Bohuslav Martinů: Les Rondes, H. 200 (1930) For 2 Violins, Oboe, C Clarinet, Bassoon, Trumpet, Piano

Faculty from the Shenandoah Conservatory perform Martinu’s Les Rondes for 2 Violins, Oboe, C clarinet, Bassoon, Trumpet, and Piano October 2, 20203 Concert - Goodson Hall, Shenandoah University Akemi Takayama, Violin Rachel Zhao, Violin Stephen Key, Oboe Garrick Zoeter, C Clarinet Ryan Romine, Bassoon Mary Elizabeth Bowden, Trumpet Ryo Yanagitani, Piano I. Poco allegro 0:00-1:00 II. Poco andantino 1:11-4:03 III. Allegro 4:15-6:08 IV. Tempo di Valse 6:24-8:57 V. Andantino 9:08-12:54 VI. Allegro vivo 13:07-15:33 Notes on the piece from Silvertrust Editions: Les Rondes, in English the round dances, was composed in 1930 while Martinů was living in Paris. Jazz, or as the Parisians referred to it ’le Jazz hot’, was all the rage, and classical musicians such as Stravinsky were incorporating it into their compositions. Martinů did not escape this influence as he was up until this time drawn to all things French. In leaving Prague for Paris, he desired to leave behind its Germanic and Czech traditions. And upon his arrival in Paris, he compositions had nothing to do with these traditions but instead showed the influence of French post-impressionism. However, Les Rondes marked a turning point in his thinking and his partial return to his Czech musical roots. He originally intended to call this loosely constructed suite of six short movements Moravian Dances. And in the end, though he chose not to title the work as such, nonetheless, one can plainly hear Moravian folk melodies and rhythms, albeit in an updated, modernistic form. This is especially true in the finale, Allegro vivo, which in part bears a strong resemblance to Jewish Klezmer music. The six movements are marked Poco allegro, Poco andantino, Allegro, Tempo di valse, Andantino and Allegro vivo. The music is a striking melding of Moravian music and the French take on jazz, as witnessed by the use of a trumpet, something one rarely finds in chamber music, but of which the French were particularly fond. Unusual instrumentations were by no means the exception in the chamber music works of Bohuslav Martinů, most notably the works he wrote in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s being characterized by his experimentation with sound and form. It is from this period Les Rondes comes.