This week's selection for The Gaggle Music Club is Bohuslav Martinů’s Symphony No. 4 (H 305).

Bohuslav Martinů (1890 – 1959) was one of the most important Czech composers of the 20th century whose music combined Czech traditions with French modernism and American influences. After working as a violinist with the Czech Philharmonic, Martinů settled in Paris, where he studied with Albert Roussel. Here he absorbed Stravinsky’s rhythmic vitality and jazz elements and began to compose works that blended Czech folkloric idioms with cosmopolitan modernism.

Following the Nazi occupation of France in 1940, Martinů fled, eventually reaching the United States, where he produced major works, including symphonies, concertos and chamber pieces. The hallmarks of his music were energetic rhythms, relentless drive and a vivid orchestration that was influenced by French music. Czech folk tunes and dance rhythms were infused with neoclassical clarity and inventive harmonic color. He wrote in almost every genre: symphonies, concertos, operas, ballet and chamber music.

Like Dvořák or Janáček, Martinů drew on Czech folk idioms, but he filtered them through modern harmony and neoclassical structures. He embraced classical forms (symphony, concerto grosso, fugue), but infused them with modern harmonies and rhythms. His melodies were often lyrical yet restless, while his music could be joyous, witty, and full of vitality, but also suddenly dark, anxious and tragic.

Martinů never did return to Czechoslovakia. In later years, he moved between the United States, France, Switzerland and Italy. He died in Liestal, Switzerland, but is today buried in his native Polička.

Martinů composed Symphony No. 4 between April and June 1945, while he was living in New York. With the war in Europe coming to an end, Martinů's outlook was becoming more cheerful. This is reflected in the symphony. Unlike the darker, more urgent earlier symphonies (Nos. 1–3, written during the war), the 4th is suffused with joy, relief and optimism.

The Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Eugene Ormandy commissioned the work, and it premiered on Nov. 30, 1945, in Philadelphia. Although written in America, the symphony is full of Czech dance rhythms and melodic inflections. It reflects Martinů’s nostalgia and longing for Czechoslovakia. There is also lightness, transparency and wit that recall his years in Paris during the 1920s and 30s, when he absorbed French neoclassicism. Symphony No. 4 is easily Martinů’s most accessible and lyrical symphony.

Martinů’s music is distinctive for its blend of Czech folk vitality, French elegance and Stravinskian drive, filtered through his own restless lyricism and modern harmonies. For anyone unfamiliar with Martinů’s work, Symphony No. 4 (H 305) is the best possible introduction.

In this performance from 2023, the Prague Symphony Orchestra is conducted by Tomáš Brauner.