This book documents Bohuslav Martinů's writings and reception, particularly in relation to the Czech musical milieu. It consists of two major parts: (1) my opening study (“A Chronicle of a Composer”), where I discuss the contents of Martinů's writings and the issues of Czech musical politics that helped shape his career; and (2) a selection of Martinů's writings in translation (The Composer Speaks). In my opening study, I have made an eff ort to provide relevant commentary about Martinů's thought, yet readers are free to examine Martinů's writings first if they so choose. This book is not a biography, yet I bring into discussion many of the key moments of his career and many of his important works. No prior knowledge of the composer is necessary.

My primary focus in this book is Martinů's American Diaries, a revealing collection of essays, aphorisms, and reading notes that bring us into a direct dialogue with the composer. Martinů's diaries are exceptionally valuable since they were his outlet for exploring new ideas. But his diaries are also quite problematic since he never prepared them for publication and left many passages in a fragmentary state. I deliberated at length over how to present these writings: whether to produce a critical edition that captures each nuance of his text, or a more readable edition for the wider audience. In the end, I chose to produce a more readable edition. My decision to relocate certain kinds of material from the main text to the endnotes and iron out his idiosyncratic language textures might find objections among more specialized readers. Yet my hope is that my endnotes, at times quite copious, will satisfy those readers who will want to gain a greater sense for the originals. In the end, I believe the primary goal of bringing Martinů's ideas into the public domain warrants my decision to transmit his core meaning as clearly as possible.

The title of my book, “Martinů's Subliminal States,” underscores one of my key findings about the composer: that he was exceptionally preoccupied with the role of the subconscious during musical creation, something I realized only after carefully studying the original manuscripts of his diaries.