Violin works of Bohuslav Jan Martinů

Abstract

People say that the life of a person changes based on one’s own environment, that also applies to the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů. The purpose of this thesis is learning and understanding the violin works of Martinů throughout his life. The study is structured in three main chapters. The first chapter introduces the life of composer Bohuslav Martinů. His personality, his musical style and hardships in his life. The second part is analyzing the changes of style in his violin composition according to the timeline of his life with the list of his violin compositions and graph analysis on chosen compositions. Lastly, is understanding other people’s interpretation of his violin works in different surroundings (e.g., country, tutor, experience), with interviews from four violinists.