Martinu - Concerto for Violin & Piano, Violin Sonata no.3, 5 Short Pieces | Supraphon SU43302

Martinu - Concerto for Violin & Piano, Violin Sonata no.3, 5 Short Pieces

£15.68

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Label: Supraphon

Cat No: SU43302

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 1

Release Date: 8th September 2023

Contents

Artists

Josef Spacek (violin)
Miroslav Sekera (piano)
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

Conductor

Petr Popelka

Works

Martinu, Bohuslav

Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra, H342
Short Pieces (5) for violin and piano, H184
Violin Sonata no.3, H303

Artists

Josef Spacek (violin)
Miroslav Sekera (piano)
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

Conductor

Petr Popelka

About

Bohuslav Martinů was a violinist himself, yet the piano colour in many of his symphonic scores is his actual signature. The two instruments are assigned solo roles in the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra (1953), commissioned by Benno and Sylvia Rabinof, who duly premiered it in May 1954. Written concurrently with Symphony no.6 (Fantaisies symphoniques), the remarkable work is hardly ever performed nowadays. Different is the case of Violin Sonata no.3 (1944), created in the USA too, which has long been a staple of violinists’ repertoires worldwide. Amid the atmosphere of the imminent end of World War II and feeling homesick, Martinů conceived a monument whose duration is that of a symphony, a work teeming with contrastive drama and lyricism, and featuring a Dvořák-like nostalgia, evoking his Czech roots. In comparison with the two “American” works, the Cinq Pičces brčves (1930), dating from Martinů’s Paris period, contain far rougher harmonies and piquancy, attesting to a penchant for the Charleston, as well as a propensity to the contrapuntal style. On their album, the globally renowned artists Josef Špaček and Miroslav Sekera present Martinů as an astute creator of chamber music and concertos, a composer both international and Czech, widely known and still being discovered alike.

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