Donald Macleod looks at Martinu's extraordinary childhood in a small town on the Bohemian-Moravian border.

Caught up in the events of the Second World War, Bohuslav Martinu spent the majority of his life living in exile. When he was born in 1890, the little town of Policka was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A period of independence for Czechoslovakia came to an end when, in 1938, Hitler annexed part of the country to Germany. By the time of Martinu's death in 1959, he was living in Switzerland, where he was receiving treatment for cancer and the Communists had assumed power in his homeland. Yet, despite his protracted absence, Martinu remained spiritually attached to his homeland and readily acknowledged the influence of its music. But equally, as we'll hear across this week, Martinu's music expresses a rich diversity of styles. From his years spent in Paris there are works informed by the popularity of jazz and by Debussy and Stravinsky in the swinging 1920s. When he moved to the United States he turned to symphonic writing. On his return to Europe, he was drawn to Renaissance Art and produced chamber music, basking in the warmth of Nice as well as turning to the poetry of his beloved homeland. Drawing on all these experiences, Martinu was a prolific composer who worked ceaselessly at his craft. He produced a treasury of more than four hundred works across every conceivable form and instrumentation, which reflect not only his roots but his thirst for novelty and inspiration.

Martinu's birthplace, Policka, is a place like no other. He and his family lived at the top of the tower of St. James's church. Memories of the bird's-eye view one hundred and twenty feet high informed Martinu's musical imagination for his lifetime.

Borova (excerpt)
Giorgio Koukl, piano

Nonet (1st movement)
Ensemble Wien-Berlin

Songs on One Page
Gabriela Benackova, soprano
Rudolf Firkusny, piano

Half-Time
Brno State Philharmonic
Petr Vronsky, conductor

Piano Concerto No. 2
Robert Kolinsky, piano
Basel Symphony Orchestra
Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor. Show less