Bohuslav Martinů

Bohuslav Jan Martinů was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. After leaving Czechoslovakia in 1923 for Paris, Martinů deliberately withdrew from the Romantic style in which he had been trained. During the 1920s he experimented with modern French stylistic developments, exemplified by his orchestral works Half-time and La Bagarre. He also adopted jazz idioms, for instance in his Kitchen Revue.

8 December 1890

Born on the same birth day (8 December): Anwar Siraj • Brant Alyea • Carmen Martín Gaite • Chava Alberstein • David Carradine • Georges Méliès • Ian Johnson (cricketer) • Johan Forssell (politician, born 1979) • Les Ferdinand • Lionel Gilbert • Matt Ellison • Matthew Labyorteaux • Nancy Meyers • Rüdiger von der Goltz • Steve Elkington • Teri Hatcher • Victor Nosach

Born in the same month (December 1890): Adolfo Ruiz Cortines • Carlos Gardel • Dion Fortune • Fritz Lang • Hermann Joseph Muller • Jaroslav Heyrovský • Konstantinos Georgakopoulos • Laura Salverson • László Bárdossy • Mark Tobey • Noel Odell • Percy Hodge • Prince Joachim of Prussia • Quincy Wright