Help
Skip to main content

US TARIFFS UPDATE | August 2025 | No impact expected on your Presto orders | Read full details

Martinů: Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, Violin Sonata No. 3 & Five Short Pieces

Josef Špaček (violin), Miroslav Sekera (piano), Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petr Popelka

Martinů: Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, Violin Sonata No. 3 & Five Short Pieces
Among other works featuring violin and orchestra, one of the most immediately appealing is the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, written in 1953 towards the end of his sojourn in the...

Martinů: Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, Violin Sonata No. 3 & Five Short Pieces

Josef Špaček (violin), Miroslav Sekera (piano), Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petr Popelka

Purchase product

CD

$18.50

This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched.

Download

From$11.75

Download

Audio formats guide

96 kHz, 24 bit, FLAC/ALAC/WAV

$17.75

44.1 kHz, 16 bit, FLAC/ALAC/WAV

$14.75

320 kbps, MP3

$11.75

This release includes a digital booklet

Stream now Hi-RES 96 kHz, 24 bit
Among other works featuring violin and orchestra, one of the most immediately appealing is the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, written in 1953 towards the end of his sojourn in the...

About

Bohuslav Martinu 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 WWII and feeling homesick, Martinu conceived a monument whose duration is that of a symphony, a work teeming with contrastive drama and lyricism, and featuring a Dvorak-like nostalgia, evoking his Czech roots. In comparison with the two "American" works, the Cinq pieces breves (1930), dating from Martinu'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 Spacek and Miroslav Sekera present Martinu as an astute creator of chamber music and concertos, a composer both international and Czech, widely known and still being discovered alike.

Contents and tracklist

I. Poco allegro
Track length8:26
II. Adagio
Track length8:13
III. Allegro
Track length9:31
I. Poco allegro
Track length5:46
II. Adagio
Track length7:12
III. Scherzo
Track length6:05
IV. Lento - Moderato - Allegro
Track length7:11
I. Allegro moderato
Track length1:49
II. Andante
Track length3:01
III. Allegretto moderato
Track length2:15
IV. Allegro vivo - Presto
Track length1:16
V. Allegro - Poco moderato
Track length2:17

Awards and reviews

November 2023

Among other works featuring violin and orchestra, one of the most immediately appealing is the Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra, written in 1953 towards the end of his sojourn in the United States and an exhilarating piece that is by turns optimistic and bittersweet...The central Adagio is rapturous, but even in the agitated finale the soloists Josef Špaček and Miroslav Sekera find delicacy at the heart of things.
View download progress