December 31, 200817 yr Here are my favorites: Birds and Butterflies of Paradise Fantasia for Theremin, Oboe, String Quartet, and Piano Oboe Concerto - 3rd Movement Viola Concerto - Premiere movement Trio for Flute, Cello, and Piano Symphony No. 4 The Greek Passion What I notice most about Martinů more-so than many other composers is his original style that is detectable in ALL of his public works. It's absolutely fascinating.
December 31, 200817 yr He's a VERY interesting composer. I've noticed a much wider disparity between his "good" works and his "lesser" works. He seems to be one of those who composes "hit or miss" pieces. His good pieces are actually GREAT works (like the Double concerto for strings, piano and timpani... in my opinion, his masterpiece, and one of THE great works of the 20th century) while his lesser works are just barely forgettable.
January 1, 200917 yr Yeah, Martinu is an interesting composer to me. His pieces seem generally quite mediocre (I still remember my trumpet teacher showing me the Martinu sonata and saying "the main challenge when playing this piece is to not get bored"). Having said that, he has occassionally come up with a piece that impresses me. I do quite like the third symphony for example...
January 2, 200917 yr I LOVE Martinu, like, lots. I specially love his pieces for Harpsichord and the Madrigals for winds. Awesome stuff, the quartets are also amazing.
