Novak: Pan, a Tone Poem for Piano

Featuring

Tobias Borsboom
Vítězslav Novák

Did you know?

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Critical Reception

After signing a letter of protest against critic Zdeněk Nejedlý, Novák's works, including the orchestrated version of Pan, began receiving negative reviews, which persisted for years.

Compositional Technique

Novák's compositions were significantly influenced by Czech and Moravian folk music, incorporating rhapsodic melodies and mirror rhythms.

Composer Biography

Vítězslav Novák, born Viktor, changed his name to Vítězslav to better connect with his Czech identity when he moved to Prague to study with Antonín Dvořák.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Novák's biographer Vladimír Lébl describes Pan as a symbol of Novák's essential pantheism and his close connection with nature, embodied by the god Pan.

Album & Artwork

For this album, art-painter Maryleen Schiltkamp created five canvases for each movement of Pan, performing live music painting during concerts, with one of her paintings featured on the front cover.

Compositional Technique

The work Pan uses a 'pan theme' (F-C-D-A-G) as a fundamental building block, which unites all three tonal functions (tonic, subdominant, dominant) and appears throughout the piece.

Performer Biography

Pianist Tobias Borsboom is a winner of the Dutch Classical Talent Award and Audience Award (2015) and has received praise for his repertoire choices and refined playing.