Editing Bohuslav Martinů (section)

=== 1953–1959: Europe ===
In 1953, Martinů left the United States for France and settled in Nice, and completed his ''[[Fantaisies symphoniques]]''; the following year he composed ''[[Mirandolina (opera)|Mirandolina]]'' and piano sonata, and met [[Nikos Kazantzakis]], beginning work on ''The Greek Passion''. During 1955 he created several key works: the oratorio ''[[The Epic of Gilgamesh (Martinů)|Gilgames]]'' (The Epic of Gilgamesh), the Oboe Concerto, ''[[Les Fresques de Piero della Francesca]]'', and the cantata ''Otvirani studanek'' (The Opening of the Wells); Charles Munch conducted the ''Fantaisies symphoniques'' premiere in Boston which gained the composer the annual New York critics' prize for the work.<ref name="BMDUP">Bohuslav Martinů 1890-1959 : Life and Work. Divadelni Ustav, Praha, 1990, p7-8.</ref> In 1956, he took up an appointment as composer-in-residence at the [[American Academy in Rome]] and composed ''Incantation'' (his fourth piano concerto) and much of ''The Greek Passion'', which he completed in January the following year.<ref name="BMDUP"/>

Jan Smaczny commented that in the compositions of Martinů's last years "we find the composer attempting through his music a vicarious homecoming",<ref>Smaczny, Jan. The Mystery which unites. In: Welsh National Opera, The Greek Passion - programme book. 1984, p33.</ref> although he never returned to Czechoslovakia. His prolific output continued in 1958 with ''The Parables'' for orchestra and the opera ''[[Ariane (Martinů)|Ariane]]''. The following year he attended the first production of ''Julietta'' since the premiere in Prague, in Wiesbaden. Further composition continued up to his death: the second version of ''The Greek Passion'', the Nonet, the Madrigaly, and the cantatas ''Mikeš z hor'' (Mikeš from the Mountains) and ''The Prophecy of Isaiah'',<ref name="BMDUP"/> "one of the most striking and most individual of Martinů's works".<ref>Malcolm Rayment in ''Audio and Record Review'' (July 1968), quoted in Martinú In His Time, Part 5, by Lambert, Patrick. Classical Recordings Quarterly. Summer 2013, Issue 73, p32-41. 10p.</ref>

From 1956, he lived in [[Pratteln]] in Switzerland as a guest of Paul Sacher. He died of [[stomach cancer|gastric cancer]] in [[Liestal]], Switzerland, on 28 August 1959. His remains were moved and buried in Polička, Czechoslovakia, in 1979.<ref name=JK>{{cite book |last=Kapusta |first=Jan |title=Neuveřitelná kauza Martinů |publisher=Arbor vitae |date=2014 |isbn=978-80-7467-043-5}}</ref>