Bohuslav Martinů - Concerto for Flute and Violin (1936)

Bohuslav Jan Martinů (December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. After leaving Czechoslovakia in 1923 for Paris, Martinů deliberately withdrew from the Romantic style in which he had been trained. During the 1920s he experimented with modern French stylistic developments, exemplified by his orchestral works Half-time and La Bagarre. He also adopted jazz idioms, for instance in his Kitchen Revue (Kuchyňská revue). Please support my channel: https://ko-fi.com/bartjebartmans Concerto for Flute, Violin and Orchestra, H 252 (1936) Commissioned by Marcel Moyse Dedicated to: Marcel Moÿse and Blanche Honegger 1. Allegro moderato (0:00) 2. Adagio (5:00) 3. Poco allegretto (13:11) Janne Thomsen, flute & Bohuslav Matoušek, violin and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Christopher Hogwood In the neoclassical circle of composers, the principle of the baroque concerto grosso, using a group of solo instruments on one side and an orchestra on the other, inspired quite a few composers (e.g. D. Milhaud, A. Honegger or P. Hindemith). In the work of Bohuslav Martinů, however, the concertante form for two or more solo instruments with orchestra became one of the key ones, especially for the period of the 1930s. Commissioned by the famous French violinist Marcel Moys, Martinů composed the Concerto for Flute, Violin and Orchestra, H 252 in the autumn of 1936 (he also composed the Sonata for Flute, Violin and Piano, H 254 for him in the same year). The work was premiered on December 27 of the same year by Marcel Moyse and Blanche Honneger with the Orchester de Société des Concerts du Conservatoire conducted by Phillip Gaubert and broadcast live on the radio. The three-movement-unit follows the classic arrangement of fast-slow-fast. An important role in the instrumentation of the entire concert is played by the piano, enriching the color of the entire orchestra. In the first movement, both solo instruments present a fast cadence. The second expressively slower movement brings lyrical melodies, exposed alternately and together by both solo instruments. Towards the end of the second movement, a lyrical violin cadenza is heard. Lyrical counterpoint of both solo instruments and the string instrument group completes the movement. The last fast movement has the layout of a three-part song form, the middle cantilene part of which is replaced by the repeated first part after the flute cadence. The following fast coda intensifies the gradation of the movement and thus the entire composition. The author's preference for the concerto grosso principle stimulated the creation of monumental works such as the Concerto grosso, H 263 and the Double Concerto for two string orchestras, piano and timpani, H 271, which undoubtedly best represents this stylistic orientation.