Bohuslav martinu biography for kids

Bohuslav Martinu

Article by Thomas D. Svatos

Despite the fact he spent his last two decades in exile, Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959) was among the most prolific composers of the twentieth century.  Born in a church tower above the Czech–Moravian Highlands, he established himself in both Prague and Paris before the Nazi invasion of France forced him to flee to the United States.  He became a star in the U.S.

during the 1940s, but returned to Europe permanently in 1956.  His folk—cantata The Opening of the Wells (1955) became enormously popular in Czechoslovakia, dealing with themes of purity, rebirth, and the pain of exile.

Life

Bohuslav Martinů was a Czech composer of Austro–Hungarian, Czechoslovak, and then American citizenship.  His father's dual occupation of fire watchman and shoemaker accounts for his childhood living atop the tower at St.

Jacob's Church in the Eastern Bohemian town of Poli The OREL Foundation | Bohuslav Martinu | Biography KUWA