Field Mass

The Polní mše, H. 279 (English "Field Mass") is a Czech language choral work from 1939 by Bohuslav Martinů.[1] It was written to honor Czech volunteers fighting in the French army.[2] The libretto does not follow a traditional mass text but a free libretto written by Jiří Mucha based on Psalm texts and liturgical texts.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Nick Strimple Choral Music in the Twentieth Century 2005 Page 103 "Martinu's best-known choral work is the unusual and moving Field Mass, a masterpiece written in 1939 to honor Czech volunteers then fighting in the French army. The librettist Jiri Mucha (b. 1915) combined psalm verses and some liturgical ..."
  2. ↑ F. James Rybka Bohuslav Martinů: The Compulsion to Compose Page 88 "Around that time, Martinu ̊ asked Jíri if he would write the lyrics of his Field Mass (Polní mše). Jiří Mucha was also cast under her spell at this time, and he proposed to Vítka (as he called her) around Christmas time, 1939, and gave her a ..."
  3. ↑ Martinů's mysterious accident: essays in honor of Michael Henderson - Page 65 Michael Brim Beckerman, Michael Henderson - 2007 "It was edited by the writer Jin Mucha, the author of the text of Bohuslav Martinu's cantata Field Mass. (Mucha married VitSzslava Kapralova two months before her death, in 1940.) The period of Martinu's intense social commitment ended with ..."