Bohuslav Martinů und der intellektuelle Skeptizismus

Those engaged in research on Bohuslav Martinů are not uncommonly viewed with amusement by Germano-centric musicology. Here Martinů’s aesthetic of ‘Latin’ clarity and simplicity comes up against opposition that does not seem justifiable through purely rational considerations. It was Martinů’s special desire to avoid exaggerated pathos and false tragedy; rather, music was to convey joy – in the sense of his models Mozart and Dvořák. Martinů speaks of ‘poetry’ and ‘absolute beauty’ as the ‘hidden essence of art’. It can be supposed that opponents of Martinů adopt an ideology of scepticism that veils their latent but ever-present desire for ‘poetic’ music.