What is Bohuslav Martinů?
[[File:Martinu 1943.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Bohuslav Martinů laughing,<br />U.S.A. Darien 1943<br /><sup>image: Bohuslav Martinu Centre in Policka</sup>]] '''Bohuslav Martinů''' (born Polička, [[Bohemia]], [[8 December]] [[1890]]; died Liestal, [[Switzerland]], [[28 August]] [[1959]]) was a [[Czechoslovakia|Czech]] [[composer]]. He wrote an enormous amount of music, including six [[symphony|symphonies]], 15 [[opera]]s, 14 [[ballet]] scores and many [[orchestra]]l, [[chamber music|chamber]], vocal and instrumental works. His music is often inspired by his native country. == His life == Martinů was born in the [[tower]] of a [[town]] [[church]] and that is where he spent the first seven years of his life, away from the rest of the world. When he was old enough to go to [[school]] he had to climb the 193 steps down to the street every day. He started to have [[violin]] lessons from the local [[tailor]]. He was very shy because he was used to being all by himself with his family in the tower, but he made good progress and in [[1905]] gave his first violin [[recital]]. Martinů soon started to compose music and nothing else interested him very much. He went to the [[Prague Conservatory]] to study the violin but he preferred going to the [[theatre]] and [[reading]]. In [[1909]] he changed to the [[pipe organ|organ]] school but he did no work and was expelled from school. He managed to avoid fighting in the [[World War I]] by composing. After the war he became a member of the [[Czech Philharmonic Orchestra]], playing [[second violin]]. In [[1923]] he moved to [[Paris]] where he stayed for 17 years. He was very poor. He had some lessons with [[Albert Roussel]] and soon became known as a composer. He married in [[1931]] and his wife worked hard to earn money so that he could spend his time composing. He liked to use Czech folk stories and literature as [[wikt: inspiration|inspiration]] for his music. In [[1940]] he had to leave Paris to escape from the [[Nazi]]s. He spent several months living rough, often sleeping on [