Bohuslav Martinů Critical Edition: Chamber music for 6-9 instruments is out!

Yet another volume of the Bohuslav Martinů Critical Edition is out! The volume recently published by Bärenreiter presents Martinů‘s chamber music for 6-9 instruments: Serenade No. 1 for clarinet, french horn, three violins and viola, H 217, Serenade No. 3 for oboe, clarinet, four violins and violoncello, H 218, Les Rondes for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, piano and two violins, H 200, Stowe Pastorals for five recorders, clarinet, two violins and violoncello, H 335, and Nonet No. 2 for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, french horn, violin, viola, violoncello and double bass, H 374. The edition presents a revised musical text, based mainly on the composer’s autographs and first prints as well as exhaustive studies of the his correspondence from both Czech and foreign archives. Edited by Jitka Zichová, the volume also provides the facsimiles of key pages and an extensive critical commentary detailing a number of new findings regarding the genesis of each work.

The Bohuslav Martinů Critical Edition project is scheduled to roll out over the next half century and is realized in collaboration with the publishing house Bärenreiter, Bohuslav Martinů Institute and with the financial support of Bohuslav Martinů Foundation, The Czech Science Foundation and the State Fund for Culture of the Czech Republic. The first two volumes featured Symphony No. 4, H 305 and The Epic of Gilgamesh, H 351, while the latter being recently awarded the German Music Edition Prize for "Best Edition" 2015 by The German Music Publishers Association.