The Symphony No. 6, H. 343, by Bohuslav Martinů was begun in New York City in 1951, after a hiatus of four years since its predecessor, and was tentatively completed three years later on 23 April 1953. In Paris, in the months following its completion, Martinů undertook some revisions to the score. It is dedicated to Charles Munch, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who premiered the symphony on 7 January 1955. Martinů originally called the workFantaisies symphoniques, and this is sometimes regarded as its only correct title.
Instrumentation
The Sixth calls for the smallest orchestra of all of Martinů's symphonies, and notably lacks either piano or harp. It is scored for three flutes, piccolo, three oboes, three clarinets, three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion, and strings.
Analysis
The symphony has three movements:
Lento—Allegro—Lento
Poco allegro
Lento
The symphony is quite unlike the previous five symphonies. In Paris in the autumn of 1955, Martinů described it to Miloš Šafránek as a work "without form. And yet something holds it together, I don't know what, but it has a single line, and I have really expressed something in it". The Sixth Symphony is distinguished from its predecessors by a canzona-like structure, with an exceptionally high level of invention. Motivic development is carried out in series of extended sections each with a distinct texture, steadily increasing in speed through to the end of the second movement. The reversion in the finale to the lento tempo of the opening movement is accomplished more rapidly, with the correspondence becoming exact only close to the end. The symphony opens with an hallucinatory, otherworldly texture that sounds like music only just in the process of being formed—music without rhythm, melody, or harmony. This is created using only nine instruments: three flutes, three trumpets, and three solo strings, in superimposed rhythmic layers that divide the slow beat into nine, ten, and twelve subdivisions simultaneously. The complexity produces what is in effect an aleatory texture, "a gateway into the imprecise realm of fantasy".
Discography
Czech Philharmonic, Karel Ančerl, cond. Recorded in Dvořák Hall, Prague, 23–24 February 1956. LP recording, monaural. Supraphon DV 5475. Prague: Artia, 1956. Reissued on Supraphon LP LPV 416, on Supraphon LP SUA 10327, Rediffusion LP HCN 8008.
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch, cond. recorded 23 April 1956. LP recording, monaural. RCA Victor LM 2083. : RCA Victor, 1957. Reissued in stereo on LP, RCA Gold Seal AGL1-3794, 1980. Reissued on CD, RCA BVCC-38467, 88697-04828-2. New York: Sony BMG Music Entertainment, 2006.
Czech Philharmonic, Václav Neumann, cond. LP recording, SQ quadraphonic encoded. Recorded January 1976. Supraphon 1410 2096.
Czech Philharmonic, Václav Neumann, cond. Recorded 14–20 June 1984, House of Artists, Prague. CD recording, stereo. Supraphon 33C37-7760. Tokyo: Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd., 1985.
Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra, Arthur Fagen. Naxos 8.553348. Recorded at the Concert Hall, National Radio of Ukraine, Kiev, 24–26 June 1995.
Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen, Jiří Kout. Recorded at Tonhalle St. Gallen, Switzerland, 1–11 June 2003. CD recording, stereo. Arte Nova Classics ANO 577400. Germany: Arte Nova, 2005.