Promising start. Bohuslav Martinů Complete Edition in Opus musicum

The latest issue of Opus musicum includes a review of the Bohuslav Martinů Complete Edition. Praise is lavished on the edition by doc. Jiří Zahrádka of Masaryk University, who took a detailed look at two volumes, The Epic of Gilgamesh (ed. Aleš Březina) and Cantatas on texts by Miloslav Bureš (ed. Vít Zouhar). The Bohuslav Martinů Complete Edition is a project entrusted to the Bohuslav Martinů Institute by the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation and published by Bärenreiter.

The Bohuslav Martinů Complete Edition provides expertly prepared critical editions of the works of Martinů for the first time. Two new volumes are released each year, with a total of 106 planned in the scope of half a century. As yet the following volumes have been published: The Epic of Gilgamesh, Symphony No. 4, Chamber Music for 6–9 instruments I, Cantatas on texts by Miloslav Bureš, and String Quartets II (Nos. 4–7).

“The somewhat battered reputation of our publishing efforts should be remedied by the Bohuslav Martinů Institute and the Bärenreiter publishing house. […] The first volumes of the Bohuslav Martinů Complete Edition show promise of an extraordinary feat of publishing.” Jiří Zahrádka, Opus musicum 3/2018

Jiří Zahrádka’s review of the published volumes mainly appreciates the high quality of the musical text, the detailed description of the sources, and the forewords, which shed light on many little-known facts. Besides that Zahrádka takes note of the “polished preparation” and “exemplary production and printing” of the volumes. Drawing on experience from other contemporary complete editions, the musicologists use cutting-edge editorial methods, which is reflected in the high level of both content and form.

Doc. PhDr. Jiří Zahrádka, Ph.D., is tenured at the Department of Musicology of Masaryk University Brno and is the author of over a hundred studies. He is Vice-Chairman of the International Leoš Janáček Society and the editor of a number of critical editions of the works of Leoš Janáček.

You can read the whole review in the latest issue of Opus musicum 3/2018 here (available only in Czech).