Dear Frank

This is a multilingual publication (Czech, English)

The correspondence between Bohuslav Martinů and Frank Rybka is another volume of correspondence between the composer and his collaborators and friends. It often surprises with its immediacy, openness and ease with which the composer asked for advice and help and described everyday events. Frank Rybka was the composer' s friend from his youth and belonged to his closest circle since the 1940s. Frank Rybka helped the Martinůs settle into their new life in the United States after their arrival in March 1941. He provided them with accommodation, transportation, books, new contacts, helped with negotiating fees or finding performers, but he also provided Bohuslav Martinů with an alibi during his holiday trips. This helpful role is also emphasized in a rare letter from Martinů' s friend Rosalie Barstow. This first volume of correspondence with Frank Rybka reflects the creation and performance of a number of Bohuslav Martinů' s compositions. It illustrates the complex search for a soloist for the Cello Concerto No. 2, the title of the composition Thunderbolt P-47, Martinů' s first ideas and work on the opera Mirandolina, or his reflections on the theme based on Dostoevsky' s novel The Frenzy. On a seemingly light surface, many dramatic events unfold that accompanied the composer and his wife Charlotte in the years 1941-1954.