly misleading ....

Gotcha. Thanks.

[Larry Kart]

Just got the Suk-Neumann recording of the two Violin Concerti, plus the Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra, and have listened to Concerto No. 1. Wow! -- the performance and the music.

http://www.amazon.com/NEW-Czech-Neumann-Suk-Martinu-violin/dp/B00000359V/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1433383243&sr=1-1&keywords=martinu+suk+violin

Have now listened to the rest. The second movement of Concerto No. 2 is very intense, the orchestral writing especially.