Martinů: The Complete Music for Violin & Orchestra, Vol. 3

Featuring

Bohuslav Matoušek
Christopher Hogwood
Czech Philharmonic
Bohuslav Martinů

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Composer Biography

Bohuslav Martinu, the composer, had a large output of over 400 compositions.

Composition History

The Suite concertante, first version, was commissioned in 1938 by Polish-born American violinist Samuel Dushkin.

Composition History

The first version of the Suite concertante was inspired by Czech folk music, and Martinu originally intended to call it 'Czech Dances for violin and orchestra'.

Compositional Technique

The 'Juliette chord', a plagal cadence, is extensively used in the Rhapsody-Concerto and is connected to Martinu's opera Juliette and his love for Vítězslava Kaprálová.

Composition History

The Suite concertante, first version, holds the record among Martinu's unperformed works, not receiving its first orchestral performance for exactly fifty years.

Composer's Artistic Vision

In the Rhapsody-Concerto, Martinu began his final major stylistic development towards neo-Romanticism, describing it as a turn from 'geometry' to 'fantasy'.

Performer Biography

Bohuslav Matoušek, the violinist and violist on this recording, is a leading figure in contemporary Czech musical life and has recorded Martinu's complete works for violin and piano.