ISBN: 978-80-244-6541-8 | ISBN online: 978-80-244-6542-5 | DOI: 10.5507/pdf.24.24465418

Milý Karle I / Dear Karel I

Dopisy Bohuslava Martinů Karlu Šebánkovi z let 1929 až 1949 / Bohuslav Martinů´s Letters to Karel Šebánek from 1929 to 1949

Gabriela Coufalová

Bohuslav Martinů's correspondence with publishing worker Karel Šebánek (1903-1980) is another part of the critical edition of the composer's correspondence. The collection of letters, published in a bilingual Czech-English edition, dates from 1931 to 1949 and is valuable document of the friendship of two men whose personal and professional lives were influenced by the events of the 20th century. Letters sent from France from the 1930s present Martinů's desire to get a good position and return to his homeland, as well as his relentless effort to ensure the operation of his works and their publication, in which he is assisted by Karel Šebánek. Correspondence from the 1940s first documents the complicated pre-war situation, the complicated escape of the composer and his wife to the USA, the post-war letters complete the mosaic of life vicissitudes against the background of the worsening political situation during the coming Cold War.

1. edition, Published: 2024, online: 2024, publisher: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, Křížkovského 8, 771 47 Olomouc