Martinů began composing at the age of ten and later moved to Paris in 1923 to study with Albert Roussel, before emigrating to the United States in the 1940s to escape Nazi occupation.
Performer Biography
Giorgio Koukl, the pianist on this recording, was born in Prague and moved to Switzerland in 1968, the same year Soviet tanks rolled into Prague.
Compositional Technique
The piece "Par T.S.F." (On T.S.F. Waves) by Martinů is a nod to modern life, with "T.S.F." being the French abbreviation for radio broadcasting.
Performer Biography
Giorgio Koukl first encountered Martinů's music during a masterclass with Rudolf Firkušný, a pianist strongly associated with Martinů's piano works.
Composer Biography
Bohuslav Martinů, the composer, was born in a church tower in Polička, a small Bohemian town in what is now the Czech Republic.
Recording & Production
This album is the fourth and final CD in a series presenting Martinů's complete solo piano music, and includes several world première recordings.
Composer Biography
Martinů was a prolific composer, writing over four hundred pieces of music, with approximately eighty of them being for the piano.
