Challenging modernism: The presence of Bohuslav Martinů’s Works at the Venice International Festival of Contemporary Music

Through an examination of archival documents and printed materials, this chapter traces Bohuslav Martinů’s presence at the Venice Festival of Contemporary Music. His works were performed at the Biennale over an extended period: the world premiere of Inventions dates back to the 1934 edition of the Festival, followed four years later by Tre ricercari—both commissioned by the Venice Festival. In the post-war years, the Festival’s programs continued to feature a variety of Martinů’s compositions, from the controversial staging of Comedy on the Bridge (1951) to Suite concertante (1956) and Fantasia concertante (1959), the latter performed less than a month after the composer’s death. By reconstructing this trajectory, the chapter further considers the broader political and aesthetic tensions between modernism and conservatism that shaped Italian musical life under Fascism and in the post-war context. Ultimately, this case study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the transnational and transcultural reception of Martinů’s works, while offering critical insights into the historiography of twentieth-century music in Europe.