Written by the composer in the third person

He was born on 8 December 1890 in the small mountain town of Polička (geographically in Bohemia, but in essence a part of Moravia). He displayed musical talent in his youth, already performing as a violinist at the age of 8. At 16, he enters the violin department at the Prague Conservatory and then becomes a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (1913–23). In composition he is self-taught: he begins composing right away without any technical knowledge. His first composition, at 10, is a programmatic string quartet. His first big orchestral performance, Czech Rhapsody for Orchestra, Baritone, Mixed Choir, and Organ, is composed under the impression of Czechoslovakia's liberation in 1918. In 1922–23, he makes his debut at the Prague National Theater with his three-act ballet Ishtar and in 1924 with his one-act ballet Who Is the Most Powerful in the World? In 1922–23, he attends Josef Suk's class in composition, which he does not finish because he leaves for Paris to study with Albert Roussel. He remains in Paris from 1923 until 1941, making a trip to Bohemia each year.

Paris makes a decisive impact on his work, but even before he arrives—as far back as his earliest compositions—certain characteristics of Western culture emerge instinctively: lightness, clarity, a sense for pure form, an economy of means, rationality, and an avoidance of sentimentality. These are the elements that he considers in agreement with Czech character.

During his early period (1910–24), the cult of Smetana is in favor in Prague, as well as the great influence of German music (Bruckner, Mahler, Strauss) with all the merits and deficiencies of its metaphysical apparatus. This comes into direct conflict with his intuitive expression, and he searches for the correct recourse. Since he is not yet in control of his expression, neither technically, nor in terms of maturity—and with performances of Debussy becoming a great revelation—he fixates on the aspect of sound. This is his impressionist period with his choice of exotic themes (Chinese texts, the oriental Ishtar) and atmospheric compositions (As Midnight Passes), but this excludes Czech Rhapsody, which emerges spontaneously under the influence of the time: the liberation of the nation, the rallies, and the movement of the masses.