A sketch for the song The Swans (Labutě, H 78) is preserved in the Second Book of Sketches of Vocal and Piano Compositions 1912 (M 006a-k/D). Here Martinů notes primarily a sketch of the vocal melody, which he planned to underline with the text of the poem The Swans Wailed from the collection Království snu by Jan z Wojkowicz – the pseudonym of Jan Nebesky (1880–1944).
Jana Burdová, 2024