In the following pages I will clarify the steps that I took to produce my translations of Martinů's diaries. I will also comment on Šafránek's Czech-language transcription of the diaries in DHS, because their faulty presentation, I believe, was a genuine factor in why Martinů's ideas have remained obscured for so long. As much as DHS proved to be a stumbling block in my initial efforts, I should acknowledge the tremendous benefit of having had Šafránek's work available to me since it transmits essential details about the original manuscripts; it also served as my primary reference for learning how to read Martinů's handwriting.

My work on Martinů's diaries began when I was a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, during the late 1990s. At that time I was awarded a small stipend from the Martinů Institute in Prague, which helped me relocate to the Czech Republic and begin an in-depth study of the composer. After realizing the aesthetic value of the diaries, I decided that they should form a central part of my doctoral dissertation. I made copies of the original diaries at the Bohuslav Martinů Memorial (now the Bohuslav Martinů Centre), located in the composer's hometown of Polička, but began translating from DHS to become more familiar with the content. After producing a number of drafts based on the DHS transcription, I was unable to gain sufficient coherence, which gave me no other recourse than to begin comparing DHS with the originals. At that time I began regular consultations with Iša Popelka, who had expertise in Martinů's manuscripts from his work as a curator at the Bohuslav Martinů Memorial. My sessions with Iša soon took a distinctly intellectual tone, as we discussed the import of Martinů's writings on numerous levels, proposing interpretations and offering counterinterpretations to certain problematic passages. These discussions were essential in helping me come to terms with Martinů's ideas.

What Iša and I found was that—despite his best intentions with DHS— Šafránek had left matters quite confused. First there were the transcription errors, which began appearing in droves, some of which seriously contradicted Martinů's thought.