Symphony No. 6 (Martinů)
musical work; symphony in three movements composed by Bohuslav Martinů
The Symphony No. 6 ("Fantaisies symphoniques"), 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 work Fantaisies symphoniques, and this is sometimes regarded as its only correct title.
Instrumentation
The Sixth Symphony calls for the smallest orchestra of all of Martinů's symphonies, and notably lacks both piano and harp. It is scored for three flutes, piccolo, three oboes, three clarinets, three bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, tambourine, bass drum, side drum), and strings.
Analysis
The symphony has three movements:
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".
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This entry incorporates text from “Symphony No. 6 (Martinů)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.