Bohuslav Martinů

Czech composer (December 8, 1890, Polička, Czechia - August 28, 1959, Liestal, Switzerland) of modernist classical music. He wrote almost 400 opuses, including six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. In the 1930s he experimented with expressionism and constructivism, and became an admirer of current European technical developments. He also adopted jazz idioms. Of the post-war avant-garde styles, neo-classicism influenced him the most. He continued to use Bohemian and Moravian folk melodies throughout his oeuvre, usually nursery rhymes. He emigrated to the United States in 1941, fleeing the German invasion of France. Although as a composer he was successful in America, receiving many commissions, he became homesick for Czechoslovakia. He never returned to his native country, and he died in Switzerland. In 1962, Komorní Orchestr Bohuslava Martinů was named after the composer, with a permission of his widow Charlotte Martinů. The renowned Philharmonic Orchestra from Zlín was also renamed as Bohuslav Martinů Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in the early 1989.