Hlas lesa (The Voice of the Forest), is a 1935 radio opera in 1 act, H 243 by Bohuslav Martinů.[1][2][3]
Martinu in 1943
Recordings
Les larmes du couteau; with The Voice of the Forest - both sung in Czech: Hana Jonášová, Lenka Smídová, Roman Janál, Helena Kaupová, Jaroslav Brezina, Vladimír Okénko; Chamber Choir, Prague Philharmonia Jirí Belohlávek Supraphon 1CD
Brian Large - Martin̊u 1975 - Page 60 ... (The Silent Belt) which provided the stimulus and model for Martinu's Hlas lesa (Voice of the Forest) written between April and May 1935» to a libretto by Viteislav Nezval. The meeting of Martinu and Nezval was a happy event, for composer ...
Gramophone review "The Voice of the Forest is a radio opera, also one stage in Martinu's investigation of the evocative power of folk legend and popular theatre. The simple lyricism with off-stage wordless chorus at the outset (reminiscent of Copland's pastoral vein) announces as much; so does the Bride's folksong-like lament that she is being forced into marriage with a man she does not love. She is captured in the forest by some amiable bandits, discovers that the man she does love is another of their captives and contrives to release him. But from the moment she sees him, Martinu's folk-lyricism and modal harmony grow in strength until, alone in the forest with the lover who has still not recognised her, she unbinds his eyes and the music becomes heartfelt, direct and genuinely moving. Everyone joins in a danced finale before the wordless chorus returns: 'the voice of the forest', and how homesick the expatriate Martinu was for it. "
