Bohuslav Martinů - Puppets {Loutky} Book I - II - III
- Composer: Bohuslav Martinů (8 December 1890 -- 28 August 1959) - Performer: Paul Kaspar (piano) - Year of recording: 2009 Loutky (Puppets) for piano, Book I, H. 137, written in 1924 Loutky (Puppets) for piano, Book II, H. 116, written in 1914-1918 Loutky (Puppets) for piano, Book III, H. 92, written in 1912-1914 Book I 00:00 - 1. Colombine's dance {Kolumbína tancí}- Tempo di Valse 02:38 - 2. The new puppet {Nová loutka}- Moderato (shimmy) 04:16 - 3. The shy puppet {Ostýchavá panenka}- Andante moderato (chanson) 07:44 - 4. Fairy-tale {Pohádka}- Moderato 10:51 - 5. Puppet's dance {Tanec loutek}- Tempo di Valse Book II 13:25 - 1. Puppet theatre {Loutkové divaldo}- Allegretto (valse) 15:40 - 2. Harlequin {Harlekýn}- Allegretto (scherzo) 17:19 - 3. Colombine remembers {Kolombína vzpominá}- Tranquillo (intermezzo) 20:32 - 4. The sick puppet {Nemocná loutka}- Largo (chanson triste) 24:19 - 5. Colombine sings {Kolumbína zpívá}- Lento (chanson à la Grieg) Book III 27:43 - 1. Pierrot's serenade {Pierotovo zastaveníčko}- Scherzando 29:25 - 2. Little waltz of the sentimental puppet {Valčík sentimentální loutky}- Poco moderato 31:57 - 3. Colombine {Kolombína}- Andantino 35:07 - 4. Puppet Dance/Ball {Ples loutek}- Tempo di Valse "Puppets" {Loutky} were written between 1912 and 1924. The three sets, however, are named in reverse chronological order. Puppets III (H. 92) was written first, completed in 1914, then Puppets II (H. 116) in 1918, both composed in Polička. The last to be written, Puppets I (H. 137) was begun there and completed in Paris in 1924. While these three Puppets sets are considered as a whole Martinů's "first viable work," (Nadace Bohuslava Martinů, 2004) it was not the first to be influenced by marionettes. Like Debussy, Fauré, and Schoenberg, Martinů's imagination had already been captured by the puppet plays of the Belgian dramatist Maurice Maeterlinck, and in 1910 he wrote a prelude for large orchestra inspired by Maeterlink's short drama for marionettes, "La mort de Tintagiles"(Death of Tintagiles). The character names in various movement titles of Puppets, however, go back to the stock characters of commedia dell'arte (Pierrot, Colombine and Harlequin) which inspired much of traditional European pantomime and puppetry, while the music is that of stylized dances. Also included are ball scenes and scenes from the "private lives" of the puppets. To take one dance example, in Book I "The New Puppet"{Nová loutka} is represented by a "shimmy," a dance movement in which the body is mostly held still, but the shoulders are alternately moved back and forth. Flappers of the 1920s would make this modern novelty dance popular, and the name "shimmy" had been mentioned in American popular music at least as early as 1908, although the specific movement itself has earlier folk-dance origins. This kind of "new" transcontinental cultural influence in the early twentieth century would continue to affect the music of Martinů and many of his compatriots.
- Composer: Bohuslav Martinů (8 December 1890 -- 28 August 1959) - Performer: Paul Kaspar (piano) - Year of recording: 2009 Loutky (Puppets) for piano, Book I, H. 137, written in 1924 Loutky (Puppets) for piano, Book II, H. 116, written in 1914-1918 Loutky (Puppets) for piano, Book III, H. 92, written in 1912-1914 Book I 00:00 - 1. Colombine's dance {Kolumbína tancí}- Tempo di Valse 02:38 - 2. The new puppet {Nová loutka}- Moderato (shimmy) 04:16 - 3. The shy puppet {Ostýchavá panenka}- Andante moderato (chanson) 07:44 - 4. Fairy-tale {Pohádka}- Moderato 10:51 - 5. Puppet's dance {Tanec loutek}- Tempo di Valse Book II 13:25 - 1. Puppet theatre {Loutkové divaldo}- Allegretto (valse) 15:40 - 2. Harlequin {Harlekýn}- Allegretto (scherzo) 17:19 - 3. Colombine remembers {Kolombína vzpominá}- Tranquillo (intermezzo) 20:32 - 4. The sick puppet {Nemocná loutka}- Largo (chanson triste) 24:19 - 5. Colombine sings {Kolumbína zpívá}- Lento (chanson à la Grieg) Book III 27:43 - 1. Pierrot's serenade {Pierotovo zastaveníčko}- Scherzando 29:25 - 2. Little waltz of the sentimental puppet {Valčík sentimentální loutky}- Poco moderato 31:57 - 3. Colombine {Kolombína}- Andantino 35:07 - 4. Puppet Dance/Ball {Ples loutek}- Tempo di Valse "Puppets" {Loutky} were written between 1912 and 1924. The three sets, however, are named in reverse chronological order. Puppets III (H. 92) was written first, completed in 1914, then Puppets II (H. 116) in 1918, both composed in Polička. The last to be written, Puppets I (H. 137) was begun there and completed in Paris in 1924. While these three Puppets sets are considered as a whole Martinů's "first viable work," (Nadace Bohuslava Martinů, 2004) it was not the first to be influenced by marionettes. Like Debussy, Fauré, and Schoenberg, Martinů's imagination had already been captured by the puppet plays of the Belgian dramatist Maurice Maeterlinck, and in 1910 he wrote a prelude for large orchestra inspired by Maeterlink's short drama for marionettes, "La mort de Tintagiles"(Death of Tintagiles). The character names in various movement titles of Puppets, however, go back to the stock characters of commedia dell'arte (Pierrot, Colombine and Harlequin) which inspired much of traditional European pantomime and puppetry, while the music is that of stylized dances. Also included are ball scenes and scenes from the "private lives" of the puppets. To take one dance example, in Book I "The New Puppet"{Nová loutka} is represented by a "shimmy," a dance movement in which the body is mostly held still, but the shoulders are alternately moved back and forth. Flappers of the 1920s would make this modern novelty dance popular, and the name "shimmy" had been mentioned in American popular music at least as early as 1908, although the specific movement itself has earlier folk-dance origins. This kind of "new" transcontinental cultural influence in the early twentieth century would continue to affect the music of Martinů and many of his compatriots.