"incorrigible negligence" - Bohuslav Martinu

The Worcester Chamber Music Society gave a wonderful concert at Assumption College in Worcester. It was a very interesting concert with the following program:

Martinu: Trio for Flute, Cello & Piano



Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 13 in C Major
Ravel: Chansons madécasses
Mendelssohn: Octet

I had never heard of Bohuslav Martinu, a Bohemian czech composer, but was enthralled when I heard the trio, a very lovely piece, written in 1944. It is a very melodic neoclassical piece with a hint of modern. Even though I cannot tell why, it did sound very czech to me. My friend and I were reminded - in a roundabout way - of writers like Kafka and Kundera and their wonderful way with words. I never gave that much thought, but of course music and literature have quite a lot in common in the sense that there is melody, rhythm, timing, voices and the likes.

Martinu was born in 1890 in Bohemia in a bell tower - how fascinating. He played with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra until he left for Paris in 1923. In 1941 he came to the USA. What struck me as most interesting though, that shortly after enrolling at the Prague Conservatory in 1906, he was thrown out for "incorrigible negligence", what ever that actually means for a violinist. Being 16 years old and coming to Prague, maybe he partied to hard and was always late for class? I have no idea and can only guess. He kept on going with independent studies though and persisted. That is a lesson right there.