Martinu: Early Orchestral Works, Volume Two

Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

The core sound is unmistakeably Czech, with a tang of Suk in the blissed-out divisi strings...it is juvenilia but it is attractive juvenilia, with an enigmatic, wordless offstage melody for soprano... — BBC Music Magazine, September 2016, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 27th May 2016
Catalogue No: TOCC0249
Label: Toccata Classics
Length: 66 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Martinů: The Shadow, H. 102

Work length1:06:26

$20.00

$26.00

$35.00

Dorota Szczepańska, Anna Maria Staśkiewicz, Agnieszka Kopacka
Sinfonia Varsovia
Ian Hobson

Introduction

Track length1:26

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

The Girl Appears

Track length3:16

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Girl's Dance

Track length8:58

$2.00

$2.60

$3.50

Lento

Track length3:55

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Allegretto

Track length1:44

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Moderato

Track length4:53

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Ball Game

Track length1:45

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

The Ball Falls

Track length0:17

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

The Shadow Rises

Track length5:32

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Comodo

Track length5:05

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Tempo di menuetto

Track length3:16

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Trio

Track length5:47

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Vivace

Track length1:27

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Allegro

Track length3:48

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

Allegro vivace

Track length3:23

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

3 Dark Figures

Track length0:51

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

The Dancing Continues

Track length6:59

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

The Girl Collapses Exhausted

Track length1:35

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

The Song Is Heard Again from Afar

Track length2:29

$1.00

$1.30

$1.75

About
Reviews
Explore

About

The generous quantity of orchestral music Martinů wrote between his late teens and early thirties is as good as unknown; some of it, indeed, has never even been performed. Toccata Classics continues Ian Hobson’s pioneering recordings of those early orchestral works with the one-act ballet Stín (‘The Shadow’) from 1916, which has its world premiere in this recording – astonishingly, in view of the quality of the music it contains. Although the action of the ballet is dark – a girl dances with her shadow in the presence of Death – Martinů’s score presents a series of remarkably buoyant and cheery dances, some of them showing the good-natured influence of Czech folk traditions, others evocative and atmospheric – and almost all of them irresistibly charming.

The score and performance materials for this recording were prepared by Michael Crump, the leading UK expert on Martinů’s music and author of Martinů and the Symphony (Toccata Press, 2010).

Ian Hobson, pianist and conductor, began his international career in 1981 when he won First Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition. He is in increasing demand as a conductor, particularly for performances in which he doubles as a pianist. Ian Hobson appears on a number of other Toccata Classics recordings as pianist; further CDs in both capacities are under discussion.

Reviews

September 2016

The core sound is unmistakeably Czech, with a tang of Suk in the blissed-out divisi strings...it is juvenilia but it is attractive juvenilia, with an enigmatic, wordless offstage melody for soprano Dorota Szczepanska…Sinfonia Varsovia play with spirit and engagement under Hobson, their string sound pure and direct

5th June 2016

This first recording of The Shadow...shows a youthful Martinu in thrall to the Richard Strauss of Ariadne auf Naxos...Martinu dismissed it as a “weak apprentice work”, but it’s packed with attractive music, performed with style by Hobson and co.

Martinu: Early Orchestral Works, Volume Two

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue