Martinu, Bohuslav

ABOUT THE COMPOSER VITEZSLAVA KAPRALOVA, asking whether he might not be able to help her out, announcing her death, mentioning Safránek's booklet about him, his wife Charlotte, financial matters, his propaganda work, reflecting on the nature of the artist, commenting that the artistic oeuvre will endure as evidence of a nation's aspirations and achievements, observing that were it not for the war, his music would played all over the world, informing him that his compatriots not only did nothing to help him [leave Paris] but also were unwilling to save his manuscripts, reflecting bitterly that his government saved its own pointless employees and ministers, but is not interested in artists capable of really doing something, DISCUSSING MANY OF HIS COMPOSITIONS, including: the Field Mass, which he describes as embodying a longing for home as well as faith in the future, Tre Ricercari, the ballet Spalícek, Sonata for flute, violin and piano, Double Concerto, Concerto grosso for chamber orchestra, Sonata no.1 for violoncello and piano, Sinfonietta giocosa, and the Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra; in the letters Martinu also describes his situation in New York, states that he is well-known and appreciated there, regrets that he has not been able to salvage any of his manuscripts or clothing, and mentions various musicians including Ansermet, Sacher, Koussevitzky, who has offered him a position, the pianist Germaine Leroux, Rodzinski and Mitropoulos

...Nous avons quitté Paris en dernier moment sans pouvoir rien apporter avec nous et apres de longues recherché nous avons trouvé un abri très primitif, pour coucher et attendre les événements. J'ai envoyé mes manuscripts avant mais je suis bien inquiet, je ne les ai pas encore reçu. C'est fini pour la musique pour peut-être assez longtemps...Mes compatriotes m'ont bien laisser tomber, non seulement ils n'ont rien fait pour moi, ils n'ont pas voulu sauver au moin mes manuscripts. C'est la vie. J'espère que vous ne nous abandonner[ez] pas...Je vous annonce la triste nouvelle que M. Vita est morte a Montpellier, dans ces jours des tourmentes le 16 Juin... 



35 pages, various sizes, sixteen in Czech and five in French, five on postcards, with six autograph envelopes, Paris, Aix en Provence, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Jamaica, N.Y., and elsewhere, 16 October 1939-11 June 1943, where indicated



together with: an autograph letter signed by Martinu's wife Charlotte to Pavel Deutsch, written in America and describing Martinu's unhappiness due to the poor playing of an orchestra, 2 pages, no place, 12 March 1942; an autograph draft of a letter by Deutsch to Tomás Hejzlar, about his relationship to Martinu, 2 pages, 22 October [1975]; an autograph draft (?) of a letter, possibly by Deutsch to Kaprálová, 4 pages, 22 February [no month]; three carbon copies of letters written by Deutsch in support of Martinu, including to Leopold Stokowski in Rio de Janeiro and Cardinal Verdier in Paris, 3 pages, 4to, Lausanne and Rio de Janeiro, 31 March to 3 September 1940; and two typed letters and one handwritten letter to Deutsch concerning Martinu, including from Universal edition in Vienna and Otto Kraus in Paris, 4 pages, 4to, Vienna and Paris, 15 April to 8 May 1940  



also including:



Seven autograph letters to Pavel Deutsch, BY MARTINU'S FORMER LOVER THE COMPOSER VITEZSLAVA KAPRALOVA, signed ("Vita Kaprálová"; "Vitka-listicka" etc.), WRITTEN IN THE LAST MONTHS BEFORE HER UNTIMELY, TRAGIC DEATH ON 16 JUNE 1940, about Martinu, admitting that she would like to escape to Africa since two men have suddenly asked her to marry them, describing Mucha as her main suitor, discussing her wedding and Martinu's sadness at it, referring to her compositions, noting that she would like to compose some small orchestral pieces inspired by the landscape near Policka, and touching on other matters, 22 pages, various sizes, with three autograph envelopes, one stamped "3. V 1940", and another "31.I 1940") Paris, 1 November 1939 to 11 May 1940, where indicated; with one typed letter signed by Kaprálová's husband Jirí Mucha, [to Pavel Deutsch], about Kaprálová in hospital, 1 page, 4to, [Paris], 7 June 1940, two tears

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT COLLECTION OF MARTINU LETTERS EVER TO APPEAR AT AUCTION: dating from the most difficult and tormented period of the composer's life, these twenty-one letters cover the anxious months before the fall of Paris in June 1940, Martinu's flight from the city, his eventual escape to America, and his first few years in the New World. 

Martinu's correspondent, the Jewish-Czech entrepreneur Pavel Deutsch, played an important role in Martinu's life in the late '30s and early '40s, providing financial support, as well as lobbying influential people and authorities, including the legation in Washington, in support of Martinu. Originally a textile industrialist, Deutsch first heard Martinu's music in 1933 or 1934, and met the composer for the first time at the International Festival at Prague, where he heard The Miracles of Mary. Deutsch, like Martinu, also managed to save himself in the United States, where he later changed his name - to Paul Dayton. While the name of Deutsch/Dayton is not to be found in the well-known studies of the composer by Milos Safranek and Brain Large, the present letters lay bare the huge debt Martinu owed to his friend.  

Also included with this lot are seven autograph letters to Pavel Deutsch by the Czech composer Vítezslava Kaprálová, whose tragically early death at 25 from tuberculosis, on 16 June 1940, robbed Czech music of one of its most promising rising talents. Martinu had met Kaprálová in Prague in 1937 and had encouraged her to come to Paris where he was living; there they pursued an intense affair. Only two months before her death, however, Kaprálová married the writer Jirí Mucha, a letter by whom, about Kaprálová in hospital shortly before her death, is also contained with this lot.