Bohuslav Martinů - Duos and Trio for strings - Beethoven String Trio

Opgenomen in de St. Vavrinec-kerk, Praag, 2001

CHOC DU MONDE DE LA MUSIQUE JUILLET 2001

"Martinů left a flowering of seemingly unpretentious chamber works, full of transparency and light, whose induced messages alow themselves to be understood only after long familiarity with his method of communication. In the Paris of the 1920s, he was writing in the space of a few days for Stanislav Novak and Maurits Frank the Duo No. 1 they play December 9, 1925. This short diptych, characteristic of his jazzy 'Parisian' style, juxtaposes a Praeludium, worthy of the Bach of the Partitas, and a polytonal, syncopated Rondo, an exuberant, virtuoso stroll through the Paris of Cocteau. The String Trio No. 2 is dedicated to the Pasquier Trio (Concerts du Triton, December 6, 1935). Each movement has recitatives in the form of cadenzas, close to virtuoso improvisation and inhereted from Roussel. In the Three Madrigals, Martinů, now in USA, attained the universal with this art of the instrumental madrigal which draws in sources from the Elizabethan viol music while at the same time subliming two masterpieces of Mozart, the Duos K 423/4. They are dedicated to the American duo of Lillian and Joseph Fuchs who gave the first performance on December, 22, 1947 in New York. This team gives also the premiere, January 5, 1951, of the Duo No. 2 H. 331, appearing less radiant or even austere. In 1958, Martinů was again a guest of Paul Sacher in Switzerland and wrote the Duo No. 2 H. 371 for violin-cello, pre-Classical in outline, respecting a broadened key of D. In its short fast-slow-fast-movements, it favours an almost plastic beauty of polyphony in external Allegros, the atmosphere of a sentimental stroll, not without nostalgia and close to decanted dumka in the central Adagio. In March 1959, he was writing a short didactic poco allegro for two cellos, 34 bars for the instrumental class of Suzanne Hitzel." - Booklet

"It doesn't look promising: a whole disc of string duos and trios by a composer that even his warmest admirers admit was both over-prolific and uneven. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Martinů was a string player himself, but the level of invention here is very high, and it often emerges in the forms of nervous, energetic toccata and folk-rooted lyricism that those admirers will recognise as 'real Martinů'. (...) Martinů quite often, notably in his only surviving String Trio, rewards his players for negotiating his energetic toccatas with brilliant but never merely showy cadenzas, and these fine players respond with ample tone and real sympathy for his idiom and for the touching nostalgia that often underlies it. The recording is satisfyingly full. Warmly recommended." - Gramophone's Classical Good CD, DVD and Download Guide, 2007

Beethoven String Trio
Pavel Hůla - Josef Klusoň - Michal Kaňka

Duo #1 for violin and violoncello (1927)
1 Praeludium - Andante moderato [4:17]
2 Rondo - Allegro con brio [8:00]

String Trio #2 for violin, viola and violoncello (1934)
3 Allegro [7:l5]
4 Poco moderato - Vivo - Allegro ma non troppo [7:05]

Three Madrigals (Duo #1) for violin and viola (1947)
5 Poco allegro [4:06]
6 Poco andante [5:42]
7 Allegro [5:37]

Duo #2 for violin and viola (1950)
8 Allegro [4:36]
9 Lento [6:15]
10 Allegro (poco) [3:39]

Duo #2 for violin and violoncello (1958)
11 Allegretto [2:40]
12 Adagio [3:55]
13 Poco allegro [3:10]

Piece for two violoncellos (1959)
14 Poco allegro [1:00]

TT 68:17

Download (354 MB): Deel I --- Deel II --- Deel III --- Deel IV