La Revue de cuisine

Martinu was exceptionally proud of his Revue de cuisine, which he considered technically perfect. It must have pleased him too that, as a Czech composer working in Paris in the 1920s, he had written something so fashionable, so Parisian in fact, that as soon as it was heard there it was greeted with as much delight as comparable products from the more trendy members of the Groupe des Six. It was written in the first place for a jazzy ballet of kitchen utensils, The Temptation of the Saintly Pot, which was performed in Prague in November 1927. Its first concert performance, with the same six instruments but under the title Revue de cuisine, was given at the Concerts Cortot in Paris in January 1930.

Although the score was timed precisely to fit the action of the ballet - as the other kitchen implements, notably the wicked whisk, put obstacles in the way of the obviously desirable union of the pot and the lid - it is no less amusing in the concert hall. Beginning with a little fanfare and a piano solo that vamps until no one is ready, the Prologue is more intricately worked out than its easy manner might suggest. The Tango, a dance to which the bassoon seems to be best suited in this particular ensemble, leads directly into the Charleston, which clearly suits all of them. The Finale recalls the opening fanfare and includes an even more stylish Charleston among other popular dances.