publishing department the publishing department of the

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PUBLISHING DEPARTMENT

The publishing department of the Czech Radio was founded in 2001. The main aim and the sense of starting this activity is to issue musical works, which are produced by one of the nation-wide and regional stations, or by Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The publishing department intends to provide access to works written by authors composing between the wars, above all authors, who had close connection to Radiojournal; we intend to issue works, which are included in historical collections, the latest news of contemporary reputable com-posers and to promote and issue works by young and talented authors.

Czech Radio Music Publishing DepartmentVinohradská 12, Praha 2, 120 99CZECH REPUBLICtel: (+420) 22 155 3313; fax: 22 155 3355www.rozhlas.cz/nakladatelstvi/english

SALE

• we accept orders by e-mail or fax • orchestral parts for hire only

CUSTOMER SERVICES

Czech Radio Music Publishing DepartmentŘímská 13, Praha 2, 120 99CZECH REPUBLICtel: (+420) 22 155 3313; fax: 22 155 3355e-mail: [email protected]/nakladatelstvi/english

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Popular music 5

Main series 19

Historical series 95

CMF Edition 109

Books 115

Index 118

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Abbreviations:

Asax alto saxophoneBarSax baritone saxophoneguit guitarkeyb keyboardorg organpno pianoTsax tenor saxophonevoc vocalist

Popular music 5

Popular music

6 Popular music

instrumentation: pnodescription: part + CDpubl. No.: R 131price: 179,- CZK

The Music Publishing Department of the Czech Radio has published 20 mini-études for piano with a taste of jazz or rock. Technically, they are not overly demanding since the department, in col-laboration with the author, wanted to accomodate the wish of many non-professional colleagues - pianists. Part of the publication is an instructional recording of the sheet music on a CD, created with the participation of Milan Dvořák.

The Music Publishing Department of the Czech Radio has published 20 mini-études for piano with a taste of jazz or rock. Technically, they are not overly demanding since the department, in col-laboration with the author, wanted to accomodate the wish of many non-professional colleagues - pianists. Part of the publication is an instructional recording of the sheet music on a CD, created with the participation of Milan Dvořák.

Sheet music in braille can also be provided thanks to the collaboration with K. E. Macan’s Library for the Blind.

Milan Dvořák - Jazz Mini-Études for Piano

instrumentation: pnodescription: partpubl. No.: R 185price: 115,- CZK

Is it possible to carry out a dialogue without words? If it is, the present edition prepared for you by the Czech Radio Music Publishing Department should serve as an example proving the point. If you enjoy playing the piano, try and have a little chat with your friend, your partner or your student; try and share more than just a keyboard with them.

Some of the musical dialogues will be of a lighter nature, sometimes more substantial matters will be discussed; jazz elements can crop up from time to time alongside romantic or playful passages. At any rate, I hope it will never be dull, says Milan Dvořák, the author of the score. The thirteen dialogues were addressed both to less experienced and more advanced players. The work will help the beginning pianists unveil some of the secret beauty of four-hand piano music.

Milan Dvořák - Dialogues for Four Hands


It has been five years since the piano jazz mini-etudes came out, and here comes another sele-ction of twenty more plus a bonus piece. The author hopes that the reactions will be as warm as in the case of the first volume, and that the collection will find its way into the repertoire of music schools students as well as other pianists, both professional and amateur. The attached CD should illustrate the way the music can be played; it is not a set of strict rules of how to perform the pieces, though.

Milan Dvořák - Jazz Mini-Études for Piano II.

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“Our national folk songs has been sung and played in hundreds of different arrangements, whether accompanied by a single instrument or as an element of a symphonic composition. Despite that, I could not help myself and decided - encouraged by the Czech Radio Publishing House - to arrange, in my own way, twenty of them for piano. I made use of harmonic and rhythmic elements of jazz music, but at the same time tried to keep the technical demands of the compositions accessible. Above all, however, I did my best for the song to remain but a song; after all, I myself raise my hat to it…”

The set includes an instructive recording of the score on CD featuring, apart from the author, also Mr Miroslav Navrátil.

Milan Dvořák - Raise Your Hat to the Song - 20 folk songs arranged for piano

instrumentation: Asax, Tsax, keyb, pno, bass, drumsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 010price: 125,- CZK

The Love Song from the play „Buckram heads“ uses instrumentation of a typical orchestra of the 80‘s. The slow tempo highlights the chromatic progression of keyboard and bassguitar.

Ferdinand Havlík - Love Song

instrumentation: Asax, Tsax, BarSax, org, pno, guit, bass, drumsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 004price: 125,- CZK

Melody for Susan is reminiscence of the cycle of plays with Susan. The instrumentation is usual for the Semafor Band

Ferdinand Havlík - Melody for Susan

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8 Popular music

instrumentation: Asax, Tsax, keyb, pno, guit, bass, drumsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 003price: 145,- CZK

The composition „Rapids“ was written for the shows which were introduced by the leading figures of The Semafor Theatre. Two leads (Asax and Barsax) play with the sound of the full orchestra with an extended percussion section.

Ferdinand Havlík - Rapids

instrumentation: Asax, 2Tsax, BarSax, org, pno, 2guit, bass, drumsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 008price: 180,- CZK

The favourite dance of 60‘s Madison is treated like pop-orchestral composition. Its mood is created by harmony of four Saxophones with two guitars in the background.

Ferdinand Havlík - Semafor Madison

instrumentation: Asax, 2Tsax, BarSax, 3tpt, 3tbn, keyb, pno, guit, bass, drumsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 006price: 210,- CZK

Semafor Shaker has in comparison to the other Semafor compositions large instrumentation. There are 3 trumpets and 3 trombones in addition to four saxophones.

Ferdinand Havlík - Semafor Shaker

Popular music 9

instrumentation: Asax, Tsax, keyb, pno, guit, bass, drums, 2vocdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 007price: 155,- CZK

In the instrumentation of Semafor Twist in addition to usual colour of saxophones are also used two women‘s voices.

Ferdinand Havlík - Semafor Twist

instrumentation: pno 2msdescription: partpubl. No.: R 260price: 110,- CZK

An album is compiled from eight short pieces for piano four hands in a simple jazz style.

“I have always liked playing the piano four hands; the moments when I can sit down and get carried away by the lively stream of music have always had the power to cheer up my day and chase any gloomy thoughts away. The Na pohodu album has been written just for moments like that. I hope you’ll have fun playing the piano.”

Martin Hybler - Just Relax

instrumentation: pno 2msdescription: partpubl. No.: R 265price: 140,- CZK

An album of piano four hands compositions in a historical style for two young, yet skillful pianists.

The individual pieces that appear on this album were composed in the period from 1992 to 2005. Written as part of my composition studies at the Prague Conservatory and later at the Faculty of Music at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, these little compositions can bring to one’s mind the ideal of purity and gentility present in the music of the old masters, whose art I have always respected and greatly admired.

Martin Hybler - The Wallenstein Dance Suite

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10 Popular music


Karel Růžička’s album of jazz themes is far from being merely a sample of improvisations, though the fact that the album contains sketchy records of these improvisations is undoubtedly beneficial. The album is mainly a demonstration of the changes the musical means of expression within the realm of jazz music have gone through. Those who are currently dreaming of becoming jazz pianists might find this collection of sheet music of similar value as classical piano adepts find Beethoven’s Für Elise or Mozart’s Turkish March. And, on top of that, the CD featuring the author’s temperate samples of improvised variations creates a pleasant atmosphere effortlessly enticing to listen to music of a composer who has been cultivating his imagination for more than half a century.

„The first track on the album, Falešný vous (The Artificial Beard), comes from 1957, the year of my seventeenth birthday, and was the very first of my compositions to be performed in public and recorded for radio (by my friend, the pianist Rudolf Rokl). The remaining pieces appear in an order based on their character and tempo rather than on a chronological sequence. The fact that the time span between the conception of the first and the last compositions cover quite a period is also reflected in the title of the album – V zahradě času (In the Garden of Time).“

Karel Růžička - In The Garden Of Time


What you are holding in your hands is an album of twelve compositions in the form of both sheet music and a CD featuring the author‘s performances of the music.The main criterion was that the form of the piece should be simple, just like the form of any jazz standard or evergreen. Before you get started and first tones come out of your piano, try reading the few lines by Martin Kratochvíl that should work as a „user‘s manual“ or a „cookbook“ to help you prepare music for consummation.

The sheet music is a mere approximation; to get to the substance of the music, you have to get to know it and grasp it yourself. Don‘t get distressed by the seemingly difficult rhythm and harmony. It is a good idea to start by listening to the CD and reading the music at the same time. The sheet music is intended to help the „prima vista“ readers as much as possible. In stark contrast with the academically correct notation rules, the notation is intentionally simplified; it uses incorrect enhar-monic substitutions in chord symbols, and is full with other atrocities in order for the musician to be enabled to read less and play more.

Martin Kratochvíl - Piano solo

instrumentation: pnodescription: partpubl. No.: R 250price: 100,- CZK

The album contains twelve Czech Christmas carols, arranged for piano by Václav Kozel, including such songs as Veselé vánoční hody (Merry Christmas Feast); Co to znamená (What Does It All Mean); Nesem vám noviny (We Bring You Good Tidings); Já bych rád k Betlému (I Wish to Go to Bethlehem); Bratři a sestřičky (Brothers and Sisters); Na nebi andělé (Angels In Heaven). All this appears in a charming graphical design created by the academic painter Vladimír Hanuš.

Following is the arranger Václav Kozel’s note: “The Advent period offers countless opportunities for concerts where the upcoming Christmas time is always brought to mind. Christmas carols, however, should not be played too freely. It is more apt to choose songs and melodies that are not carols as such but that evoke the approaching time in a different way. Also such songs are to be found in this album. The tempos, the fingering, the harmony, and the dynamics of the arrangements should not prove too demanding. May this material for solo piano become a helpful assistant in your efforts to set up a programme that would get to the heart of the most beautiful time of the year.”

Slyšeli jsme v Betlémě (We Heard in Bethlehem) - arranged by Václav Kozel

Popular music 11

instrumentation: A) pno, B) pno, solo part (in B, C, Es)description: piano score, partspubl. No.: R 058price: 199,- CZK

Píseň pro Kristinku (Song for Christine), Koukám, jak ten čas letí (Watching the Time Pass by), Ten umí to a ten zas tohle (That One Knows This and This One Knows That), Červená aerovka (Red Old Rag Car). Do you like these songs? Would you like to play them or sing them by yourself? After the huge success of the first volume of RADIO-ALBUM that included the songs of Suchý-Šlitr, Czech Radio presents all the well known songs by Zdeňek Petr adapted by Dan Fiedler.

Besides transcriptions for voice and piano with voice variations of E flat, B flat and C pitch you may also find there scores for solo piano. The release is undoubtedly going to suit all kinds of basic art schools.

When the name of Zdeněk Petr is mentioned only a few people can put it together with the songs we stated above. For those who knew him he was most of all an author of numerous musicals - Sto dukátů za Juana (Hundred Gold Pieces for Juan), Filozofická historie (Philosophic history), Pan Pickwick (Mr. Pickwick) and countless songs - hits of their time. Of course, he was an author of a respectable number of instrumental arrangements especially in swing that he dearly loved and popularized it in his native country.

Radio-album 2: Songs by Zdeněk Petr


Marnivá sestřenice (Conceited Cousin), Pramínek vlasů (A Lock of Her Hair), Písnička pro Zuzanu (Song for Susan), Klokočí (Bladdernut) - that is just a tiny example of songs written by an insepa-rable twosome Šlitr - Suchý. They created most of their songs already in the beginning of the 60’s but since then each one of their creations has been living its own successful life.

Czech Radio publishing department introduces a new release of some of the famous songs adapted by Dan Fiedler. Besides transcriptions for voice and piano with voice variations of E flat, B flat and C pitch you may also find there scores for solo piano. It is the first music sheet of the upcoming series called RADIO-ALBUM. The series is undoubtedly going to suit all kinds of basic art schools but it may as well be used elsewhere. The name RADIO-ALBUM is not a random choice. Our publishing department follows an old tradition originating in the First Republic of Czechoslovakia. The tradition concerns piano transcriptions of popular pieces that could be performed for common people not only on dancing stages but later also through radio transmissions. The first volume of RADIO-ALBUM was released in 1925. We now hope for the old slogan “Our volumes are indispensable for the world of dance“ that used to be presented on the back cover of the old series to again play an essential role in our newly released volumes.

Radio-album 1: Songs by Jiří Šlitr & Jiří Suchý


Sometime in the mid-eighties I was asked by the legendary music printer Mr Bohumil Macák if I would be interested in having a few of my jazz piano compositions published. I agreed, since some of the work had been, more or less, finished already.

I took „The Green Satin“ and „Cacharel“, the piano versions of which I had sent to a competition in Monaco, and I composed a few more pieces. From the LP „V Holomóci městě“ („In the City of Olo-mouc“) I transcribed the solo recorded track „Jestřáb“ („Hawk“), including a part of an improvised solo. I also added the title tune of a series of 13 bedtime stories called „Zmatky kluka Zmatlíka“ („Mel‘s Pell-Mell“) that is entitled „Praménky“ („Trickles“) on this album and includes also a written-out improvisation. I wrote a simple composition for our Hawaian-Moravian granddaughter Tamarka that we play together from time to time, and I added a few more pieces.

Recordings of all compositions are on CD which is enclosed in the publication.

Emil Viklický - Green Satin

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S cizí ženou v cizím pokoji (With a Strange Woman in a Strange Room), Levandulová (Lavender), Štěstí je krásná věc (Luck Is a Beautiful Thing), Dívám se, dívám (I Keep Looking at You), Vana plná fialek (Bath Full of Violets), Kocour se schoulil na tvůj klín (Tommy Just Cuddled in Your Lap)… Songs of two excellent authors - Petr Hapka and Michal Horáček who have for more than 20 years now contributed to Czech popular music to our great satisfaction. All the songs we have been hearing by Hana Hegerová, Michael Kocáb, Richard Müller, Lucie Bílá or even by one of the authors Petr Hapka are now made available to you by Czech Radio publishing department; they are adapted by Dan Fiedler.

This music sheet represents another volume of Radio-Album series. Besides transcriptions for voice and piano with voice variations of E flat, B flat and C pitch you may also find there scores for solo piano.

Radio-album 4: Songs by Petr Hapka & Michal Horáček


Time is a strange entity that constantly follows us everywhere, it surrounds us, limits us, it helps to fulfill our needs as well as it hinders our desires. Either way, music is an art that leans heavily on time and radio transmissions just the same. That might be the reason why all the songs of this Radio-Album relate to time in some way.

The first three songs are poems by Jan Skácel set to music. Each one of them reflects a different time, a different season - spring „Modlitba za vodu“ (Prayer for Water), summer „Krátký popis léta“ (A Short Summer Depiction), autumn „Sonet o lásce a modrém portugalu“ (Sonnet of Love and Por-tugal Blue). The next two songs are inspired by folk poetry. They express the feeling of dawn in song „Vlaštovka lítá“ (Swallow Soars) and the whole human life in song „Člověk a země“ (Man and the Earth). An old Japanese text „Kéž by svět trval“ (Let the World Last) pictures man’s ancient desire to overcome the time limits set to him. The last four songs on lyrics by Jiří Brabec take us through human life from its very spring till its autumn, reminding us that everything „…měří nám čas a kreslí duhu letokruhů…“ (…Measures Our Time and Draws the Bow of Tree-rings…).

Radio-album 5: Jiří Pavlica - Songs for Hradišťan


Šťastné vánoce (Marry Christmas), Skořápky ořechů (Nutshells), Sedneme si spolu (Lets Sit Down Side by Side), Zvonky (Chimes), Pojď zpívat o Vánocích (Lets Sing about Christmas), Adeste Fideles, Rolničky (Jingle Bells), Tichá noc (Silent Night). Those are all songs we hear around Christmas time when we turn on our radios, televisions or CD players. But how about trying to play those beautiful songs by ourselves at home? Where to find the music sheets?

Czech Radio publishing department introduces another Radio-Album; this time it presents Christmas songs adapted by Dan Fiedler. Besides transcriptions for voice and piano with voice variations of E flat, B flat and C pitch you may also find there scores for solo piano.

Radio-album 3: Christmas

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They usually begin with „Once upon a time...“ or „Once there was...“ and often end with proclama-tion that all the characters live until today in joy and wealth they achieved by their virtues. What are we talking about? Of course the fairy tales! They accompany us in various forms throughout our lives - in books, radio programs, movie theaters and TV screens.

Melodies - essential components of fairy tale movies often stay in our memories longer than the story itself. Can you recall from which tales are the following songs? Rozvíjej se poupátko (Evolving bud), Muzikantova písnička (Musician‘s song), Prstýnek (Ring), Saxána, Kdepak, ty ptáčku, hnízdo máš (Where is your nest birdie), Tři oříšky (Cinderella), Voda, voděnka (Water, water), Dělání (Maki-ng) and many others? You will find the answer inside this album.

Radio-album 8: From One Tale to Another


For the 100th anniversary of Jaroslav Ježek’s birth (25th September 1906), Czech Radio publishing department has released ten songs: Civilizace (Civilization), David a Goliáš (David and Goliath), Když jsem kytici vázala (When Fixing Up a Bunch of Flowers), Nashledanou v lepších časech (See You in Better Times), Nebe na zemi (Heaven on Earth), Nikdy nic nikdo nemá (No-one Has Ever Anything), Pochod stoprocentních mužů (A March of Hundred Percent Men), Polka specielně aktuelní (Especi-ally Actual Polka), Stonožka (Centipede), Tři strážníci (Three Constables) of the Liberated Theatre repertoire as a part of the Radio-Album series. A perfect integration of rich melodics and old-time dances characterizes all of them. Largely satirical lyrics were written by Voskovec and Werich in the atmosphere of interwar period but in many cases they are still up-to-date today.

In this volume you will again find not only transcriptions for voice and piano with voice variations of E flat, B flat and C pitch but also scores for solo piano. Music arrangement was done by Milan Dvořák, an experienced jazz composer and arranger.


„Musical journalists have already written a lot beautiful and thoroughly true about Marie Rottrová. I cannot express myself so aptly, but I must agree. Especially when listening to her songs and enjoying over and over how plain, unpretentious and, at the same time, expressive the lyrics are. There is nothing autotelic about her singing. That is why one can believe every word she sings. It is also why her singing gently and pleasantly brings me either melancholy or joy. And it is also the reason why I eagerly embarked upon piano arrangements of some songs from her repertoire.” So much for the words of the jazz composer, arranger and pianist rolled into one, Milan Dvořák.

Lakomá (Stingy), Lásko (Love), Ty se mi lásko jen zdáš (Love, You are only a dream), Řeka lásky (The River of Love), Střapatá, nohatá (Tousled and Leggy), Večerem zhýčkaná (Spoiled by the Evening), Prstýnek (Ring), Měli jsme se potkat dřív (We should’ve met earlier), Padá hvězda, padá (Falling and Falling is the Star), Vrátil se zpátky ten vánoční čas (Back Came the Christmas Time) - those are the names of the songs selected for the seventh volume of the Radio-albums.

Radio-album 7: Marie Rottrová

Radio-album 6: Liberated Theatre in Melodies by Jaroslav Ježek

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Eva Pilarová. She came, she sang, she won. It was the year 1960 and the Semafor Theatre was loo-king for new talents. The moment we heard Cole Porter song Night and Day at Semafor, it became clear to us that Fate, having assumed the form of the double-bass player Milan Pilar, had found us a singer that other theatres would envy us. Jiří Šlitr immediately composed a demanding jazz piece for the play Such a Loss of Blood - as a lyrics writer, I was not of much use for the piece was conceived as a scat, i. e. a song where the lyrics are substituted by rhythmic syllables. Eva Pilarová coped with the composition with brilliance, and has ever since rendered our theatre much dutiful service.

Our paths parted, then met again, only to part and meet again and part once more - just the way life goes. At any rate, Eva Pilarová’s artistry has never been affected by this, she has always been great. And even today, this remains as true as ever, comments Jiří Suchý.

Apart from the arrangement for voice and piano with available versions for voice in E flat, B flat and C, there exists also a score for solo piano.

Radio-album 9: Eva Pilarová


Lady Carneval; Hey, hey Baby; Crazy Love (Láska bláznivá); Salty Tears I Cry (Pláču, pláču sůl); I Suffer from Love (Lásko má, já stůňu); Into the Towers (Do věží), Mistral (Mistrál), The Time of Birds‘ Arias Is Over (Konec ptačích árií), Rio de Janeiro, I Like to Live (Žiju rád). This is the list of the songs to be found in the sheet-music published in the RADIO-ALBUM edition.

Following are Karel Gott’s words from the preface reminiscent of the two authors: “...Hardly a day passes by without me being sent some music, a tape or a CD recording of a song sang - or rather narrated - by the author, with a letter enclosed saying that it was me and me alone that was on the author’s mind while they were composing the song. It is thus rather difficult to explain to anyone that the extraordinary success of the trio - Karel Svoboda, Jirka Štaidl any myself - stemmed above all from the sincere and spontaneous friendship we shared. It was simply as though we were one person, with a single head and a single viewpoint!”

Radio-album 10: Songs by Karel Svoboda & Jiří Štaidl


The eleventh RADIO-ALBUM is dedicated to all the fans and admirers of the songs written at the Semafor theatre: at the theatre whose unprecedented fiftieth birthday are just as unique in the world of the authorial theatre as the verve of its protagonist Jiří Suchý... ...Blues For You (Blues pro Tebe); Golem; Those Were the Times I Used to Live (Jó, to jsem ještě žil); Friends (Kamarádi); A Countryside Full of Darkness (Krajina posedlá tmou); A Song of Dew (Píseň o rose); Why Don’t People Like Each Other (Proč se lidi nemaj rádi); Vagabond Singers (Toulavý zpěváci); The Three Aunts (Tři tety), Hang Out the Flags (Vyvěste fangle). “Each of these tunes brings back a memory. Well, it could hardly be otherwise since those were the times I started to write about popular music, and the songs by the two Jiří’s of Semafor were the best there were,” says the musical publicist Jiří Černý in the preface to this album.

Radio-album 11: “50 Years of Semafor” Songs by Jiří Šlitr & Jiří Suchý II

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Lékořice (Liquorice); Stín katedrál (The Shade of Cathedrals); Tu kytáru jsem koupil kvůli tobě (I Bought the Guitar Just For You); Dr. Dam di Dam; Kdo vchází do tvých snů, má lásko (Who Enters Your Dreams, My Love); Je ráno, Anno (Morning Has Come, Dear Anne) – all these and more songs feature in this album. Václav Neckář is a versatile singer whose career has spanned several decades, as is seen on the example of each of these songs. There is a story behind all of these pieces: a story that has been turned into music. May these stories be strong enough to touch also those who will manage to learn the songs thanks to this little song-book.

Radio-album 14: Václav Neckář’s Songs “We Plough On Side by Side”


Towards the end of March 2010 the twelfth Radio-Album will be released, containing the music for the following songs by Petr Novák: What Is Love (Co je to láska); I Will Try Not To Wake You (Já budu chodit po špičkách); A Clown’s Confession (Klaunova zpověď); A Tombstone (Náhrobní kámen); Room No. 26 (Pokoj č. 26); Tell Me (Povídej); Vanessa; The Girl from the Sweet Beginning (Děvče z krásných začátků); My Shining Little Star (Hvězdičko blýskavá); The Girl in the White Blouse (Holka s bílou halenou).

Radio-album 12: Petr Novák “My Shining Little Star”

instrumentation: A) pno, B) pno, solo part (in B, C, Es)description: piano score, parts + CDpubl. No.: R 210price: 255,- CZK

„A song can cheer you up in no time. I tis up to you to decide what to do with the ones you can find on this album – whether simply to listen to my performance or to play and sing them for yourselves. In any case, I hope that both the listener and the musician will have a good time“ Yours Antonín Gondolán.

The lyricists Jaroslav Šprongl, Jan Krůta, and Pavel Vrba co-operated on four of the eleven songs that appera on the album Publisher by the Czech Radio Publishing House as part of the Radio-album edition. All the remaining pieces were written by the brothers Antonín and František Gondolán in their native Romani language; however, so as to enable also gadjos to enjoy the music whether as listeners or performers, the original lyrics were translated to Czech by Jaroslav Šprongl. The outstan-ding recordings on the CD feature, alongside Antonín Gondolán, such renowned jazzmen as Karel Růžička and Radek Němec, which, however, should not dicourage any less experienced singers and musicians from performing these songs.

Radio-album 13: Antonín Gondolán „My Own Way“

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Our national folk songs has been sung and played in hundreds of different arrangements, whether accompanied by a single instrument or as an element of a symphonic composition.As in the first album I made use of harmonic and rhythmic elements of jazz music, but above all I did my best for the song to remain but a song; after all, I myself raise my hat to it. The bonus carol is a presage of future album „Raise your hat to the carol“.

The set includes an instructive recording of the score on CD featuring, apart from the author, also Mr Miroslav Navrátil.

Apart from the arrangement for voice and piano with available versions for voice in E flat, B flat and C, there exists also a score for solo piano.

Milan Dvořák - Raise Your Hat to the Song II - 20 folk songs + carol arranged for piano


Milan Dvořák - Raise Your Hat to the Carol - Christmas songs and carols arranged for piano

instrumentation: pno, 4x melodic partsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 310price: 160,- CZK

Jaroslav Krček: „Prozpěvují anjelové“ („The Angels Are Singing“) - Christmas songs and carols arranged for small ensemble

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instrumentation: voc, pnodescription: scorepubl. No.: R 280price: 140,- CZK

Jolana Saidlová - Bílou cestičkou (In the White Path)

instrumentation: pno, guit, 4x melodic partsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 281price: 250,- CZK

Jaromír Nohavica - Collection of Songs For Small Ensemble 1 (arranged by Lukáš Sommer)

instrumentation: pno, guit, 4x melodic partsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 282price: 250,- CZK

Jaromír Nohavica - Collection of Songs For Small Ensemble 2 (arranged by Lukáš Sommer)

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Abbreviations:

A altoarp arpaAsax saxofono altoB bassoBarsax saxofono baritonobatt batteriab.c. basso continuoBsax saxofono bassocamp campanecampli campanellicast castagnettecb contrabbassocel celestacfg contrafagottocl clarinettocl b clarinetto bassoclav clavicembalocor cornocor ingl corno inglesecrot crotalieuf eufoniofg fagottofl flautofl becc flauto a beccofl picc flauto piccoloflicor flicornogr c gran cassachit chitaramar marimbaob oboe

org organoperc percussionipfte pianoforteptti piattiptto piattoptto sosp piatto sospesorec recitazioneS sopranoSsax saxofono sopranoT tenoretamb tamburotamb b tamburo bassotamb picc tamburo piccolotamb rull tamburo rullantetb tubatb b tuba bassatbn trombonetbn b trombone bassotimp timpanitmbo tamburinotrb trombatrgl triangoloTsax saxofono tenorevcl violoncellovibf vibrafonovla violavno violinoxil xilofono

Main series 19

Main series

20 Main series

instrumentation: 2cldescription: partspubl. No.: R 020price: 125,- CZK

Lonely Sadness is a spatial composition. Reshuffling of musicians in the concert hall forms the formal substrate of the composition and has also extra-musical implications as it depicts different situations in a relationship of two people.

It also inspires an interval choice. We proceed slowly from the point of consonant harmonics to-wards tense dissonant planes. Further on in the piece, the author utilizes effects of reverberation together with effects of tension between quarter-tones and minute rhythmical deviations. Adámek uses extreme clarinet positions and in order to achieve tones lower than the actual instrument range he imposes special techniques.

Ondřej Adámek - Lonely Sadness

instrumentation: Asax, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 141price: 130,- CZK

„Three Movements for Alto Saxophone and Piano were written in 1989 and they were first performed, in the original setting for clarinet and piano, on 26th May 1991 at a festival concert Janáček‘s May (Janáčkův máj) in Ostrava. The piece was first played by the clarinettist Valtr Vítek and the pianist Milena Pavlorková. The dormant history of the Three Movements was brought back to life only by the idea of resetting the composition for alto saxophone and piano; an idea that originated from the recent encounter with Roman Fojtíček, a saxophonist from Prague.

With only a few transpositions due to the range of the instrument and the piano part unchanged, the Three Movements were not difficult to rewrite. The premiere of the current version for alto saxophone and piano succeeded in proving the vitality of the composition already on the very first occasion as a studio recording of the Prague radio, and thus helped the piece set off on a new quest for audience.“

Milan Báchorek - Three Movements for Alto Saxophone and Piano

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, trb, tbn, perc, tymp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 225price: 165,- CZK

“Coined and assigned to the piece only after the score had been completed, the title of Scattering – Reintegration was meant to reflect both the original intention and the composition as it was eventually conceived. The original idea was to write a piece of music where disintegrated fragments of melodies and rhythmical patterns gradually turn into a coherent stream of music. This, however, does not really happen in the resulting composition. The separate fragments merely glide towards and eventually overlap one another, which – although a full integration is not achieved – does render the music more or less continuous. Just as any progress in time is non-continuous, so are all sounds audible at a certain moment always a result of the intersection of virtually independent layers that seem hardly to communicate amongst themselves; rather than that, they seem merely to overlap or immerse into one another only to regain their independence later on. From time to time they seem to intermingle at random. “

Hanuš Bartoň - Scattering - Reintegration for chambre orchestr

Main series 21

instrumentation: vno, vla, vlcdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 079price: 185,- CZK

„I composed the Six Old-fashioned Miniatures for the string trio on the instigation of my schoolmate and friend Petr Matěják. I wanted to compose very simple, „traditional“-style music, and, in this way, also to take some rest from the requirements facing the composer and performer of contemporary music, which I was snowed under in the course of my work on the Miniatures.

I sought inspiration in both folk and „classical“ music of the past. I used simple melodic and rhythmi-cal ideas, and I was working (with one exception) spontaneously, without any pre-given conceptions or patterns. From the nine pieces I completed, I chose the six that seemed most successful to me, and I gave them names based on the first impression I got immediately after completing them; the same applies to the name of the whole cycle. The level required of the performer roughly corre-sponds to the abilities of a conservatory graduate.“

Hanuš Bartoň - Six Old-fashioned Miniatures

instrumentation: cl, vla, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 151price: 175,- CZK

„I composed the Trio for clarinet, viola and piano at the beginning of the year 2001 and the piece was first performed in March at the festival „The Baroque and the Avant-garde“ in Záporoží in the Ukraine. The most significant principle of the work is the conflict of two differing relations between the instruments: the measure and tempo is either the same for all three instruments or the individual parts are, in this respect, autonomous. At the start, the clarinet is independent on the piano and the viola, whereas the latter two correspond with each other. The middle part of the composition is marked by the mutual coordination of all the three instruments; and towards the end, the piano part becomes entirely autonomous, while a firm relation is formed between the clarinet and the viola.

The purpose of this progression is to evoke arbitrary „pseudoprogram“ associations. The composi-tion follows a strict harmonic plan that should ensure a certain unity in the musical language of the work in spite of its loose rhythmical structure. This order is deliberately breached at the very end of the work where the piano part is completely separated from the others - even in terms of harmony. Here, the only remaining link can be found in the imitations in the viola of fragments of the piano part - a reminder of the initial concordance between these two instruments.“

Hanuš Bartoň - Trio for clarinet, viola and piano

instrumentation: fl, vno, vlc, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 261price: 190,- CZK

Zdeněk Bartošík (1974) gained his music education (in the field of composition) at the People’s Conservatory in Ostrava, at D. Kardoš Conservatory in Topolčany, and at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

„When composing, I always try to reach the point when I perceive the music as if it has been written by a “third person”. I find it important for the piece not to be written spontaneously, but with some theoretical insight; the final form of the composition, however, remains for me impossible to predict. It is a complicated process at the end of which I try to evaluate the resulting piece with respect to traditional criteria. This enables me to decide whether or not to further develop the material at hand. In Transformation it was my intention to transform the music into a more „“humane“ form. The initial ostinato-driven music is gradually transmuted into quasi solo parts and slowly heads towards the final pacification.”

Zbyněk Bartošík - Transformation

22 Main series

instrumentation: soprano solo, baritono solo, rec, coro misto, org, timp, camp, trgldescription: scorepubl. No.: R 127price: 275,- CZK

„Oratorio New Jerusalem for a mixed choir, baritone, solo soprano, organ, percussion and a reciter belongs to my most important compositions. I called the first part Good Friday after the poem from the Wallachian poet František Lazecký, who lived from 1905 to 1984.

In the beginning I used the text of prophet Isaiah to create the dramatic atmosphere in the first part. The end escalates with the text: „Then the horrid angel will pour miseries on your head and under his touches your heart will break with thirst and grief. Who then will comfort my sinful Jerusalem.“

Second part of the oratorio Holy city is diametrically contrasting and expresses the promise that God gave to those that honour his laws. John the Apostle writes in Revelation: „To him who overcomes, I will give the morning star. He will be dressed in white and I will never blot out his name from the book of life… Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.“ The oratorio ends with a hymn: „ Rejoice, rejoice, let us praise Our Father. Aleluja.“

Jan Bernátek - New Jerusalem

instrumentation: chitdescription: partpubl. No.: R 130price: 95,- CZK

“Nocturno speaks of rain. This theme runs through the whole composition as a symbol of airiness. Only with this in our minds we can move on to interpret it.”

Nocturno for solo guitar by Ivan Boreš is the winning piece of the composition competition especially set up by PRO GUITARRA association to accompany its regular interpretation competition. By its demanding technique Nocturno continues the series of 12 Études op. 1.

Ivan Boreš (*1976) pursued many musical styles as a self-taught man until he reached 24. Jiří Churáček brought him around to composition at the Conservatory in České Budějovice, where Ivan Boreš now studies at the composition class of Radek Rejšek. At the same time he studies the guitar at AMU (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) at the guitar class of Prof. Štěpán Rak.

Ivan Boreš - Nocturno for Guitar Solo

instrumentation: fl, ob, 2cl, fg, 2cor, arp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 048price: 270,- CZK

Za šera (In the Dusk) is a cycle of songs for medium voice and chamber orchestra with words written by Vítězslav Hálek. This piece was originally composed for the medium voice and piano. Upon the initiative of Václav Riedlbauch, managing director of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the piece was performed in its orchestral version during the cycle of chamber orchestras in Rudolfinum and its instrumentation was undertaken by Martin Hybler.

As Martin Hybler says about Karel Bendl: „Frankly speaking, I knew this name only from textbooks in the past. Meeting his music was a pleasant surprise for me. This music is simple, profound, full of beautiful melodic ideas. The vocal line is very well felt and placed, the musical phrases are comprehensible both for the interprets and for the listeners, and the musical expressive intention entirely corresponds to the lyrical character of the poems of Vítězslav Hálek. Bendl‘s music attracted me mainly by its pro deep wisdom, craft honesty, and musical appeal“.

Karel Bendl/instr. Martin Hybler - In the Dusk

Main series 23

instrumentation: vno solo, vcl solo, 2ob, 2cor, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 095price: 175,- CZK

František Chaun (1921 - 1981) was bound with Jean Dubuffet by lasting personal friendship - a friendship based on a spiritual and artistic nature common to both. Since the end of the sixties they corresponded, later they started visiting one another.

Twenty years older Dubuffet could have suited Chaun‘s nature in all kinds of ways, nevertheless it was mainly his emancipated stance, love for stylized naivism and primitivism (art brut), and a „total playfulness“ leading one time to a not-committal (or seemingly not-committal) game, other time to a highly and unmistakably serious expression. Dubuffet also became a dedicatee of one of Chaun‘s compositions - Double Concerto for violin, violoncello and chamber orchestra „Hommage a Dubuffet“ from 1870. It is a work of all the characteristical signs of Chaun‘s artistic expression.

František Chaun - Hommage a Dubuffet

instrumentation: tb, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 251price: 120,- CZK

The composition of Concerto per tuba contrabasso ed archi, op. 53 that was written together with Duetto for two contrabass tubas in 1983 was incited by Václav Hoza, a tuba player, a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the time in question, and a pedagogue at the Prague conservatory. The type of invention of the piece as well as its development and the solo part structure betray an influence of Hindemith’s tuba sonata from 1955. Domažlický’s musical speech is characteristic for its distinctive use of chromatics within tonal music flow that is applied both in melody and harmony.

In spite of the ever increasing amount of European and – above all – American music for tuba, Domažlický’s concerto has become an integral part of Czech tuba repertoire. It belongs to the few Czech compositions for tuba that is both popular with music schools and frequently performed at instrumental competitions. Together with the full score of the work the author also created a piano version.

František Domažlický - Concerto for Tuba and Piano


The composition of Concerto per tuba contrabasso ed archi, op. 53 that was written together with Duetto for two contrabass tubas in 1983 was incited by Václav Hoza, a tuba player, a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the time in question, and a pedagogue at the Prague conservatory. The type of invention of the piece as well as its development and the solo part structure betray an influence of Hindemith’s tuba sonata from 1955. Domažlický’s musical speech is characteristic for its distinctive use of chromatics within tonal music flow that is applied both in melody and harmony.

In spite of the ever increasing amount of European and – above all – American music for tuba, Domažlický’s concerto has become an integral part of Czech tuba repertoire. It belongs to the few Czech compositions for tuba that is both popular with music schools and frequently performed at instrumental competitions. Together with the full score of the work the author also created a piano version.

František Domažlický - Concerto for Tuba and Strings, op. 53

24 Main series


František Domažlický’s contribution to 20th-century tuba literature consists of four compositions. After his Concerto for tuba and strings, op. 53 (1983), Duet for two contrabass tubas, op. 53a (1983) and Sonatina for tuba and piano (1991), he composed his last piece for tuba, Scherzo per Tuba ed pianoforte, op. 77 in 1992.

With a duration of slightly less than five minutes, this chamber work retains the typical features of a scherzo movement, i.e. mainly a swift pace and lively rhythm. As a piece appropriate for encores, it enables the soloist to prove the potential of the instrument both in terms of instrumental technique and tone quality. The piano part makes use of harmonic as well as rhythmical features of jazz-like character, and, as for melody, the piano is an equally important complement of the solo voice.

František Domažlický - Scherzo for Tuba and Piano

instrumentation: vcldescription: partpubl. No.: R 024price: 90,- CZK

Concert Music for violoncello was written on an impulse of Czech cellist, gambist and artist Petr Hejný. Three short movements emphasize beauty of the instrumental sound in expressive motifs.

In such a transparent structure that utilizes tonal centers the author draws on the colour of violon-cello that reminds him, as he says, of a solo voice. The piece builds upon a very pleasant melodic line. It may be performed even by an advanced amateur and it is very amiable for a professional.

Eduard Douša - Concert Music


In Sonatina for tuba and piano, op. 75 František Domažlický (1913-1997) applies elements of exten-ded tonality. The solo instrument is presented as a technically equipped melodic instrument capable of lyrical cantilena that is not only accompanied harmonically by the piano, but the two instruments become partners in terms of melodic development. A characteristic feature of the Sonatina lies in the sequential development of the melodic line.

The first movement starts with a compelling main theme that is followed by a waltz stylization. The contrasting second movement brings about a change of mood in music of harmonic richness. In this part the piano is granted more space and also the tuba can prove its potential as a distinctive melo-dic instrument. The third movement catches the listener’s attention with a combination of succinct rhythm and legato passages in both instruments. The solo instrument part is written in a higher tuba register so that it is advisable to use contrabass tubas in F or in E flat to perform the piece.

František Domažlický - Sonatina for Tuba and Piano

Main series 25

instrumentation: cl, pftedescription: partspubl. No.: R 021price: 125,- CZK

A Rhapsody Movement for clarinet and piano was composed in 1980 for a competition of wind instruments in Chomutov. An instrumentally convenient composition, which does not lack any attri-bute of expressive music, has already received a favourable reception at the competition.

Young players and their teachers at conservatories and higher music schools often turn to Rhapsody Movement for it represents one of the stem repertoire pieces set for public performances. Jazz styli-zation makes it very compelling and attractive for both reception and performance.

Eduard Douša - Rhapsody Movement

instrumentation: cor solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 276price: 140,- CZK

Eduard Douša (1951) focuses as a composer mainly on instrumental music: he has composed three instrumental concertos with orchestra and more than twenty chamber compositions of various instrumental settings. Pezzo concertante per corno solo he composed for interpretative competition of International Festival Prague Spring 2013.

Eduard Douša - Pezzo concertante per corno solo

instrumentation: vno I, vno II, vla, vcldescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 204price: 195,- CZK

Eduard Douša (b. 1951) focuses mainly on instrumental music: he has composed three instrumental concertos with orchestra and more than twenty chamber compositions of various instrumental set-tings. The String Quartet bearing the subtitle “Lamentationes” is a revised version of an older com-position from 1988. The original score was introduced to the public by and thanks to the Panocha Quartet. The adapted version comes from 2004 and it was premiered by the Apollon quartet.

A one-movement piece, the quartet is essentially based on the platform of the sonata form. The composition is dedicated “to the memory of Mikuláš Medek”, whose visual art marked for its intel-lectual insight and expressive force has always attracted the composer. Following are Douša’s own words addressing the dedicatee: “One of the many reasons I think highly of him lies in the fact that he was always able to defend his own artistic means of expression and never yielded to temporary trends, whatever the might be. I believe that this is an imperative that should hold good for the present-day artistic production of any kind – not to give in to the pressure of modishness or other forces; but to create in compliance with one’s own feelings and beliefs with only one ultimate aim on mind – to communicate with the listener, onlooker or reader as intensely as possible...”

Eduard Douša - String Quartet „Lamentationes“

26 Main series

instrumentation: pftedescription: partpubl. No.: R 028price: 185,- CZK

The piano suite entitled The Peculiar Clavecin is based on neo-Baroque inspirations, which are combined with certain musical influences of the 20th century‘s music.

This piece as it is represents a very compelling style synthesis: the first movement introduces a combination of baroque rhythmization with irregular barring; in the second movement we are shown a rhapsodic „dialog“ with Bach; in the third Couperian felicity joins with Chinese five-tone scale and in the last movement we see a gently swinging gigue.

Libor Dřevikovský - The Peculiar Clavecin

instrumentation: Asax, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 102price: 115,- CZK

Compositional focus of Libor Dřevikovský is directed mainly towards chamber music often touching the brass (Mozartimento for three basset-horns, Brass Octet “Harmoniemusik“, “Suitie“ for alto saxophone and piano, “Strange Cembalo“ - a suite for piano and other pieces), sometimes also the symphonic production (Concerto-Divertimento no. 1 F Major and no. 2 Es Major for piano and orchestra).

“Suitie for alto saxophone and piano (1997) has been written for Sax&Piano Duo (Roman Fojtíček a Laura Vlková). The piece was created as an expression of pure joy of music - making under the impression of unconventional connection of the two instruments, saxophone and piano. Alas, the sound of those two playing together is just so fresh, so new though they both have passed through many winters.”

Libor Dřevikovský - Suitie

instrumentation: vno solo, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 072price: 190,- CZK

F. X. Thuri‘s orchestration of Antonín Dvořák‘s Humoresque op. 101 No. 7 was commissioned by Josef Suk for a recording by Suk‘s Chamber Orchestra within the musical project „Beautiful Moments“ in 1992.

With regard to the demand for such arrangements, the releasing of this instrumentation is another contribution by the Czech Radio to the already released „Prague Waltzes“ of Antonín Dvořák, orches-trated by Václav Smetáček.

Antonín Dvořák/instr. F. X.Thuri - Humoresque op. 101, No. 7

Main series 27

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, timp, trgl, ptti, gr c, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 025price: 340,- CZK

In 1879, Antonín Dvořák composed the Prague Waltzes. The treasures of the Czech Radio‘s Music Publishing House include the handwritten version of Dvořák‘s Prague Waltzes, as arranged by Dr. Václav Smetáček, conductor. This version‘s brass is more elaborated, and particularly the percussive instruments‘ section is greatly enriched. This version is one of those played most frequently.

Antonín Dvořák/instr. Václav Smetáček - Prague Waltzes

instrumentation: fl, ob, cl, fg, cor, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 219price: 100,- CZK

Jindřich Feld (1925–2007) graduated the composition study at the Academy of Performing Arts in 1952 and at the same time he also finished his doctoral studies in the field of musicology, aesthe-tics, and philosophy at Charles University in Prague. He was able to keep up with the development of North-American and European music, and his music was more and more frequently heard in European centres.

For the purpose broad casting of Czechoslovak Radio he had written his arrangement of 4 Moravian Christmas Songs for a small instrumental ensemble in 1950. The composition contains the following Moravian Christmas Songs: Byla cesta ušlapaná, Copak je to nového, Dej Bůh štěstí a Co se stalo přihodilo.

Jindřich Feld - 4 Moravian Christmas Songs for a small instrumental ensemble

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 3cor, 3trb, 2tbn, 3timp, batt, arp, archi, soli SATB, coro misto, coro bambino

description: scorepubl. No.: R 073price: 445,- CZK

The composition is an imaginatively elaborated selection of Czech and Moravian Noels. Luboš Fišer delicately grasped the character of Christmas music; the harmony and instrumentation consisting of rather large contrasting areas intensifies audience‘s experience up to the logical outcome with the song “Narodil se Kristus Pán“ (Lord Christ was born).

Luboš Fišer - Christmas

28 Main series

instrumentation: ob solo, fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 2tbn, cel, timp, batt, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 066price: 270,- CZK

„One of Oldřich Flosman‘s last pieces is testament to the composer‘s maturity. It is also evidence of his pure musicianship. Flosman‘s music never loses its shape and says exactly what we read in the score.

Flosman‘s polyphonic creations exist to serve expression, and are marked by a clear structure and transparency of composition. Individual movements contrast with one another, with the serious mood of the first movement being replaced by the frolicking serenade of a village band. The orches-tral attack of an intermezzo is followed by an almost Baroque recitative. But at the same time his work is all cut from the same cloth. We find a deep feeling for the instrument in solo cadences. And a first glance at the score makes it clear that the artist composed his work with enthusiasm and pleasure. A careful listener will sense the serious undertone of Flosman‘s awareness of the reality of life.“

Oldřich Flosman - Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, 3tbn, batt, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 134price: 135,- CZK

Christmas Day Romance is Foerster’s only melodrama based on text of Jan Neruda. It was created in 1934. The theme is also Christmas, expressed in Neruda’s poem with an inimitable humorous perspective that can serve as a prototype of folk Czech Christmas spirit: the event in Bethlehem is commented on in a very earthly way, familiarly, as a genuine celebration of the child birth, the birth of new life, as it is expressed in Czech folk Nativity scenes, in Christmas carols an other traditions joined with this beautiful season.

This is exactly what Foerster’s music is: familiarly cheery, melodious, full of emotions without any trace of mysticism - and nevertheless particularly religious. It was not to no vain that Foerster had cantorial ancestors. This work was first published in 1935 in the edition Musical editions, founded and directed by the composer Bohuslav Taraba. The author of the additional orchestral form is also Iša Krejčí.

Josef Bohuslav Foerster / instr. Iša Krejčí - Christmas Day Romance, op. 155

instrumentation: pfte, recdescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 135price: 145,- CZK

J. B. Foerster (1859 - 1951) with his 32 melodramas is one of the most important composers of his specific genre combining the recited poetic (or dramatic) text with instrumental music.

As an excellent literate Foerster chose his texts with great care and perspective - and he dealt with them in the same way when composing. His works are mainly lyrical, reflective, which corresponds with Foerster’s personality and talent. Nearly all of Foerster’s melodramas were already published during his lifetime, especially thanks to the attention of Foerster’s society.

Josef Bohuslav Foerster - Three Christmas melodramas, op. 155, 111, 162

Main series 29

instrumentation: vno, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 158price: 145,- CZK

In contrast to his two sonatas, the Suite “Princezna Pampeliška“ (“Princess Dandelion”), and the Fantasy and Ballad for violin and piano, Josef Bohuslav Foerster’s Two Impromptus for violin and piano op. 154 belong among the less extensive compositions within the genre of the so-called instru-mental lyrics. Foerster composed these two pieces in his late years: They were written in 1934, i.e. in the year of the composer’s 75th birthday.

They were dedicated to Foerster’s second wife, Olga Hilkenová Dostálová, whom the composer married two years later (in December 1936), after the death of his first spouse, Berta Foersterová Lautererová. Opus 154 was first published in 1942 by Hudební matice Umělecké besedy (The Music Foundation of the Patriotic Society of Artists).

Josef Bohuslav Foerster - Two Impromptus for Violin and Piano, op. 154

instrumentation: vnoI, vnoII, vla, vcldescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 038price: 230,- CZK

The one-phrase composition that had been implemented a great number of times uses the structure of a sonata to describe the feelings of a summer day spent in nature: starting with morning fogs, through a sunrise, midday heat, afternoon storm, until the dusk and rising of stars.

Challenging technique of this twelve minute piece calls for performance by professional players. For its easy flow and simple accessibility for listeners it is very popular among all audiences including those who do not usually enjoy the beauties of contemporary music.

Jiří Gemrot - Bukolika

instrumentation: picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, perc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 236price: 170,- CZK

The symphonic piece the American Overture was written towards the end of the year 1996. Commis-sioned by the conductor Paul Freeman, it was premiered by this very conductor first with the Czech National Symphonic Orchestra in Prague, and later with Chicago Sinfonietta in an orchestral concert Chicago. The music, lively in pace and impressive, corresponds with the intentions of the commis-sioner; as for its form, the composition applies and expands on the principles of the sonata form. The overture has also been recorded for the Czech Radio by the Czech Radio Symphonic Orchestra and the conductor Ondřej Kukal.

Jiří Gemrot - American Ouverture

30 Main series

instrumentation: soprano solo, 2fl - II muta fl picc, 2ob, 2cl, cl b, 2fg - II muta cfg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, arp, timp, tam-tam, campli, camp di messa, ptto sosp, 2ptti, gr c, archi


A cycle which Jiří Gemrot originally wrote already in 1984 and which was intended for soprano and piano. Its premiere under name Pět lyrických písní (Five Lyric Songs) was performed at the festival in Bad Kissingen. Much later (in 1997), Jiří Gemrot was asked to prepare an orchestral version of these songs for performance by Munich symphonists.

At that time Jiří Gemrot also extended the cycle by two new songs „Dem Abend gesagt“ and „Ich“ and he proposed a new name for it. In the end, the performance in Munich has never taken place. The premiere of this piece was planned for the subscription season of the Český rozhlas‘s Symphonic Orchestra 2004/2005. The solo part was performed by Magdalena Hajóssyjová.

Jiří Gemrot - Bachmannlieder

instrumentation: fl, timp, cornamusa - soli; 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 015price: 340,- CZK

Concertino for Flute, Timpani, Bagpipe and Symphony Orchestra has sparkling themes and in the constriction and gaiety of instrumentation does not miss anything of the quality of the best compo-sitions of 20th century.

The piece has been written especially for Chicago Sinfonietta Orchestra and for its conductor Paul Freeman who had asked for it and premiered it with a great success with his orchestra in Chicago on May 13, 2002.

Jiří Gemrot - Concertino for Flute, Timpani and Bagpipe

instrumentation: vcl, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 256price: 130,- CZK

„Capriccio for cello and piano was written at the turn of 2011 and 2012. The form is of a loose rondo, and even though its six minutes provide enough space for the musicians to show how accomplished they are at playing cantabile sections, broken chords, pizzicatos, artificial flageolets, glissandos, or to prove their agogic feel in loose quasi cadenza parts as well as their precise technique, I strived to write music of a fluid and compact nature. Bearing in mind the age of the contestants, I made use of such ways to bring about the impressive nature of a Cappricio that – compared with my other cello works (the Sonata or both the concertos) – would prove more appropriate to the occasion.“

Jiří Gemrot - Capriccio for cello and piano

Main series 31

instrumentation: pfte solo, 2fl - II muta fl picc, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 2tbn, tbn b, arp, perc, archi


The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is not the first piece with this name on the list of Gemrot´s music. However, two of them are juvenilia: Gemrot composed the second one as his graduation piece at the Music Academy in 1981.

Gemrot´s concert work forms quite a large volume (violoncello, violin, flute concerts, Concerto for Trumpet and Brass Band, Double Concerto for Violoncello, Piano and Orchestra, Concertino for Vio-loncello, Piano and Orchestra, Concertino for Flute, Kettledrums, Bagpipes and Orchestra and many more). The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is the only one which is composed as a one-movement concert and it uses the cadence of a solo instrument more often. It is also a kind of a counterpart of Gemrot´s work for solo piano.

Jiří Gemrot - Concerto for Piano and Orchestra

instrumentation: pfte, 2vno, vla, vcldescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 177price: 425,- CZK

Chamber music represents the focal point of Gemrot´s work, but he is also the author of a number of concertos; a mass for mixed choir; songs with orchestra accompaniment; a symphony and other symphonic compositions. His music has been heard by audiences from most European countries, but also from Japan, Canada, Mexico or the USA. Gemrot has been repeatedly invited to visit the USA.

Piano Quintet was commissioned by the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music in Tuscon. Following a successful premiere of the piece in 2003 Gemrot was asked to write more music for the Friends of Chamber Music, and he remains the only composer to have been invited there more than twice.

Jiří Gemrot - Piano Quintet

instrumentation: vcl, pftedescription: partspubl. No.: R 035price: 330,- CZK

The work was created on the basis of the interprets to which it is dedicated (Jeremy Findlay, Elen Braslavsky). It is an extensive, twenty-minute composition of three phrases with a classical formal concept.

Both equivalent scores are intended for concert performances. Their musical language leans on succinct melodics, novel harmony, stabile form and easy listener-oriented communicativeness.

Jiří Gemrot - Sonata for Violoncello and Piano

32 Main series

instrumentation: S solo, vno, vla, vcl, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 187price: 230,- CZK

Agape is Love, a chamber cantata based on the Greek text of the 13th chapter of Paul the Apostle´s First Epistle to the Corinthians from 1998 belongs to a free cycle of vocal-instrumental compositions based on Greek biblical texts. The author worked on the cycle from 1993 (Pareneze for soprano, piano and 2 percusionists) up to the first years of this century (Alpha and Omega - 2002).

The cantata Agapé is Love clearly and distincly represents Havelka´s late compositional style. Its character is to a large extent determined, quite typically of Havelka, by the modal melodics and frequent melismatic setting of the text

Svatopluk Havelka - Agapé is Love

instrumentation: Bar solo, cl, vibfdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 188price: 195,- CZK

Hymnos, a chamber cantata for baritone, clarinet and vibraphone based on the Greek text of Paul the Apostle´s Epistle to the Philippians from 1999 belongs to a free cycle of vocal-instrumental compositions based on Greek biblical texts. The author worked on the cycle from 1993 (Pareneze for soprano, piano and 2 percusionists) up to the first years of this century (Alpha and Omega - 2002).

A typical feature of Hymnos lies in the use of the vibraphone as one of the accompanying instru-ments. Havelka´s continuing affection for percussion instrument is maintained in this work, and the way - in many aspects a revealing one - these instruments are use dis transferred to the stylistic

Svatopluk Havelka - Hymnos

instrumentation: 3fl - II, III muta fl picc, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl in B, cl in Es, cl b, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, perc, pfte/cel, 2arp, archi


The Symphony No. 1 (1955-1956) marked a significant turning point in Svatopluk Havelka‘s career. This composition became a clear signal that a symphonist had been born whose ability to create large musical structures in a stylistically original setting was unquestionable. Havelka‘s music has been drawing attention of the broader public ever since. Each new piece has its own individual form and brings novel compositional solutions.

Also his cantata Chvála světla (Eulogy of Light) for solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra belongs among works of similar artistic force. Havelka‘s output within the genres of film and incidental music is numerous as well, consisting of dozens of scores both for full-length and short films. His frequent cooperation with filmmakers led to several notable awards that Havelka received for his music for Vojtěch Jasný‘s films „Až přijde kocour“ („When the Tomcat Comes“) and „Všichni dobří rodáci“ („All the Good Countrymen“), and for the film adaptation of the fairy-tale „Princ a večernice“ („The Prince and the Evening Star“).

Svatopluk Havelka - Symphony No. 1

Main series 33

instrumentation: fl picc, 3fl, 3ob, cor ingl, 3cl/cl in Es, cl b, 3fg/cfg, 4cor, 4trb, 3tbn, tb, arp, cel, timp, 4 perc (I: tamb picc, claves, frusta, 3gg, legno; II: 4bonghi, 3t-tom, t-tam, ptto sosp; III: 4temple-blocks, rag, camp, ptto sosp; IV: vibf, xil), archi


The symphonic piece Znamení časů (The Signs of Times, 1996) is Havelka´s last major work for symphonic orchestra, and the only one from his many significant symphonic compositions that was written in the latest period of the author´s life. Havelka was commissioned to compose it on the occasion of the centenary of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

The same orchestra also premiered the piece under the Japanese conductor Ken-Ičiro Kobajaši on 24th April, 1997. After the premiere the autor made some slight alterations to the score; the chan-ges were concerned with the instrumentation of several instruments the autor wanted to intensify.

Svatopluk Havelka - The Signs of Time, symphonic picture

instrumentation: pfte solo, picc, 2fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tbn b, tb, timp, vibf, cel, campli, camp, trgl, t-tam, ptti, metal chimes, arp, archi


“In Ancient Greek mythology the term Elysium refers to the abode (an island) of the blessed and the righteous in the underworld; in a figurative sense it might also stand for the biblical Paradise (Eden). I found the source of inspiration for the piece in the 2nd movement of L. van Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto G major that is traditionally interpreted as “a dialogue between man and God”.

“My intention was to write a one-movement concerto for piano and orchestra that would emphasize the meditative and confessional aspect of the confrontation between the solo instrument (piano – man) and the accompanying orchestra (orchestra – God) in order to inspire the concerto form with substantial and profound subject matter. I tried to eliminate the purely and purposelessly virtuoso function of the solo piano part (i.e. to avoid technical clichés typical of the instrument and to put emphasis on the expressive force of the part), and to create a mutual relationship between the solo instrument and the orchestra making the two elements – in spite of their differing roles – two equal partners.”

Robert Hejnar - Elysium for piano solo and symphony orchestra

instrumentation: vcl solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 269price: 110,- CZK

Petr Hejný (1956) composes for the instrument he masters: the cello. In his music, the experience with the technical potential of the instrument and its timbre possibilities is clearly reflected. Hejný’s compositions are performed by cellists in competitions and concerts; his sonatas, duos, and trios are recorded at the Czech Radio

The Painter’s Sonata was written – its first movement CHAD, to be precise – in 1997 for the occasion of the vernissage of Václav Chad’s exhibition in Litoměřice, where it was also first performed by the author himself. Years later, Hejný added two more movements, whose themes are based on the names of two other famous painters – DEGAS, and HEDA.

Petr Hejný - Painter´s Sonata for Violoncello solo

34 Main series

instrumentation: fl solo, pftedescription: piano score, solo partpubl. No.: R 071price: 230,- CZK

instrumentation: fl solo, 2ob, 2fg, timp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 070price: 215,- CZK

The first works of the composer, pianist and writer Ilja Hurník (born in 1922 in Poruba), appeared as soon as in 1933; those early works are still relevant as classical instructive literature today. Since then Hurník‘s development continued smoothly without any style shifts. In 1938 Hurník‘s family had to flee to Prague because of the Sudeten annexation. The loss of his native Silesia has been compensated by the opportunity to become a student of pronounced teachers Vítězslav Novák for composition and prof. Vilém Kurz for piano play. Later, Ilja Hurník has broadened his scope of com-position and life of a piano stage player by literature and education.

Hurník‘s Flute Concerto from 1954 belongs among the series of works inspired by Milan Munclinger and his ensemble Ars rediviva (Sonata de Camera, Esercizi for brass quartet, and others). The piece was composed as a neoclassical protest against the constraint of socialistic realism. The three-part work adopts classical concerto form, relieved expression and instrumentation brilliancy.

The first works of the composer, pianist and writer Ilja Hurník (born in 1922 in Poruba), appeared as soon as in 1933; those early works are still relevant as classical instructive literature today. Since then Hurník‘s development continued smoothly without any style shifts. In 1938 Hurník‘s family had to flee to Prague because of the Sudeten annexation. The loss of his native Silesia has been compensated by the opportunity to become a student of pronounced teachers Vítězslav Novák for composition and prof. Vilém Kurz for piano play. Later, Ilja Hurník has broadened his scope of com-position and life of a piano stage player by literature and education.

Hurník‘s Flute Concerto from 1954 belongs among the series of works inspired by Milan Munclinger and his ensemble Ars rediviva (Sonata de Camera, Esercizi for brass quartet, and others). The piece was composed as a neoclassical protest against the constraint of socialistic realism. The three-part work adopts classical concerto form, relieved expression and instrumentation brilliancy.

Ilja Hurník - Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra

Ilja Hurník - Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra

instrumentation: cldescription: partpubl. No.: R 063price: 115,- CZK

Three miniatures for clarinet solo were inspired by a number of sources. These include, apart from the personality of Bohuslav Martinů himself and his loneliness, which is expressed in the composer‘s poetic dedication in the prologue to the piece, also interviews with Josef Páleníček, Karel Husa and Jan Novák. Last but not least, there is the memory of Charlotte Martinů, and Martinů‘s Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano.

Jiří Hlaváč - Dedication for Bohuslav Martinů

Main series 35

instrumentation: fl picc, 3fl, 3ob, cor ingl, 3cl, cl b, 3fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, timp, tamb picc, ptti, camp, archi


The composition has traditional form and the diction of the author shows Silesian ebulliency.

Symphony in C was written by an already formed and very experienced composer Ilja Hurník (*1922). The piece exploits an ambition to take a very short orchestral piece intended for adepts of Prague Spring conductor competition and to recreate it into large musical planes.

The work has a clear conventional form. It does not intend to discover new possibilities; rather it tries to look back at things. The first movement really is a conductor trial having quite a complicated rhythmical setting. The second movement, a soothing lullaby, introduces an instrumentation of nostalgically French play of colours to pave the way for the finale that really lets the kettle-drums pound and the brasses cheer.

Ilja Hurník - Symphony in C


The first works of the composer, pianist and writer Ilja Hurník (*1922 in Poruba), appeared as soon as in 1933; those early works are still relevant as classical instructive literature today. Since then Hurník’s development continued smoothly without any style shifts. In 1938 Hurník’s family had to flee to Prague because of the Sudeten annexation. The loss of his native Silesia has been compensated by the opportunity to become a student of pronounced teachers Vítězslav Novák for composition and prof. Vilém Kurz for piano play.

„Throughout the past sixty years I have spent as a concert pianist, the piano has always kept me quite busy, so that as a composer I have kept my distance from the instrument for a long time. With years going by, however, one tends to return to the roots. And since my roots, after all, spring from this instrument, I decided to return to it in this composition. It has a four-movement sonata form, though the music is, for the most part, of a concertante nature. Making use of all facets of the piano, the piece explores it as a melodic, virtuoso, playful, and percussion instrument.“

Ilja Hurník - Music for Piano

instrumentation: pfte solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 206price: 145,- CZK

In Twelve Piano Preludes the author combines a number of compositional elements: fugatto; unrestrained prelude passages; ostinato patterns are used here and there; some parts betray a toccata-like character that is at times interleaved with arpeggios. The mood of each of the twelve parts differs, whether in the modal character, in the dance-like gaiety, or in the turbulence of the music. Forming a well-rounded and coherent unit, the whole composition can easily become a part of any piano virtuoso’s stable repertoire. The individual parts are entitled as follows: Aggressively, Playfully, With a Smile, Dramatically, With Humour, Lullaby, Gigue, Dialogue, Angrily, Recollection, Boisterously, Reconciliation.

This cycle, highly demanding in technique, represents the author’s return to his roots, i.e. to piano music composition. Throughout the piece, Hurník makes use of a kind of blurred diatonics that after a brief harmonic digression unmistakeably finds its way to the appropriate consonants. Personally, I have been deeply impressed by the piece, despite the fact that one could not possibly label the composition experimental in any way; the author is perfectly sure about which means of expression to use and where.

Ilja Hurník - Twelve Piano Preludes

36 Main series

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, tbn b, timp, perc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 064price: 230,- CZK

The subject of the concert overture The Girl and the Machine recalls Schubert‘s Death and the Maiden, and possibly also Beauty and the Beast. It is a confrontation of tenderness, humanity and emotionality with the brutal rumbling of the machine.

However, the development of this relationship is unexpected. The machine (orchestra) manages to communicate with the girl (usually solo flute) quite successfully, the girl flirts with it, and the machine behaves like a bull in a china shop, but it is not unlikable. Eventually, a foreseeable conflict between the two takes place. This episode leaves them both strengthened, and, at the end, they rush together, brimming over with youthful energy, towards a happy future in the post-industrial society... But the piece can be also perceived as lacking any programme, as a concerto movement in the extended sonata form with a slow episode in the development.

Lukáš Hurník - Girl and Machine

instrumentation: vnoI, vnoII, vla, vcl, cb ad lib.description: score, partspubl. No.: R 082price: score 155,- CZK parts (quintet) 130,- CZK add. single part 26,- CZK

All the true variations begin with a theme and end by a Fugue. Nevertheless, the Upside-down Vari-ations begin with a Fugue and then, clearing as they go, they slowly approach the line of Mozart‘s famous melody.

The audience is therefore set against a puzzle or a game of whoever finds out what the theme is. This piece has been composed to answer the request of Mozartiana Iuventus festival and was per-formed for the first time at Mozart‘s Bertramka in Prague on September 2000.

Lukáš Hurník - Upside-down Variations on Mozart‘s Theme for string quintet/string quartet/string orchestra

instrumentation: picc, 2fl, 2ob, ci, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 3trp, 3trb, tb, timp, 4perc, 2arp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 224price: 190,- CZK

Overture “Academy” was written in 1944 during my student years at the Prague Conservatory, in the composition class of prof. Jaroslav Ridky (1942-45). Although the Second World war was raging, I felt happy because I found in music - and especially in composing - my life-goal. I think the Overture is joyful and optimistic, like my student years. I am very grateful to the Czech Radio for publishing the composition.

Karel Husa - Overture per grand orchestra „Academy“

Main series 37

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, timp, batt, arp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 112price: 300,- CZK

„Sketches of my Sinfonietta were written during the last two years of WWII (1944-45). Although the atmosphere in Europe was tense, my musical ideas were optimistic and happy, as composing was what I loved to do. The form of the work is still classic-romantic, with some impressionistic orchestral coloring. The Sinfonietta was completed in 1946.

„The first movement is in sonata form; the first theme is lyrical, the second theme is rhythmic. Both are used in the development section, separately as well as together. The recapitulation brings back the second and first themes and closes quietly in a short coda. The Nocturne (2nd movement) has a simple A-B-A form. Both melodies are combined in contrapuntal texture as the movement moves toward its climax. A gradual diminuendo concludes the movement with a recollection of a few measures from the beginning. The Finale in rondo form opens in the manner of a fanfare. All three themes are worked in the middle section, which is reminiscent of a development section of a sonata form.”

Karel Husa - Sinfonietta


String Quartet „0“ was written in 1942 - 43 during Husa´s studies at the Prague Conservatory, this quartet was not performed until the Apollon Quartet gave the first performance in Prague on 23 February 2000, in the Lichtenstein Palace, at the concert organized by the Society for contemporary music (Pritomnost).

It is Husa´s first composition, but it was not included in his works and thus No. 0. The composer considered it a „learning“ piece and assigned his Sonatina for piano the „opus 1“, although compo-sed after the String Quartet. This three-movement composition develops in a great way with a most dramatic style and richly changing flow. It is an incredibly surprising and compositionally mature utterance. The interpreters are constantly and intensively busy.

Karel Husa - String Quartet „0“

instrumentation: fg solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 238price: 140,- CZK

The four-movement composition entitled Curatio hypochondrii (a hypochondriac’s treatment) for solo bassoon is the result of my cooperation with the bassoonist Václav Vonášek in 2010. Our original concept was that of a kind of a sound lab that would search for all kinds of sounds that the instrument is capable of making when in the hands of a creative artist. The ultimate aim of our cooperation was a purposeful integration of such effects into a natural flow of music. The piece contains richly articulated tones, multiphonics, bisbigliandos, glissandos and other techniques that are becoming ever more frequent in present-day scores.

The non-musical inspiration was taken from the world of medicine – namely, the concept of hypo-chondria. Statistics tell us that the number of people who suffer from constant concerns about their imaginary diseases is on the rise. The work was intended to be a humorous piece of music. A healthy person who – under the obsessive pressure of a disease – undergoes gradually more and more drastic medical treatments only to be finally relieved by a placebo. The composition is dedicated to Václav Vonášek for his wonderful contributions on the quest for expanding the sonic possibilities of the bassoon. May this piece be applied to wholesome effects!

Martin Hybler - Curatio hypochondrii for Fagotto solo

38 Main series

instrumentation: chit sola, fl picc, 2fl, ob, cor ingl, cl, cl b, fg, 2cor, cel/pfte ad lib, ptti, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 090price: 145,- CZK

„The concert for guitar and chamber orchestra La musica della luna (Music of the Moon) is a three part composition I wrote in 2001. Originally it was for guitar and piano, but later, in 2005, I chan-ged the piano part and rearranged it for chamber orchestra. I made the composition particularly for the international music festival Silk Sound Road which took place in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bischkek.

There it was performed form for the first time in its incomplete at the opening concert on the 30 September 2001. After coming back to the Czech Republic I finished the composition giving it its final shape. I found my inspiration especially in the gorgeous natural scenery of the place.“

Martin Hybler - La musica della luna

instrumentation: chit sola, pftedescription: piano score, partpubl. No.: R 091price: 135,- CZK

„The concert for guitar and chamber orchestra La musica della luna (Music of the Moon) is a three part composition I wrote in 2001. Originally it was for guitar and piano, but later, in 2005, I chan-ged the piano part and rearranged it for chamber orchestra. I made the composition particularly for the international music festival Silk Sound Road which took place in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bischkek.

There it was performed form for the first time in its incomplete at the opening concert on the 30 September 2001. After coming back to the Czech Republic I finished the composition giving it its final shape. I found my inspiration especially in the gorgeous natural scenery of the place.“

Martin Hybler - La musica della luna

instrumentation: fg solo, 2chit (1 esecutore), vibf, perc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 163price: 150,- CZK

„An outsider fails to meet social standards and is, without knowing it and agreeing to it, overlooked by the society and left aside. Unlike the bohemian who differentiates willfully and purposefully chooses mossy routes.

The outsider bohemian from my composition represents an object who is aware of his unique abili-ties and experience but has no one to cultivate them for. To the social norm his results are boring. The story of my outsider bohemian tells about the journey of a man who becomes estranged from the society at which moment his eyes open and he surprisingly discovers his inner equilibrium. The piece is dedicated to the bassoonist Tomáš Františ.“

Martin Hybler - Outsider Bohemian, Story for bassoon and chamber orchestra, op. 29

Main series 39

instrumentation: fg, pftedescription: piano scorepubl. No.: R 164price: 170,- CZK

„An outsider fails to meet social standards and is, without knowing it and agreeing to it, overlooked by the society and left aside. Unlike the bohemian who differentiates willfully and purposefully chooses mossy routes.

The outsider bohemian from my composition represents an object who is aware of his unique abili-ties and experience but has no one to cultivate them for. To the social norm his results are boring. The story of my outsider bohemian tells about the journey of a man who becomes estranged from the society at which moment his eyes open and he surprisingly discovers his inner equilibrium. The piece is dedicated to the bassoonist Tomáš Františ.“

Martin Hybler - Outsider Bohemian, Story for bassoon and chamber orchestra, op. 29

instrumentation: pfte, recdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 107price: 165,- CZK

A strong tension between Desire and Disillusionment, tension between an idea of vigorous and beautiful life and the surrounding social reality in which the idea cannot be carried out, those are the specifics of the early work of the poet Fráňa Šrámek (1877 - 1952). There we may found the origin of his ever failing heroes and tragic or bitter conclusions of his stories.

Gradually, Šrámek moves his attention to that least affected by the distorting tensions of the society - the intensive love experience, the relationship between man and nature and what is most impor-tant, to the youth that grabs the world with ever hungry and eager senses. The poems „Dívka“ (Maiden) and „Žena a jediný“ (Woman and the Only One) from the book „Splav“ (Weir) and the poem „Pane, kupte hada“ (Sir, Buy a Snake) are set together into a short melodramatic cycle for their particularly melodic flow of speech. Šrámek created an extraordinary way of expressing the changeover of a young maiden into a fully-grown woman.

Martin Hybler - Three Melodramas

instrumentation: rec ad lib., 2guit, 2vladescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 237price: 150,- CZK

Inspired by the poem The Sleeper in the Valley by Jean Arthur Rimbaud in Vítězslav Nezval’s transla-tion, the homonymic composition came to life in 1997. Having read the poem, I was impressed by the author’s ability to depict the contrast between the peaceful life (the idyllic setting, the cosy womb of nature, the soldier’s restful slumber), and the violent death (the red holes in his side). I tried to transform this contrast into the instrumentation of my piece – the violas represent life, the guitars symbolize death.

The interpretation of the music should be approached from the same angle – the mild sound of the violas accompanied by the icy cold high registers of the guitars. During a concert performance the poem may be recited half way through the piece (bar 64) but not necessarily.

Martin Hybler - Sleeper in the Valley

40 Main series

instrumentation: pfte, recdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 098price: 155,- CZK

„You Don‘t Say - melodrama for reciter and piano written in 2001 is based on a colloquially shaped text by Daniel Soukup.

The story runs on a background of telephone-call and describes the communication problems of today‘s young generation. The main character (Martin) converses with an imaginary female charac-ter (Katka). The dialog sensation is built through our constant completion and deduction of Martin‘s text; therefore I recommend stressing out the long formative holds there. To a great degree the piano substitutes the imaginary female figure, otherwise it just imitatively completes the absurd scene of the telephone-call.“

Martin Hybler - You Don‘t Say

instrumentation: fl, ob, cl, fg, cor, vno, vla, vcl, cbdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 084price: 270,- CZK

The most frequently played composition taken from Jaroch‘s chamber production is the serene, playful and poetic „Children‘s Suite for Nonet“ (1952); he wrote it as a present for children of the members of the Czech Nonet.

The tritone structure gave place to diatonic euphony and to the author‘s vision of how the so called „classical music“ is perceived by children. Jaroch keeps children in mind also while choosing the style of each part; (Little Dance „Hushabye“ Barley-break) even the length of the parts is designed to meet the abilities of children to keep their perception focused. It seems though, the suite still brings joy not only to children but also to adults of yet new generations.

Jiří Jaroch - Children‘s Suite for Nonet

instrumentation: 4vno, 2vla, vcl, cb, perc / archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 229price: 155,- CZK

“In the nonet entitled Modré valéry (The Shades of Blue) it was my intention to express five colour tones by means of the sound of string instruments. The piece abides by the rules of the classical sonata form with the second slow movement and the third in the form of a dance. The ambition to stand up to the challenge of such a formal appeal served as an additional stimulus to write the piece. The composition can be performed in two versions: either by a nonet or by a string orchestra. Either of these options represents a unique timbre quality. The sound of the string orchestra gives rise to a specific new ‘timbre shade’ whose appeal and efficacy grows with the growing number of the performing artists.”

Olga Ježková - Blue Shades

Main series 41

instrumentation: soprano solo, 3tbn, 2vcl, sega, percdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 074price: 185,- CZK

„Before David became a king, he was a lowly shepherd and that is why I felt entitled to use his words and thoughts today.

He probably spoke them in Hebrew, but the 16th century language of the Kralicka version of the Old Testament on my night stand struck me as being wonderfully melodic and picturesque, while also being decisive and in places much more exact in its expression than today‘s Czech language. It doesn‘t quite seem fair to me that I take the thoughts of David and put them in the mouth of some-one who can sing them better than I can. I chose thirteen verses for the composition, taken out of context from the Old Testament Book of Psalms, and rearranged them to create a specific narrative framework. Clearly their contents are absolutely relevant to any era, so its understandable that I can feel the need to call to God today in the same sense that David did thousands of years ago.“

Olga Ježková - David the Shepherd

instrumentation: crot, 4ptti sosp, 3tam-tam, tubi di bambú, tubi di metalo, tamb di legno africano, vibf, mar, tamb bdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 094price: 200,- CZK

„Some years ago, I felt and experienced my own music so deeply, strongly and clearly that I almost lost the desire to write it down. I just wanted to live with that and expe-rience it in a state similar to that of meditation. Later on, I figured that something like that is not possible and reasonable in the real contemporary world and I started to write music again.

To me „Castles in the Air“ means something both beautiful and unattainable at the same time. Although that beauty exists both within and beyond us, we are not able to catch it or master it no matter how much we strive to do that. We can just touch it at the moments of the deepest and greatest creative intimacy.

The piece for one percussionist „Castles in the Air“ I started to plan to write couple of years ago. I was inspired by Amy L. Barber´s interpretation of my other percussion piece „Bread and Circuses.“ Both pieces are dedicated to her.“

Jan Jirásek - Castles in the Air

instrumentation: voc puerile, picc, 2fl/fl alto in G, 2ob, ci, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 4trp, 3trb, tb, tymp, 7perc, arp, archi


“I was impressed by a tiny little book for children of about five years and above containing excerpts from psalms and epistles translated, so to speak, into a clear language easily comprehensible for children. A child, however small, does sometimes have to face huge problems. I think it is therefore a good idea for him or her to be able to realize as early on as possible that there is something else than the people surrounding them to turn to; something superior, more stable, something sublime. Sometimes we can do but very little on our own, no matter how hard we try. But there is a different Eye that sees all. I have always cherished the image of the full sound of the symphonic orchestra besides a child’s voice as quite irresistible. And, what is more, for me it is a way of expressing any human being’s appeal to God.”

Olga Ježková - Eye, symphonic fantasy for a boy´s soprano and orchestra

42 Main series

instrumentation: org, tbdescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 096price: 205,- CZK

„Viribus unitis“ is a piece for organ and tuba. As far as I know, it is the very first piece combining those two instruments. The title means „With united forces“. This could be explained in terms of cooperation of those two instruments. It has its non-musical essence as well. In these terms, phantasy of the audience cannot be limited.

I was commissioned to write the piece by the Festival Voor de Vind (Amsterdam, Netherlands). „Viribus unitis“ was premiered on September 8, 2003 at the Westerkerck Church in Amsterdam. It might be interesting to mention that a great Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn was buried in that church.“

Jan Jirásek - Viribus unitis

instrumentation: ob/cor ingl, 2cl/cl b, fg, 3cor, 2trb, tbn, timp, cel, arp, 6perc - 3esec (pc/trgl, gc/ptti/t-tam/tamb picc/gg, camp E/campli)


Julius Kalaš a composer, pedagogue and pianist (1902 - 1967). At the Prague Conservatory he studied composition with Jaroslav Křička and Josef Bohuslav Foerster; afterwards he went on to the Master School of the Prague Conservatory to study under Josef Suk. He was a teacher at the Film Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (in the field of film sound and music). Among his activities the most intensive was his cooperation with the Kocourkov Teachers’ Choir where he assumed the position of artistic director, composer, and pianist from 1925 to 1953. With this group consisting of eight members he created a new type of satire.

A significant part of his output consists of his songs, operettas and musical comedies. a composer he won recognition mainly thanks to his film music (about forty films) that he produced mostly in cooperation with the Kocourkov Teachers. In his classical music compositions he drew on the work of his teacher Josef Suk. In 1956 he composed a symphonic poem for flute and orchestra based on Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose.

Julius Kalaš - The Nightingale and the Rose, symphonic poem for Flute and Orchestra

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, cor, trb, arp, pfte, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 022price: 225,- CZK

Christmas Prelude is three minutes of vivid chamber music. Clear bucolic motif in colour of French horn and oboe with the background of string sixteenth notes is in major and minor simultaneously.

The colour of harp and piano that we can only occasionally glimpse through the mighty string sound calls for an immediate association with the instrumentation we know from the works of Bohuslav Martinů, incidentally Kaprálová’s favorite. The same applies to the joyful spark of clear major har-mony that sometimes springs out of lightly discordant structures.

Vítězslava Kaprálová - Christmas Prelude

Main series 43

instrumentation: 3fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 3cl, cl b, 2fg, cfg, 6cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, perc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 043price: 290,- CZK

Military Sinfonietta op. 11 was the composer‘s graduation composition, which brought her studies at the Prague Conservatory to a successful completion. Kaprálová began working on it on 29 May 1936 and completed it on 23 February 1937. She dedicated the composition to Edvard Beneš, President of the Czechoslovak Republic.

The work was first performed by the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of the composer at a concert organized by the National Women‘s Council at Lucerna Hall in Prague on 26 November 1937. The following year, on 17 June 1938, the sinfonietta opened the ISCM festival in London. On this occasion, Kaprálová conducted the work with the BBC Orchestra. The composition was first published under the title Symfonieta (vojenská-militaire-military) by Edition Melantrich in November 1938 in Prague. Twenty years later, the Czech Music Fund published the work, in a facsimile edition, under the title Sinfonietta militare. This is therefore the third edition of the work.

Vítězslava Kaprálová - Military Sinfonietta op. 11

instrumentation: pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 099price: 260,- CZK

The neo-classical Partita for Piano and String Orchestra op. 20, the main achievement of Kaprálová‘s Paris studies with Bohuslav Martinů, occupies a rather unique place in the context of the composer‘s creative output.

Kaprálová worked on this remarkable composition for more than a year: she began sketching it in March 1938 and finished it in June 1939. The work was premiered by Jan Erml with the Czech Radio Orchestra, under the baton of Břetislav Bakala, on 20 November 1941 in Brno. It was first published by Svoboda, a publishing house based in Prague, under the title Partita per pianoforte ed orchestra d‘archi, op. 20. This is its second edition.

Vítězslava Kaprálová - Partita for Piano and String Orchestra op. 20


Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915 - 1940) composed the three-movement String Quartet opus 8 in summer 1935 almost entirely during her holiday sojourn at a place she liked most: in a small village called Three Wells (Tři Studně) amidst the beautiful countryside of the Czech-Moravian Highlands.

The music of the quartet reflects the joy and self-assurance stemming from the recent success of her graduate‘s concert in Brno; she wrote as she felt. The nature of the piece is that of an undistur-bed and worriless atmosphere of relaxation. It is an immediate reaction to the composer‘s life expe-riences; a bridge that unites the school and study period and the real life of an artist.

Vítězslava Kaprálová (revision Ivan Štraus) - String Quartet No.1, op.8

44 Main series

instrumentation: rec, vno, pftedescription: scorepubl. No.: R 239price: 110,- CZK

The passing away of Kaprálová´s beloved writer, the death of Karel Čapek. An author whom Kaprá-lová read and loved, and whose struggle for truth deeply affected her own artistic existence, emoti-onally as well as intellectually. There was Vítězslav Nezval’s beautiful poetic obituary. And Kaprálová had been considering to write a melodrama. Enchanted by the text, she transformed Nezval’s poetry directly after the premiere of the Elegy into a profound, agonizing, deeply personal exclamation: into her own brave account of her relationship with Čapek, the Czech language, the Czech land, the Czech destiny. The composition was performed in French translation at the Czech embassy in Paris; again, the piano part was played by the author. After the Paris premiere, Vítězslava Kaprálová left a brief note in the score: “The ending was very nice…”

Taking into account the often rather excessive severity of the author’s opinions of her own work, this remark can be understood as a decisive imprimatur.The piece complies ideally with the requirements of modern melodrama: retaining their full autonomy throughout, the participating elements also complement one another to achieve an ideal expressive force. The melodrama “To Karel Čapek”

belongs to the most beautiful Czech melodramas and ranks high also in the context of Czech concert solo violin literature.

Vítězslava Kaprálová - To Karel Čapek, melodrama on the text by Vítězslav Nezval

instrumentation: 2fl - II muta fl picc, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor 2trb, perc, canto, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 067price: 350,- CZK

„I wrote Symphony No. 4 „Desiderata“ in 2000 and entered it in the Prague Philharmonia‘s compe-tion „ Symphonies for the 3rd Millennium. The orchestra performed the premiere of the symphony under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek at the Smetana Festival in Litomyšl.

I wanted to write a joyful chamber symphony, and in the third movement used a text titled „Deside-rata“ or „Wisdom of life“, written by unidenified 18th century monk. It is an instructive text, on that leads us to think about how we should live, how to find ourselves, and find love and happiness.“

Jaroslav Krček - Symphony No. 4 „Desiderata“


The 1st string quartet in D major, commenced in the 24th year of the author‘s life, constitutes a real „battlefield“ together with the first two sonatas. It is dedicated to his father‘s seventieth birthday and in the handwriting, it is possible to find many passionate strokes as well as the author‘s seeking for his new, somewhat more serious, musical language.

Individual movements were created throughout different years and they were only gradually being connected or inserted into the original two-movement version: Molto vivace - Passacaglia and a chorale variation. The release by Czech Radio publishing department represents an inside view into Krejčí’s workshop offering before excluded variations n. 5 - 9 after the final Presto movement. The author himself cast aside those variations to shorten the original variation movement so that in front of it he could insert a short contrasting Scherzo, originally written in 1929.

Iša Krejčí - Quartett in D

Main series 45

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, timp, batt, pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 108price: 210,- CZK

Krejčí’s four symphonies brought a completely new and individual tone to the repertoire of the Czech post-war symphony, free of romanticising pathos and great tragic or philosophising gestures.

Symphony no. 3 “in C” from 1961/63 stands out from these four with its truly clear, problem-free ease of form, playfulness and overall freedom of musical statement. The thoroughly optimistic character of this work, in which there are in principle no slow movements (in place of the 3rd move-ment is more of a playful and pleasing Aria in Allegretto moderato tempo), radiates from his music from the first to the last beat. The introductory movement is constructed in a well-arranged sonata form, linking on to Krejčí’s favourite sparkling Scherzino with alternative Trio in the central section of the form, then followed by the above-mentioned Aria and effective and vital finale at Allegro molto speed to close the symphony. The premiere of the work was performed in 1964 by the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Karel Ančerl.

Iša Krejčí - Symphony No. 3


Three Piano Scherzina by composer Iša Krejčí developed from previous flute pieces from 1953. Krejčí, an artist of the new classical style, offers the demonstration of refined composition, both technical and instrumental.

In simple ABA form, he develops the beauty of peripheral parts in a playful animato while the trio central part sounds with simple and warm popular melodies. It is a polished piece showing the past of divertiments. The direct musicality of Iša Krejčí‘s Scherzina has become very popular among piano players within a short period of time. This is also documented by its permanent presence in their repertoire.

Iša Krejčí - Three Piano Scherzina

instrumentation: ob, cl, fgdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 034price: 205,- CZK

The composition of the thirty-one-year-old author, dedicated dutifully to „my teacher, K. B. Jirák“, is one of the works that already presents the author who is certain about his own style. It reflects early neo-classicism of his first Cassation, funny, juicy, and deliberately a bit naive.

Consisting of four short movements (Introduction - Chorale - Scherzino - Rondino) Trio Divertimento is very well instrumentally positioned. It displays clear rhythmization and refined homophonic setting that make the piece perfect for conservatory or higher music school students. In short, anyone interested in chamber music of this particular instrumentation has a chance to perform an all around great piece with plenty of buoyancy, cheerfulness and playful modesty.

Iša Krejčí - Trio Divertimento

46 Main series

instrumentation: vno solo, pfte solo, 2 fl - II muta fl picc, 2ob, 2 cl - II muta cl b, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, tbn, perc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 178price: 150,- CZK

Miroslav Kubička has signed numerous orchestral, lyric and choral pieces but he is also an author of many chamber compositions. His Symphony for Full Orchestra from 1977 - 1980 received a consi-derable reception. Among other significant compositions is the Piano Concerto No. 2 (1984 - 1986) written for a pianist Ivan Klánský. Other Kubička‘s relevant piece was performed at the festival „Pra-gue Premieres 2005“ - Three Frescos, a piece for mixed and children‘s (women‘s) chorus, organ and percussion on the texts of old Czech poetry was composed to answer the request of abbe Georges Durand and it symbolizes the alliance of three cultural centres of Europe: Avignon, Bologna and Pra-gue. It was first performed in July 2002 in Avignon. From his chamber creations the one-movement string quintet The Chats (1982) is worth attention; out of his recent works we choose Quartet in C Major for flute, violin, violoncello and piano (2000 - 2001).

Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra was composed on the prompting of Silvie Hessová and Daniel Wiesner in 2006 - 2008. It is a celebration of friendship between kindred spirits as the make their way together though life on earth. The composition flows in a single stream, although it

is clearly divided into slow variations and an energetic, brisk sonata part.

Miroslav Kubička - Double Concerto for Violin, Piano and Orchestra

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, timp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 088price: 410,- CZK

„Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra was written between 1976 and 77. This work is very special in a way, I intended to fulfill a wish of my friend from childhood and write a piece similar to Haydn‘s symphonies. I knew my friend was seriously ill and I wanted to finish the work as soon as possible; yet, sadly, already the second movement changed into an Elegy for H. M.

This altered the whole concept of the composition. Harmonic advancement of the second movement enters the finale and also a symbolic motive from Dvořák‘s Requiem appears in the oboe part. Life never stops for a loss, it goes on - thinking of Sinfonietta I remember both the beautiful and the painful memories.“

Miroslav Kubička - Sinfonietta

instrumentation: tbn, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 207price: 165,- CZK

Miroslav Kubička (b. 1951) has signed numerous orchestral, lyric and choral pieces but he is also an author of many chamber compositions. From his chamber creations the one-movement string quintet The Chats (1982) is worth attention; out of his recent works we choose Quartet in C Major for fl ute, violin, violoncello and piano (2000–2001).

„Sonata for Trombone and Piano, written in the years 2004 to 2006, was conceived with an idea in mind of an instrument close to human voice in terms of its expressive potential. This notion thus directly infl uenced the peculiar form of the sonata, as well as the stylization of both the instrumental parts.“

Miroslav Kubička - Sonata for Trombone and Piano

Main series 47

instrumentation: vno I, vno II, vla, vcl, cbdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 056price: 300,- CZK

„Contemplation“ is a twelve-minute piece which Jan Kučera composed for the string quintet. The one-movement composition has the character of a stylized pop-jazz ballad with touches of minima-lism. Jan Kučera finds this musical style very congenial.

Jan Kučera - Contemplation

instrumentation: vnoI, vnoII, vla, vcl, cbdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 027price: 245,- CZK

Full House is a composition in one movement, where we can recognize some elements of baroque fugue, swing and some parody. According to the author interpret would have to know something about jazz, funk, be-bop and blues and about the fusion of these elements with classical music.

Jan Kučera - Full House

instrumentation: 2fl - I muta fl picc, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, timp, vibf, batt, archi;vnoI, vnoII, vla, vcl - soli


Suite concertante by Jan Kučera (*1977) was composed for the Epoque Quartet and Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2006 - 2007. The work is conceived as a concerto grosso with striking solo episodes. “I tried however to also present the string quartet as a compact unit and to confront it by means of sharp patterns with the orchestra, which does not only play an accompanying role...”, says the composer about his work.

The first of five parts entails stylised blues, growing from a twelve-bar harmonic scheme; the second part (Istanbuliana) brings with it oriental melodies together with a certain level of sentiment. The third movement, which is performed by the string quartet alone, is entitled Intermezzo melancolico; in this, the nine-bar monothematic melody gradually makes its way through all four instruments. The Lamentoso is constructed from an arched phase of the solo violoncello and in the fast, tempe-ramental and rhythmically varied final movement, the quartet and the orchestral parts are markedly separated from one another. The closing movement should - in accordance with its name of Stee-plechase - evoke the idea of a helter-skelter racing movement.

Jan Kučera - Suite concertante

48 Main series

instrumentation: vno I, II, vla, vcldescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 266price: 170,- CZK

“Adamu is a Sumerian expression meaning “an earthling”. There seems to be no doubt that the biblical term “Adam” can be derived from the Sumerian Adamah = Earth; Adamu (from the same root) = an earthling. This term, however, might also be a wordplay: “dam” means blood; “A- dam” would mean “the one from blood” (the created one). I hold the view that until the Bible begins to deal with the genealogy of Adam (a specific person), the Book of Genesis uses the term Adam to speak of a created being to designate a species.

So much for the name of the piece that intends to be a subjective and – of course – a very partial musical portrait of a human being. It works with four thematic fields that should correspond with four possible spheres of human consciousness (the sphere of the Spirit, of intellect, of the animal soul, and of the material body). The form of the piece is derived from a selected sequence of the human DNA chain that also consists of four elements – complex organic compounds, the so-called nucleotides: A – G – C – T. The fourth string quartet was commissioned by the Doležal quartet and written in 2011.”

Ivan Kurz - Adamu - String Quartet No. 4

instrumentation: coro bambinodescription: partpubl. No.: R 148price: 285,- CZK

„These arrangements of Christmas songs and carols for children choir a capella were written in 2004. The original impetus came from Professor Jiří Chvála, the choirmaster of Kühn‘s Children Choir. I worked on the assignment with much joy in my heart; Christmas carols are, after all, unique in their musical purity, their thematic chastity, they announce hope and love.

To make the whole collection a logical unit from the dramatic point of view, I arranged the pieces to follow what might be called a story-line: from the nocturnal revelation, the nativity scene, and the relationship between the child and the mother to the glorification of God‘s grandeur, the ensuing tri-bute paid by the carol singers, and, finally, back to the stillness of the silent night. Besides the gene-rally popular carols I selected also some less well-known songs in order to emphasize the immense breadth of folk art and its ability to express the purest emotions. The entire cycle was created and should be felt as a whole, but the individual scenes within this whole are sequenced chronologically: the night, the annunciation to the shepherds, the nativity scene, Jesus‘ cradle, Gloria, the carol singers and an epilogue. The collection consists of 22 Christmas songs and carols.

Ivan Kurz - Christmas Songs and Carols

instrumentation: Bar solo, picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, 12perc, 4camp di métal, camp, vibf, cel, archi


„Angelic Landscapes based on texts by Michail Lermontov, Christian Friedrich Henrici, Charles Bau-delaire, on folk poetry and ancient prayers written in 2009 represents a subjective reaction to the process of gradual deconstruction of the value hierarchy that takes place within the co-called cultural world of the present day. Oppressed and exploited by the process, the modern human being craves to find – and will always do so – a refuge. Unconscious though this search may be at first, the quest for a landscape of repose will ultimately become more and more urgent. The “Angelic Landscapes” represent a vision of such an oasis.

Following is the motto of the composition, taken from Lermontov’s poetry: “The angel was flying through the sky of midnight and he sang a song quietly; And the moon and the stars, and the crowd of clouds hearkened to that holy song.” – We should listen along with them.“

Ivan Kurz - Angelic Landscapes for baritone and grand orchestra

Main series 49

instrumentation: cor, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 172price: 145,- CZK

Written in 1984, the Duo for French Horn and Piano was premiered at the 1986 Prague Spring Fes-tival by Vladimíra Klánská (French horn) and Ivan Klánský (piano). The whole four-movement com-position forms one integrated flow of music: the first movement, a French horn soliloquy of sorts, raises a number of questions that are meant to be answered in the remaining three movements. The whole composition ends in an allusive funeral march that is interrupted unexpectedly, in mid-phrase. An open ending such as this corresponds with the title of the piece: „Expectations“.

What can we expect in days to come? We are living in a period of cultural decline. The most serious evidence of this dismal fact can be seen in the non-existence of style, the loss of any sense of style. With music composition rules abandoned and no restrictions in place, it is impossible for any major, determinative movement to arise; instead, culture is becoming a bazaar, its values shrinking deeper and deeper under the pressure of the laws of the market. Should these expectations turn out to become our factual and persistent „cultural“ future, what else is there to be done but to finish the interrupted funeral march as a symbol of leave-taking?

Ivan Kurz - Expectations

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, perc, archi description: scorepubl. No.: R 105price: 180,- CZK

Symphonic picture - Living Spirit finished in 2005, is so far the last in a loose series of symphonic pictures, which Kurz wrote between 1977 and 2005.

„The basic theme of the symphonic picture, the Living Spirit, is the portrait of an imaginary person. He is our guide along a journey illustrating the various levels and content of the human conscience. Personally, like a sentence is a thought expressed in words, music could be emotion expressed in notes. The ability to think, the rich world of emotions and feelings and the ability to turn back to your maker, that is what sets man apart from all other creatures and what gives us a uniqueness that cannot be repeated and fantastic possibilities: in the good and bad sense of the word.....”

Ivan Kurz - Living Spirit


“The composition was written in 2008 in reaction to the untimely death of Vladimír Leixner, the cellist of the Stamic Quartet. He was a dear friend of mine and a highly regarded colleague. Leixner’s contribution to Czech chamber music was substantial – he excelled both as a quartet player and as an outstanding music life organizer. It is only logical that a piece commemorating one of the founding members of the Stamic quartet was premiered by this very ensemble. The string quartet “I Can Hear the Angels Sing” consists of two movements: ! = 40; ! = 48. As for the melodic invention, the piece contains frequent perfect intervals; as for contents, the composition is an attempt to “look into” (with St. Augustine) the celestial city. The piece is dedicated to the memory of V. Leixner.”

Ivan Kurz - I Can Hear the Angels Sing – String Quartet No. 3

50 Main series

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, Asax in Es, 2fg, 1trb, 1tbn, timp, perc (5 sonatori), archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 241price: 260,- CZK

„The “Gendarmerie Humoresques” concert suite, created in 2007, does not contain all the melodies from all the episodes of the 39-part series of detective films, of course. I do hope, nevertheless, that my selection is a lucky one. There are two versions of the suite: a 17-minute and a 28-minute (see the Vi – De signs in the score). The premiere of the “Gendarmerie Humoresque” concert suite (the longer version) took place in 2008 at the Smetana Hall. The Prague Spring festival concert was performed by the conductor Stanislav Vavřínek and the Prague Radio Symphonic Orchestra.

Gendarmerie Humoresques (Četnické humoresky) became a part of my life for nearly ten years, they were shot from 1998 till 2007. The individual stories stand on their own, the only linking thread being the life of the gendarmerie office and the destinies of its members. Accordingly, the music for the series contains quite a lot of separate musical ideas and themes. The musical speech is respectful of the atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s. It does not, however, simply quote the tunes and songs of the period – all the music is original.“

Ivan Kurz - The Police´s Humoresques, orchestral suite

instrumentation: orgdescription: partpubl. No.: R 275price: 150,- CZK

Otomar Kvěch is an author of various orchestral pieces, as well as of chamber compositions. His creative aesthetics stand partly in opposition to so called Musica Nova. Otomar Kvěch continues the line of European music which calls for equally harmonized means of musical creativity: melodic line, creative and harmonic logic, clear rhythmic spacing. He utilizes the technical “products“ of modern composition tendencies, nevertheless he uses them prudently and chooses them only in those cases, when the intended musical expression requires so.

Expiatio, preludio fantastico e fuga retrograda per organo he composed for interpretative competi-tion of International Festival Prague Spring 2013.

Otomar Kvěch - Expiatio, preludio fantastico e fuga retrograda per organo

instrumentation: cor ingl solo, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, timp, batt (2 sonari), archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 085price: 200,- CZK

“Many wise men point out to the fact that the European civilization has reached its crisis. This crisis is displayed even in art. Some of these displays remind us more of students rags or beginners attempts; still, critics consider such attempts to be equal successions to works of those like Bach, Mozart, Brahms, etc. When you try to point this fact out, they do not believe you; on the contrary, they label you as an awkward conservative.

That is precisely what my composition „Cassandra and the Trojan Horse“ is about. Neither the Tro-jans believed Cassandra that they should not accept the peace-offering - the Trojan Horse and pull it within the walls of the city. The story is maybe even too succinctly put in my symphonic portrait: solo English horn is Cassandra‘s voice, orchestra stands for surrounding world, which fights, rejoices supposed victories and at the end, it brutally ravages. I have used one more source of inspirati-on besides the „old-age Romantistic“ non-musical scheme; it was the experimental technique of applying various time - lines used by contemporary film-makers. In German movie „Run Lola Run“ the story passes the screen three times, and every time it is slightly different. The same way the central passages of my composition are twice repeated but with slightly different course. The end of the piece is nevertheless clear, corresponding with the history of Trojan Horse.”

Otomar Kvěch - Cassandra and the Trojan Horse

Main series 51

instrumentation: rec, vno solo, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, timp, 3perc, arp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 208price: 165,- CZK

Kvěch’s (b. 1950) melodrama Storm and Peace (Bouře a klid) brings back to life the forgotten poetry that Ema Destinnová (1878-1930) wrote in the first years of her career as an opera singer. The idea to compose a melodrama based on the poems came from the opera singer and actress Soňa Červená, who assisted the translator of the poems to select some of them for the purpose. Otomar Kvěch then chose sixteen pieces, and by setting them to music he managed to create a unified and inspiring whole.

In the composition he made use of a distinctive creative technique applied in the poems: topics known from before are turned into a new experience under new circumstances. For instance, in the score there are to be found three themes from Bizet’s Carmen that belonged among the crucial roles of both Ema Destinová’s and Soňa Červená’s careers. The chain of events has been rounded up and the barrier of venues and time has been destroyed. A new compact and ample work has emerged.

The piano version was premiered on 23rd October 2005 as part of the International Festival of Concert Melodrama, the orchestral version was written for Emmy Destinn Music Festival in 2010.

Otomar Kvěch - Storm and Peace, melodrama based on Ema Destinová´s poetry

instrumentation: cl, pftedescription: partspubl. No.: R 061price: 195,- CZK

The excellent technique and tone quality of Petr Čáp, an outstanding clarinetist and, at present, also a teacher at the Academy of Music and Drama (Prague), inspired the Sonata for Clarinet and Piano.

Loudová composed it as early as 1963, not only dedicating it to Petr Čáp, but also performing it with him several times. The impressive three-movement composition makes great demands on technique and expression in the first and third movement, in the second part also considerable demands on tone quality in the lower and middle register.

Ivana Loudová - Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

instrumentation: vno, pftedescription: partspubl. No.: R 062price: 240,- CZK

Ivana Loudová wrote her Sonata for Violin and Piano as early as the age of 19. Apart from her Fantasia for Orchestra, the Sonata became her graduation piece at the Department of Composition of the Prague Conservatory.

Thus she proved as early as her studies that she is not only a good violinist and pianist, but also quite an unconventional and promising composer. Soon after its premiere, the Sonata for Violin and Piano became part of the repertoire of several leading performers, and, thanks to its persuasive power and technical difficulty, it has won many admirers among chamber music lovers.

Ivana Loudová - Sonata for Violin and Piano

52 Main series

instrumentation: vnoI, vnoII, vla, vcl - soli, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 040price: 175,- CZK

Concerto grosso is approximately eleven minute piece, which was originally composed for Musici Pragenses ensemble by composer Zdeněk Lukáš. This is one of his first pieces. It was created during his Summer holiday trip to Brdy mountains in 1964.

Originally the piece was intended for eleven players only - four soloist, string quartet and seven other more or less solo players. However, it is only seldom performed this way. According to Lukáš’s wish, the number of players is usually extended by another seven instruments - four violins, viola, cello and double bass. Sometimes the total number of players is once more multiplied by two or even three (according to the possibilities of each orchestra).

Zdeněk Lukáš - Concerto grosso


The composition Contrasti per quattro was written with deep understanding for the sound of the string quartet - rich invention, logical harmony, music full of energy and joy of life.

Zdeněk Lukáš - Contrasti per quattro

instrumentation: mezzosoprano solo, fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 3cor, 2trb, perc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 111price: 280,- CZK

Cantata to Francesco Petrarca´s text Death’s Triumph was set to music by Zdeněk Lukáš (1928 - 2007) for the singer Magdalena Kožená in winter 2004. Lukáš comes back to Petrarca after the great success of his piece Time’s Triumph, which was composed for the lyrics of Petrarca´s cycle. It is also a piece which received the first prize among Czech composers in a competition of the Prague Chamber Philharmonic on the first day of the third millennium.

The scholarly critique of the Triumphs cycles points out the excessive descriptiveness, outer clas-sicizing decoration and lack of poeticism. Apparently, this is related to the crisis of the medieval culture then. However, this gives the composer, Lukáš, a large space for cuts in the text. The literary “deficiency” then ironically is good for the music piece itself as it creates areas for orchestral instru-mentation and enables to develop the melodic curve of the musically lavish talent which together with the genial intuition chose the liveliest part of the Triumphs: Laura’s death - Death appeared beautiful in her beautiful face.

Zdeněk Lukáš - Death’s Triumph

Main series 53

instrumentation: vno solo, vcl solo, fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, 5tamb, archi


Zdeněk Lukáš (born 1928 in Prague) is one of the most productive contemporary Czech composers. His existing work is extensive, diverse in genre, and of great artistic value. For many years, Lukáš‘s career had been closely connected with the Czech Radio, for he had worked as a music editor for the Pilsen office.

The principles of Lukáš‘s music are well demonstrated in his Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Symphonic Orchestra op. 224. The work was inspired in 1987 by Josef Vlach (1923-1988), first violinist of the Vlach Quartet, who asked the composer to write a piece for his daughter, violinist Jana Vlachová, and her husband, cellist Michael Ericsson. This resulted first in Duetto op. 207 for violin and cello, and finally in the Double Concerto op. 224 in 1989. The composition consists of two well formed and distinctly contrasting movements. The aforementioned dominant role of melody is well apparent throughout the piece. The structure of the Concerto is very attractive since it allows exploiting the utmost technical and expressional possibilities offered by both solo instruments.

Zdeněk Lukáš - Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Symphony Orchestra

instrumentation: coro misto, org, 2bongos, tamb rull, ptti, trgl, tam-tamdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 039price: 240,- CZK

The verses that Lukáš used as a model for his work are a free version of the Ghana Christians‘ prayers. The deeply emotional meditation of common people and adjuratory cries expressed through natural images give Lukáš the opportunity to fully show his melodic and rhythmical mastership.

Zdeněk Lukáš - The Prayer

instrumentation: soprano, vla - soli; trgl, tamb picc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 146price: 115,- CZK

The basis of this cycle of four songs for soprano, viola, string orchestra, triangle and drum called after the opening song Quis potest dicere are four statements from the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament, whose author should be, as the tradition says (even thought it is inaccurate), king Solomon. The texts are organised in such a way that the first and third texts are conceived as trick questions, while the second and fourth texts have the character of exhortative statements. Zdeněk Lukáš (1928-2007) especially liked the opening text - Quis potest dicere - and he set it to music ear-lier and independently as a five-part choir a capella (op. 254). In this song cycle the obligatory viola seconds the solo soprano as a certain instrumental counterpart and partner in the dialogue.

Here, Lukáš consciously continued in the old composition practice known in baroque cantatas, con-cert (but also opera) arias of classicism and even in some romantic songs. Musical diction is simple, diatonic, based on a modal terrain with frequent flexes. The manuscript of his composition was finished in May 2005 and the premiere took place on the 28th of March 2007 in Prague as a part of the cycle Czech Premieres. The interpreters during this premiere were soprano Olga Jelínková, violist Jitka Hosporová and Kolegium českých filharmoniků under the direction of Jaroslav Kroft.

Zdeněk Lukáš - Quis potest dicere, op. 346

54 Main series

instrumentation: vlc solo, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 086price: 115,- CZK

Extensive and significant compositional work of Prague-born Zdeněk Lukáš (1928) exceeded three hundred numerated opuses. Finished in 2005 the Concerto for Violoncello and String Orchestra „Ricordi“ received the opus number 344.

The one-part composition is lucidly built in a traditional European closed form with a brief introducti-on and repeated main part: using almost a manifest form the classical return of the main part „Dal Segno ... al Fine“ is applied here. The whole form is divided into three complex gradational waves: the introductory range culminates after the violoncello solo cadence at no. 11 of the score, then the second gradational wave begins after a cessation of the tension - as a matter of fact it is a slightly altered version of the previous range. The third and the paramount gradational range arises with no. 18 of the score and reaches its climax at no. 25 with a short monologue of solo violin as if closing the previous animated dialogic range of solo violoncello and orchestra. The violin solo also displays a musical stream to repeat the main part of the composition (Dal Segno...al Fine) by which end the composition leads into a bright C - major common chord.

Zdeněk Lukáš - Ricordi, Concerto per violoncello e per orchestra d`archi

instrumentation: vnoI, vnoII, vla, vcl - soli; fl picc, fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2cor, 2trb, ptti, 5tamb, claves, trgl, tam-tam, archi


Symphonic Concert for string quartet and orchestra by Zdeněk Lukáš is a composition, which has all attributes of author‘s orchestral works - above all the feeling for conventionalization and colourful instrumentation.

Zdeněk Lukáš - Symphonic Concert

instrumentation: vno, vcl, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 076price: 185,- CZK

Zdeněk Lukáš‘s chamber pieces have long been a permanent part of the repertoire of almost all Czech ensembles. There are dozens of them, for various sets of instruments. Most of them were commissioned by members of ensembles, who appreciate their ideal instrumentation, good playabi-lity, and the steadily positive response of listeners.

The second piece for the piano trio composed by Zdeněk Lukáš is called Trio Boemo. In comparison with the first piece from 1968, which is heavy with sadness and drama, Trio Boemo is light with the spontaneity of a person who has achieved the mature optimism of life, and whose invention is more joyous and cheerful with the coming years. In its seemingly unusual two-part form, the beginning of the second movement hides a scintillating quick middle part. The lucid instrumentation of this piano trio meets the wish of the members of the present Czech Trio, to whom Lukáš also dedicated the piece.

Zdeněk Lukáš - Trio Boemo

Main series 55

instrumentation: coro bamb, perc, fl becc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 205price: 290,- CZK

Otmar Mácha drew on the music of the 1st half of the 20th century in his own production, finding inspiration in the Czech folklore. He studied composition first with František Míťa Hradil, he was Jaroslav Řídký’s student at the Prague Conservatory. As a music director and dramaturge of music broadcasting he worked in the Czechoslovak Radio. Apart from his concert music production, he par-ticularly excelled as a composer of film and television music. His compositional output he contributed to all the main musical forms, and he also wrote many works for children.

Suite of Christmas songs on folk texts for Children´s choir, recorder, percussion and string orchestra Hej Vánoce, dlouhý noce was written before Christmas 1996 and was premiered 23rd of December of this year.

Otmar Mácha - Hey Christmas, Long Nights, suite of Christmas Songs

instrumentation: vno, pftedescription: partspubl. No.: R 046price: 310,- CZK

Spring Sonata for violin and piano by Otmar Mácha was written in 1948. It has three parts. Allegro con gravita, Larghetto sostenuto, and Allegro molto. The author attempts to achieve pregnant, simple, and expressively efficient composition at both instruments here. The sonata was for the first time presented by Marie Hlouňová and Jan Panenka at Umělecká beseda. There is also a recording available with their interpretation of this piece.

The Autumn Sonata for violin and piano was written by O. Mácha for Jaroslav Kolář and violin player Nora Grumlíková in 1987. As the author says: „Professor Jaroslav Kolář had a great credit of perfor-ming musical pieces for violin and piano“. O. Mácha reworked the first part according to his proposal. The end of the sonata contains a sort of living proposal and it sounds very tragically. The premiere of this musical piece took place in Dům umělců (House of Artists) on September 23, 1987.

Otmar Mácha - Spring Sonata, Autumn Sonata

instrumentation: Asaxdescription: partpubl. No.: R 137price: 80,- CZK

„Saxomania was written for the French saxophonist Edouard Garrido during my artistically and pedagogically oriented sojourn in France in the nineties. Garrido provided me with useful advice concerning the technical possibilities of the instrument. Due to its technical demands - circular brea-thing, multiphonics, etc. (these techniques were not taught in the Czech Republic at that time) - the Czech premiere came only when Petr Valášek decided to play the composition. His performance was brilliant, and he liked the piece as much as to create a transcription for bass clarinet.

With The Singing Angel the situation was much easier. I knew that there were at least two compe-tent artists in the Czech Republic (Petr Valášek and Roman Fojtíček) who would not let the compo-sition „lie waste“, which simplified my decision to accept the commission of the Czech Radio, and I could set to work, untroubled.“

Zbyněk Matějů - Saxomania, The Singing Angel

56 Main series

instrumentation: cl, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 136price: 105,- CZK

„The composition entitled Smorfia („A Grimace“ in English) was originally planned for Ludmila Peter-ková and Tomáš Víšek. Coincidentally, it was chosen as the obligatory composition of that year‘s cla-rinet competition in Chomutov and has since become a part of the permanent clarinet repertoire.“

An analysis of the piece was published in 2001 in the USA as a part of the book Revolutions and Relevations: The Clarinet Music of Zbynek Mateju.

Zbyněk Matějů - Smorfia

instrumentation: cl (Asax), pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 189price: 115,- CZK

„The „Czech“ Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano was written in 1983. It was conceived as homage to Czech clarinet music, so that there are several quotations or short modified passages from suitable Czech clarinet pieces to be found in the score. The first movement contains extracts from Czech Classical music; the third movement includes sequences of 20th century compositions. In the second movement (in which the medieval form of isorhythm is used) there is no direct quotation. However, its character should resemble that of the second movement of Bohuslav Martinů‘s Sonatina.

In the year 2007 I wrote a version for alto saxophone and piano. The piano part remains intact with a few slight exceptions. Only in those parts where the saxophone version is transposed by an octave compared to the original clarinet version, the piano part includes the note. The solo part indicated in the piano is the clarinet part. Both the solo instruments (clarinet and saxophone) are provided with separate parts with the proper transposition“.

Lukáš Matoušek - „Czech“ Sonatina for Clarinet and Piano

instrumentation: 1 or 2 irish or pedal harpsdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 258price: 110,- CZK

The composition entitled TO-Y was commissioned by the ARPADUA ensemble that makes use of combinations of various kinds of harps and harp techniques in their concerts. Their repertoire is incredibly broad, ranging from the classical European music to contemporary South-American com-posers. The members of ARPADUA are not afraid to experiment and their concerts are always loaded with energy.“To-y” has been intended as a kind of “toy” for the musicians. It is up to them, whether they want to make use of the version for 2 concert harps, whether they prefer smaller hook harps, or whether they perform the solo version for a single instrument.It is essential to keep up the same tempo in both instruments. The players are given some freedom in the dynamic development of the piece.”

Zbyněk Matějů - TO-Y

Main series 57

instrumentation: cb, pftedescription: partspubl. No.: R 078price: 205,- CZK

“I composed the Sonata for Contrabass and Piano Op. 7 in spring 2000 for Luděk Zakopal, my friend and an excellent contrabass player. The premiere of the composition took place at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague graduation concert, where it was played by Luděk and my sister, Věra Meislová.

From a formal point of view, the composition is a sonata cycle. The first movement is composed in sonata form; the second movement has a three-part form. The third, i.e. the last movement, has the sonata rondo form, where the middle part links to the introduction of the first movement. The sonata is a virtuoso composition presenting a challenge for interprets, both from a technical and expressional point of view.”

Jan Meisl - Sonata for Contrabass and Piano Op. 7

instrumentation: vnoI, vnoII, vla, vcl, cbdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 157price: 270,- CZK

Adolf Míšek (1875 - 1955) is a Czech double-bass player, composer, pedagogue and conductor. He originally drew on the style of A. Dvořák, but he managed to form his own singular mode of expres-sion that is marked for its graceful emotionality typical of Czech national music.

Apart from the String Quintet E-flat Major he wrote a number of compositions, very interesting from an instrumentalist‘s point of view, in which the double-bass is presented as an independent solo instrument of a wide range of timbres: Polonaise Concertante, Three Sonatas for Double-Bass and VCzech Radio studio by the Stamitz Quartet with the double-bass player Radomír Žalud.

Adolf Míšek - String Quintet E-flat Major

instrumentation: trb, pftedescription: partspubl. No.: R 017price: 185,- CZK

Jiří Mittner (*1980) composed The Sonata per tromba e pianoforte during his studies at the Prague Conservatory. He created the work full of dramatic tension and on the other hand full of lyrical sound.

The piece was performed a great number of times immediately after its premiere that took place in October 17, 2001 on the occasion of Harmonia association festival. Soon after, it found a steady place among successful trumpet works. The premiere was performed by trumpetist Vít Gregorovič who played together with the author himself mastering the piano. The Czech Radio record has been performed just the same way.

Jiří Mittner - Sonata per tromba e pianoforte

58 Main series

instrumentation: vcl, pfte /vla, cb/description: score, partspubl. No.: R 113price: 175,- CZK

The Sonata for Violoncello and Piano in three movements is a moderately sophisticated composition characterised by clear formal structure and traditional melodic and harmonic language. General balance is also the main focus of the instrumentation approaches and roles of both interpreters.

The composition’s artistic merit is not in its vocality but in its message anchored in a respecting the score as much as possible, preserving its lucidity and achieving an artistic effect through minor variations only.

Jiří Mittner - Sonata for Violoncello and Piano /alternate for alto or double bass/

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, 4cor, 4trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, perc, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 060price: 505,- CZK

After the sudden death of the architect and painter Viktor Hartmann, Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky and a few other friends organized an exhibition of his drawings with original subjects. However, Mussorgsky did immeasurably more by composing, under the impression of this exhibition, one of his most famous pieces, „Pictures from an Exhibition“, often called by the original Russian name „Kartinki“. Mussorgsky himself did not orchestrate this cycle of piano pieces, but a few other compo-sers did. The best-known and most frequently played is the instrumentation by Maurice Ravel.

One of the composers who set about orchestrating Pictures from an Exhibition was also the con-ductor Václav Smetáček „in whose life, composing was somewhat of a Cinderella, and when he did embark upon something, it was always from an external impulse only.“ His instrumentation of Pictures from an Exhibition was composed to be broadcasted by the radio station Radiojournal at the outbreak of World War Two, at a time when Ravel was already on the list of forbidden composers.

M.P.Musorgskij/instr. Václav Smetáček - Pictures from an Exhibition

instrumentation: vno, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 232price: 135,- CZK

Jindra Nečasová Nardelli (b. 1960) is the author of numerous chamber, symphonic, vocal, and solo compositions, as well as ballets. TCHASLAW l. The ballad for violin and piano was composed in 2006 as the author’s subjective reflection on long-lost secret stories of a human soul; this phrase appears as a cryptogram in the title of the piece, which is dedicated to the Czech violinist Eduard Bayer, and the pianist Marek Šedivý.

Jindra Nečasová Nardelli - Tchaslaw I. Ballad for Violin and Piano

Main series 59

instrumentation: fl I, fl II, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 183price: 170,- CZK

Aeolia was written in 1983, a year before the composer‘s death, for his daughter and her fellow-stu-dents at the Stuttgart Academy (Musikhochschule). In this brilliant and highly original composition the two flutes that constantly imitate one another are presented as a flexible, mobile and yet integral unit, while the piano and its almost orchestra-like radiance constitutes a contrastive element.

...Aeolus was the god of Wind in Greek mythology. Aeolia could be translated as „pertaining to Aeo-lus“, which is not surprising here, since the three terms flute - breath - wind have been interrelated since primeval ages. The interplay between the two flutes, especially towards the beginning, can well be perceived as the slow rise of wind.Aeolia was recorded on CD by Premiers Horizons Disques. The recording was produced by Associa-tion Jean-Pierre Rampal with the following performing artists: Clara Novakova and Zorica Milenkovic - flute, Jean-Bernard Marie - piano.

Jan Novák - Aeolia

instrumentation: vcl solo, 2cl, 2Tsax, 2trb, 2tbn, timp, batt, vibf, pfte, Vni I, II, Cb I, IIdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 152price: 280,- CZK

Practically all the works of Jan Novák (1921-1984) were in the spirit of the Neo-classical creative orientation. Characteristic traits are the clear structure of the form, transparent instrumentation, melody in the framework of free tonality, lively rhythm and a sense of humour. From the end of the fifties the decisive trait is the inclination towards Latin poetry. Latin, which Novák spoke fluently and which he also handled intensively as a poet, became the chief source of inspiration for his work.

Capriccio belongs to Jan Novák’s early compositional output. This three-movement piece brims with playfulness and vigour, and - while revealing the author’s interest in all contemporary compositional techniques, including jazz elements - it remains an utterly original and distinctive work of art. Its vibrant rhythmical structure makes use of syncopation and dotted rhythm; the piece is also marked for brilliant instrumentation that inspires the players to apply unconventional techniques, e.g. “with fists” in the piano or “sul ponticello” in the violoncello. Far from leading to an aggressive sound, however, these techniques merely enhance the impression of youthful exuberance.

Jan Novák - Capriccio

instrumentation: vcl solo, pftedescription: piano score, solo partpubl. No.: R 153price: 190,- CZK

Practically all the works of Jan Novák (1921-1984) were in the spirit of the Neo-classical creative orientation. Characteristic traits are the clear structure of the form, transparent instrumentation, melody in the framework of free tonality, lively rhythm and a sense of humour. From the end of the fifties the decisive trait is the inclination towards Latin poetry. Latin, which Novák spoke fluently and which he also handled intensively as a poet, became the chief source of inspiration for his work.

Capriccio belongs to Jan Novák’s early compositional output. This three-movement piece brims with playfulness and vigour, and - while revealing the author’s interest in all contemporary compositional techniques, including jazz elements - it remains an utterly original and distinctive work of art. Its vibrant rhythmical structure makes use of syncopation and dotted rhythm; the piece is also marked for brilliant instrumentation that inspires the players to apply unconventional techniques, e.g. “with fists” in the piano or “sul ponticello” in the violoncello. Far from leading to an aggressive sound, however, these techniques merely enhance the impression of youthful exuberance.

Jan Novák - Capriccio

60 Main series

instrumentation: fl, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 184price: 155,- CZK

Choreae vernales (Spring Dances) were written in 1977, originally as a composition for flute and guitar. Only later on did Jan Novák transcribe the work for flute and piano, and also for flute, string orchestra, celesta and harp. The piece consists of three loosely connected movements, each with its individual character and inherent contrasts. The inspiration for the main theme of the first move-ment comes from Horatio‘s verse „Diffugere nives, redeunt iam gramina campis / arbosribusque comae“ (The melted snow the verdure now restores, And leaves adorn the trees).

The exact rhythm of this Latin hexameter is in fact transferred to the first three-part phrase at the beginning of the Allegretto. Also the two remaining movements retain the spirit of spring and dance, with slow bucolic songs alternating with raucous Bacchic revelries... But let each performing artist find their own combination of pace and movement!

The composition Chorea vernales was recorded on CD by LH Promotion with the following perfor-ming artists: Clara Novakova - flute, Jean-Bernard Marie - piano.

Jan Novák - Choreae vernales

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 179price: 215,- CZK

Elegantiae tripudiorum, the elegance of the waltz: ten compositions that - besides individual qualiti-es of each separate part - form one grand work of art: It is the Waltz itself that, dancing gracefully, enters the scene and guides both the listener and the performing artist through the entire waltz era and the sundry trends recognizable within the waltz style.

A fanciful fireworks display of the waltz form, Elegantiae tripudiorum portrays each individual waltz both with pantomimic perfection and human spontaneousness. An independent orchestral version of the work bears the subtitle „sinfonia minoris“. Judging by the Latin title of the composition, a gene-rous measure of humour and elegance on the part of the composer is to be expected. Yet again, the author‘s humane existential worldview is palpable here: the waltz enters the history and then leaves it again, doing so with characteristic subtlety and elegance.

Jan Novák - Elegantiae tripudiorum

instrumentation: pfte, voc ad libdescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 228price: 260,- CZK

Jan Novák was always deeply interested in all kinds of religious systems, having also studied avidly many of them. However, as a former Jesuit grammar school student, he always felt most at home in the world of Christianity. Therefore, it is not surprising that his late compositions are firmly set in the field of Christian faith. For “Hymni christiani” Novák chose – with the single exception of the last movement – texts written in ancient meters, adapted and simplified by the author to draw on the music tradition of the Church. Hymni christiani represent a clear Christian counterpart to Odae, Novák’s five-part cycle based on Horace’s pagan texts.

The cycle as such resounds with deep Christian mysticism. In the last movement, the “Stabat Mater”, both the performing artists and the listeners are faced with a monumental depiction of the crucifixion history.

Jan Novák - IV Hymni christiani (Four Christian Hymns for piano and vocal part ad libitum)

Main series 61

instrumentation: archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 198price: 130,- CZK

From the end of the fifties is the decisive trait of Novák´s work the inclination towards Latin poetry. Latin, which Novák spoke fluently and which he also handled intensively as a poet, became the chief source of inspiration for his work.

Five quatrain from the first book of Horatio´s Songs encouraged the emergence of work with the name Odarum concentus choro fidium per orchestra d´archi, thus some harmony of Horatio´s odes for string orchestra. Composer completed this work in 1973.

Jan Novák - Odarum concentus choro fidium


Prima Sonata, a work belonging among Jan Novák‘s latest compositions, is dedicated to his wife, the pianist Eliška Nováková. There is a curious parallel between this piece and Bohuslav Martinů‘s First Sonata for piano that also was not followed by any other composition of such form for solo piano. Shaped in a conventional style, the three-movement Prima Sonata is a highly idiomatic and unique work of art, just as much as all the other piano composition by Jan Novák; though based on an identical musical language - identical to some extent, at least - they remain very different from one another and mutually incomparable.

Dora Novak-Wilmington: „Speaking from the point of view of an enthusiastic performer of the piano sonata, I admire the way the composer managed to unite the heavenly with the mundane within the composition; to speak of the spring buoyancy, the upheavals and blunders of human life as well as of the bright light of ethereal, eternal glory. All this is permeated with the author‘s well-balanced attitude towards life and its ephemerality; an attitude stemming from Novák‘s Christianity and his classical education. The pianist can partake in the maturity of this composition, and share with the composer the divine source of music.“

Jan Novák - Prima sonata

instrumentation: vcl, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 170price: 195,- CZK

Rotundelli, little rondos or - to use the figurative Latin meaning of the word - well-balanced, „well-rounded“ compositions where endings are closely linked to the beginning, as well-rounded as the form of a violoncello: indeed, anyone can, using only their own imagination, try and find a connecti-on between the title and the work in question. As far as the music is concerned, it stimulates both the performing artist‘s and the listener‘s imagination by its playfulness and emotional depth, by its engaging sound qualities and human maturity.

Rotundelli are dedicated to the violoncellist František Smetana, the composer‘s long-standing friend, who premiered the work together with the pianist Eliška Nováková, the author‘s spouse. Already during the rehearsals leading to the premiere several alterations were made in cooperation with the author, mostly in the second movement. The final version, prepared for publication by the author, does not contain violoncello double stops; in the present edition, these are to be found as „ossia“. The first version differs from the second also in the following bars: 29- 34 and 115 - 120; these bars are printed in the current edition.

Jan Novák - Rotundelli

62 Main series

instrumentation: cembdescription: partpubl. No.: R 122price: 140,- CZK

In the post-war generation of Czech composers Jan Novák (1921-1984) is undoubtedly one of the most talented and most striking personalities. At the beginning of the sixties Novák turned away from large symphonic compositions towards the smaller forms. At this time he also wrote two chamber compositions for the harpsichord, inspired by the harpsichordist Hana Šlapetová. In October 1960 Novák wrote the Sonata brevis for her, quickly followed by Inventiones per tonos XII clavicymbalo aut aliis instrumentis pinnatis modulandae (Inventions in the twelve-tone system for harpsichord and other key instruments).

Whereas the twelve Inventions were inspired by the polyphony of Bach, which Novák - in keeping with his interest at that time in the adaptation of a rational way of working - linked with the proce-dures of the twelve-tone technique, the three-part Sonata brevis is a small and playful composition, wittily utilising jazz procedures and the boogie-woogie style.

Jan Novák - Sonata brevis

instrumentation: fl, pftedescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 203price: 125,- CZK

While composing his Sonatina for flute and piano in 1976 in Rina del Garda, Italy, Jan Novák’s concern was for beginning flutists.

The composition has the classical four-movement sonata form. Following a free cadenza of the first movement a contrasting rhythmical theme appears. The second movement written in the ABA form introduces a lyrical melody that evokes Moravian folklore music - a significant source of inspiration for Novák. In the third movement a contrast between the flute and the piano is set up: a simple flute melody is accompanied by rich rhythmical music in the piano. In the final part of the work, on the contrary, both instruments assume equal roles in the complex and effective rhythmical music of the last movement. Even though the Sonatina is well suitable for students and more advanced amateurs, it can just as well be performed in concert.

Jan Novák - Sonatina for Flute and Piano

instrumentation: fl, vno, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 249price: 250,- CZK

Sonata tribus (Sonata For Three) was written in 1982 in the German town of Ulm. Like most com-positions of the period, also this chamber sonata was written for one’s family and friends. It was premiered by Novák’s wife Eliška on the piano and by their daughter Clara on the flute; the violin part was performed by the Polish virtuoso Jerzy Nebel, a citizen of Ulm at the time. In the sonata, Novák makes full use of the audio effects of the mutually permeating sound of the flute and the violin. This is also the case of the beautiful second movement, which surpasses the standard boun-daries of the slow movements both thank to its grand structure and the depth of the music. Sonata tribus is often performed also with a cello instead of the violin; the author himself, however, did not have the opportunity to hear this version.

Jan Novák - Sonata tribus

Main series 63

instrumentation: fldescription: partpubl. No.: R 142price: 105,- CZK

In 1979 Jan Novák (1921-1984) composed several preludes and fugues for flute under the impressi-on of a concert performance of solo compositions by J. S. Bach and C. P. E. Bach. Initially, Novák’s plan was to write “Die Wohltemperierte Flöte”. In the end, however, he managed to finish only four preludes and fugues; the fifth remained a sketch. Two of these pairs of compositions, A major and c minor, were published by the Italian publishing house Zanibon as Due Preludi e Fughe, and were for long considered to be the only existing pieces. Only in the summer 2007 a manuscript copy entitled TIBIA FUGITIVA happened to find its way into Clara Novak´s hands - the composer´s daughter and flautist. It contained all four preludes and fugues.

This edition of the two “lost” preludes and fugues thus fills up the blank in Jan Novák’s works for flute. The Latin titles of the pieces, characteristic of Novák, were preserved, as well as the potential cut in the second fugue that results from the existence of two differing sources. Tibia fugitiva is a major contribution to the solo flute repertoire, formally drawing on the production of the Baroque masters, but at the same time being very much alive thanks to the inspiration and mastery of one of the most compelling Czech composers of the 20th century.

Jan Novák - Tibia fugitiva


Ever since the Renaissance period, the form of the toccata has been known as a virtuoso instru-mental piece par excellence. This composition by Jan Novák belongs - alongside Chatschaturjan’s, Prokofiev’s or Bohuslav Martinu’s toccatas - among significant piano works of the 20th century.

Toccata Chromatica is an early work that the author composed in 1959 and dedicated to his wife, the pianist Eliška Nováková. In spite of this, however, it begins with a dedication of a different kind: the first notes are B-flat A C B . Apart from 12-tone-system based flamboyant passages of masterful playfulness, there are also lyrical contrasts to be found in the score that allude to the dedicatee...

Jan Novák - Toccata chromatica

instrumentation: 2pftedescription: scorepubl. No.: R 197price: 260,- CZK

Novák‘s development as a composer was fundamentally influenced by his study stay in the United States in the year 1947/8, when he studied briefly under Aaron Copland and in the following five months in New York privately with Bohuslav Martinů. The influence of the work of Bohuslav Martinů is evident in particular in the compositions of the first phase of Novák‘s work. To this time it´s possible to include the emergence of Variations on a Theme by Bohuslav Martinů for two pianos.

The composition was written in 1949 and orchestrated for symphony orchestra ten years later. Parts of the work are seven variations on the final motif of Martinu‘s Field Mass and the final double fugue.

Jan Novák - Variations on a Theme by Bohuslav Martinů

64 Main series

instrumentation: 3fl - III muta fl picc, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb b, timp, perc, arpa, archi, rec


Two out of the total number of six Concerto Melodrama proved their quality - The Czech Ballad from 1905 and The Ballad of the Dead Cobbler and the Young Dancer, op. 6 from 1904. In these works Ostrčil leaves the subject field of his mentor, who preferred dramatic and tragic themes, and sets off in a different direction.

He based the composition on a then recent poem by Karel Leger (1856 - 1934) who was known mainly as an author of realistic fiction. In the Ballad, however, Leger’s text switches from the initial lyrical atmosphere to that of a bizarre horror with both erotic and humorous elements. Ostrčil’s music makes use of characteristic motives and polka rhythm stylizations; loose tonality and compel-ling orchestral colours are employed by the author for dramatic purposes. The Ballad of the Dead Cobbler and the Young Dancer was premiered in Prague on 22nd January 1905. It was performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra led by Oskar Nedbal; the text was recited by Hana Benoniová.

Otakar Ostrčil - The Ballad of the Dead Cobbler and the Young Dancer, op. 6

instrumentation: mezzosoprano solo, 3fl - muta fl picc, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, perc, 2arp, archi


Between 1904 and 1906 Ostrčil wrote three compositions, all similar in style, for voice and grand orchestra - the melodramas The Ballad of the Dead Cobbler and the Young Dancer, The Czech Ballad, and the song The Orphan Child, op. 9, which is annotated as “a ballad for mezzo-soprano and orchestra based on folk lyrics”. The poem that Ostrčil took from Karel Jaromír Erben’s collection, and that combines the straightforward force of folk poetry with infant innocence, tells the story of an orphan whose grief over his mother’s death leads eventually to his own end. But despite the fact that a folk text is used in the ballad, Ostrčil chooses here, as he did in all his work, to avoid references to folklore music. The acoustic potential of the grand orchestra is used only very moderately, and instead of applying unimaginative effects the author does his best to create a mournful, tragic atmosphere. Also the vocal part remains quite simple and respects the rhythm, intonation and phrasing of spoken lan-guage. The piece was first performed by František Neumann and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra three months after the score had been finished, on 5th December 1906, at a concert of the Orches-tral Music Union (Jednota pro orchestrální hudbu) at the Rudolfinum Concert Hall in Prague. The vocal part was performed by Gabriela Horvátová for whom the composition was intended.

Otakar Ostrčil - The Orphan Child, op. 9

instrumentation: cor, 2trb, 2tbndescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 051price: 385,- CZK

Jiří Pauer‘s output for wind instruments is quite extensive, generally successful, and sought after internationally. His pieces are characterized by the pithiness of their artistic expression, clarity of form, intriguing dynamism, and vitality leaning towards robustness and straightforwardness.

Jiří Pauer drew attention to his penchant for the wind instruments as early as his studies at the Aca-demy of Music and Drama (Prague) in the class of Pavel Bořkovec. His graduation work, Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, became also his first piece to be performed by the Czech Philharmonic (in 1952). Apart from the Divertimento for Three Clarinets, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra and Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra, the group of his pieces for the woodwinds composed in the 1960s includes also Wind Quintet. A few years later, pieces for brass instruments begin to predomi-nate, including Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, Trompettina, Trombonetta and Tubonetta, but also small-scale pieces, such as Characters for Brass Quintet (1977, premiere in 1978 in the US) and Suite for Four Saxophones (1983).

Jiří Pauer - Characters for Brass Quintet

Main series 65

instrumentation: Ssax, Asax, Tsax, Barsaxdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 055price: 320,- CZK

Jiří Pauer‘s output for wind instruments is quite extensive, generally successful, and sought after internationally. His pieces are characterized by the pithiness of their artistic expression, clarity of form, intriguing dynamism, and vitality leaning towards robustness and straightforwardness.

Apart from the Divertimento for Three Clarinets, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra and Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra, the group of his pieces for the woodwinds composed in the 1960s includes also Wind Quintet. A few years later, pieces for brass instruments begin to predominate, including Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, Trompettina, Trombonetta and Tubonetta, but also small-scale pieces, such as Characters for Brass Quintet (1977, premiere in 1978 in the US) and Suite for Four Saxophones (1983).

Jiří Pauer - Suite for Four Saxophones

instrumentation: fl, ob, cl, fg, cordescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 053price: 395,- CZK

Jiří Pauer drew attention to his penchant for the wind instruments as early as his studies at the Aca-demy of Music and Drama (Prague) in the class of Pavel Bořkovec. His graduation work, Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, became also his first piece to be performed by the Czech Philharmonic (in 1952).

Apart from the Divertimento for Three Clarinets, Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra and Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra, the group of his pieces for the woodwinds composed in the 1960s includes also Wind Quintet. A few years later, pieces for brass instruments begin to predominate, including Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra, Trompettina, Trombonetta and Tubonetta, but also small-scale pieces, such as Characters for Brass Quintet (1977, premiere in 1978 in the US) and Suite for Four Saxophones (1983).

Jiří Pauer - Wind Quintet

instrumentation: cl b solo, fl picc, fl I, fl alto muta fl II, ob, cor ingl, cl in B, cl in Es, fg, cfg, 2cor, trb, tbn, timp, perc, arp, pfte, archi


„I have decided to dedicate the Concert for bass clarinet and orchestra to the bass clarinet player Jiří Porubiak. Since the beginning of the composition, I have tried to make the most of the widest possible spectrum of colors and expressions of the bass clarinet. Frequent discussions with the interpreter have helped me to understand fully the issues surrounding the bass clarinet and his art of interpretation was the driving force throughout the creation of this piece.

I have decided to use a three movement structure for the composition. The entire bass clarinet con-cert has a tonally modal character with some bitonal harmonic areas. The movement themes often change unexpectedly and very often they even touch other musical genres. Considering instrumen-tation, I did not want the orchestra to only accompany but rather to be a partner of the solo part.”

Aleš Pavlorek - Concerto per clarinetto basso ed orchestra

66 Main series

instrumentation: cl solo, fg solo, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 101price: 235,- CZK

Concerto Grosso No. 2 was created out of pure joy for Emil (a clarinetist) and Dušan (a bassoonist) Drápels, both soloist of the orchestra of Philharmonia Brno. They premiered the piece and then repeated it many times with various chamber string orchestras. They also provided a radio record of the piece together with the full string orchestra of the State Philharmonia conducted by František Jílek.

Zdeněk Pololáník - Concerto Grosso No. 2 for Clarinet, Bassoon and Strings

instrumentation: canto, pftedescription: scorepubl. No.: R 092price: 240,- CZK

The series of eighteen (if you like sixteen - two songs are repeated in two different transpositions) songs that use the texts of folk poetry from Bohemia and Moravia from 1986-88 are works to be found in the category that in the widest sense of the word found the greatest “public acceptance”.

The melodic line of the vocal part, account of the piano accompaniment and the overall well-arran-ged construction of individual songs do justice to the original world of the folk song with their inten-tional austerity and simplicity - but also their sincerity and immediacy of expression. Many of them adhere to the basic rhythmic outline and melodic cadence of the original folk versions. The melodic extent of the tunes allows for interpretation of these songs by various types of voice and pitches, in two cases, the composer mentions two differing vocal pitches for the same song.

Miroslav Raichl - Songs on Folk Poetry from Bohemia and Moravia

instrumentation: soprano solo, pftedescription: scorepubl. No.: R 093price: 135,- CZK

Raichl gladly worked with folk songs - in part adapting the original tunes although more frequently setting the texts of folk poetry to new music. This is also the case in the series of four songs for soprano and piano A Swan has Flown Over Here from 1981.

These are all love songs, which the composer created in the year of his marriage to the singer Svata-va Šubrtová. The introductory “Oh, I don’t know, I don’t know” is the yearning song of a girl in love with wide waves of melodic phrases, the second song “The Sun has been eclipsed for me” on the other hand is a grief-stricken sigh over vanished love, the third is a more exited song of uncertainty and also hope for reunion. The closing song “A swan has flown over here” in a leisurely broken movement again expresses the disappointment of an absent love and the desire to venture out into the world to find him. The excited phrasing of the closing song is exceptionally compelling, especially at the peak of the gradation in connection with the vocal and instrumental line.

Miroslav Raichl - A Swan has Flown Over Here

Main series 67

instrumentation: guit solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 257price: 150,- CZK

„I have always found the form of the Renaissance suite highly attractive. This temptation to try and deal with the form in my own way led me originally to compose only what is now the final part of the suite. It is called, quite intentionally, the Renaissance Temptation and I wrote it in the form of vir-tuoso variations. Over the years I added one part after another until I found myself with something like a Renaissance suite. Yet such a form as I composed did not exist back then.

In the end, however, the temptation took over again and I put six contrasting parts together to complete the suite as it appears here. I have dedicated the composition to my friend Vladimír Mikul-ka, an excellent guitarist, as a way of expressing my gratitude for his efforts to spread my music around the world.“ Štěpán Rak

Štěpán Rak - Temptation of the Renaissance


Tempus Quadragesimae is the third part of organ music cycle “Musica per organum”.

Each of its four parts (Adventus, Nativitas, Tempus Quadragesimae and Pascha) is in fact a sonata based on choral tunes characteristic of each liturgical period. Tempus Quadragesimae is based on an ancient Czech sacred song “Christ, a paragon of humbleness”

Radek Rejšek - Tempus Quadragesimae


„Symphony No. 4 for Strings“ by Josef Rut was written between 1995 and 1996. The piece, which requires virtuosity of interprets, can be characterized as follows: the first movement introduces two motives, the second movement works only with the first motive while the third movement works with the second motive. Both themes are then connected without interruption by the following fourth movement. This principle of formal uniformity is used by the author - with several variations - in all his cyclic musical pieces.

Josef Rut - Symphony No. 4 for Strings

68 Main series

instrumentation: cl, fg, vla, vcl, mar, tamb di legno, tom-tom, tom-tom b, ptti, gong, timpdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 050price: 145,- CZK

Septet for clarinet, fagot, viola, violoncello, and three percussion instruments players Minus - Kolem nuly - Plus (Minus - Around Zero - Plus) was composed by Kateřina Růžičková in 1997. This is an optimistic version of a three-part musical piece, which decided to document the three elementary states of any existence: negative, neutral, and positive.

According to Kateřina Růžičková, the piece can be performed also in other versions, for example in the pessimistic one: „Plus - Kolem nuly - Minus“ (Plus - Around Zero - Minus) or to perform individual parts separately. This is the case of the music carrier named HUDBABY. The recording from 1993 carries the separate part „Kolem nuly“ (Around Zero) for three percussion instruments players. As Kateřina Růžičková says about her piece: ... „under each existence, everyone can imagine whatever suits to their current situation“.

Kateřina Růžičková - Minus - Around Zero - Plus

instrumentation: vno, cl, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 110price: 105,- CZK

“I decided to add a forth composition to an already existing series of three pieces for solo instru-ments called Invocation (I - solo viola, II - marimba and III - flute). Even though it was written for a trio and thus differs in orchestration from the rest of the compositions, it belongs into the series on the basis of the material and expressive characteristics I used. (Again, I kept to my favorite interval choices here.) It is a cogitative music that is built upon an arched pattern created by using timber elements and only slowly taking on explicit forms.

I composed “Invocation IV“ to answer a request of American Verdehr Trio who performed it among other places at Cleveland Festival. The piece was premiered by Prague ensemble Mondschein who also recorded it at Czech Radio. At Bratislava festival Melos-Étos the piece was performed by Musica Danubiana ensemble.”

Milan Slavický - Invocation IV for Violin, Clarinet and Piano

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, camp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 023price: 165,- CZK

Morning Thanksgiving takes an advantage of all specifics that a good chamber orchestra has to offer in regard to its sound and skills of its players. Concerning its structure the piece introduces a slow gradation consisting of small, very well chosen and variating orchestral colours. The gradation dynamics aim for a great final Tutti of chime sound.

Author himself says about his inspiration: „I wanted to express the feelings of a man who is waking up and asking - Where am I? Am I well? How are my closest relatives and friends? What can I expect today? Am I strong enough to do it? By answering all these questions he slowly reaches a specific feeling: Thank You. Thank You my Lord that I may be here at this very moment, thank You for letting me feel the world order, for letting me add a little to its good side. Thank You.”

Milan Slavický - Morning Thanksgiving

Main series 69

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 3cor, 2trb, pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 059price: 300,- CZK

Luboš Sluka dedicated his symphonic suite From Eastern Bohemia to his native region, which was the main source of inspiration for the piece. The suite is divided into five parts which deliberately have no programmatic titles, but only Italian tempo indications. In the composer‘s words, „this, however, does not mean that they lack a certain latent programme. The piece was first performed by the Chamber Philharmonic Pardubice with the conductor Peter Feranec on 25 October 2004 in Pardubice, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new organ in Suk‘s Concert Hall.

Luboš Sluka - Suite from Eastern Bohemia

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, 3tbn, timp, trgl, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 033price: 155,- CZK

Louisina polka (Louise‘s polka), Ze studentského života (From student‘s life), and Jiřinková polka. These early piano pieces by Bedřich Smetana were adapted for orchestra in 1943 by composer Iša Krejčí who worked in Czechoslovak Radio as musical director and conductor between 1934 and 1945. The collection of three Smetana‘s pieces in orchestral form is being published by Český rozhlas musical publishing.

Bedřich Smetana/instr. Iša Krejčí - Louise‘s polka, From student‘s life, Jiřinková polka

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl in Es, cl b, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 3trb, 3trb, tb, timp, batt, arp, archi


Orchestrating a piano part which makes use of the utmost opportunities of technical virtuosity is very difficult, because some specific piano means of expression have no adequate counterpart in the orchestra. Nevertheless, there are outstanding examples of the instrumentation of such piano compositions. One of them is Bedřich Smetana‘s piece „Scenes from Macbeth“ in Otakar Jeremiáš‘s arrangement for the symphony orchestra.

Smetana composed the piano piece „Scenes from Macbeth“ during his stay in Sweden in 1859. From Shakespeare‘s demonic drama, he chose the suggestive part when the protagonist encounters, on a gloomy Scottish moor, witches who foretell supreme power for him, concealing that it will bring him death, too. Smetana expressed the scene, which makes the listener shudder, with romantically excited music, full of tension, turbulent chromatic scales, dramatic dynamic gradations, and preg-nant dissonances.

Bedřich Smetana/instr. Otakar Jeremiáš - Scenes from Macbeth

70 Main series

instrumentation: arp solo, fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 3trb, 2tbn, tbn b, tb, timp, batt, cel, archi


„The impulse to write Concerto for Harp and Orchestra came from the prominent Czech harpist Ms. Jana Boušková, who also premiered the piece within a concert cycle of Städtisches Orchester Bremerhaven. The conductor Stephan Tettzslaff not only accepted the score, but also procured an official commission of the institution. I agreed to compose a classical concerto with a rich instru-mental part, yet I also strived to incorporate my own musical speech I had been consolidating in my chamber and symphonic music into the conventional three-movement pattern.

The first movement is a lively concertante allegro with a tangible trait of the lute tablature. A specific register of the harp does indeed resemble the sound of the lute; and it was this sound that, even-tually, became the source of inspiration for the style windsurfing applied in the piece. The second movement contains another stylistic detour - a baroque fugue - where I put into practice a technique I call „the dissolving polyphony“. The orchestra holds specific tones of the fugue brillante, which enables interesting musical relations to unfold. The aim was for the concerto to become a kind of musical lexicon where different types of music would interfere with one another, and yet - hopefully - concord at the same time.“

Lukáš Sommer - Concerto for Harp and Orchestra

instrumentation: cl, xil, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 097price: 115,- CZK

Lukáš Sommer (*1984) has started his career by studying the guitar at the Conservatory in České Budějovice. In 2003 he was nevertheless admitted to the Prague Conservatory where he became the last student of the composition class of Věroslav Neumann. After one year of studies he moved to AMU (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) into the composition class of Ivan Kurz.

Fantasia Bucolica has been written thanks to the initiative of an outstanding clarinetist and professor of the Conservatory in České Budějovice Zdeněk Zavičák. The piece has a clear three-movement form; its musical discourse is rather moderate, factual, and at times pointedly tonal. The author carefully chose the name Fantasia Bucolica to bring to the listener the world of origin of the piece that is the world of simple medieval bucolic poetry and especially one of its specific forms - the Frottola. This original inspiration was nevertheless disturbed; in the face of recent family events Sommer’s wild fantazy was interupted and a “prayer for life“ slipped silently in.

Lukáš Sommer - Fantasia Bucolica

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb, 2tbn, tbn b, tb, timp, batt, 2arp, org, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 123price: 155,- CZK

“In the symphony the feeling of gratitude moves through many trials. In the first one - alone between two conflicting areas - it is expressed by means of an organ cadence. In the second it has the rising sound of an evening song, also here in conflict with strange, in places almost surrealistic images. For this reason I return to memories of childhood and find the scrap of a song, which pro-vides my conflict with a solution and leads towards the final thank you”.

Lukáš Sommer (*1984) has started his career by studying the guitar at the Conservatory in České Budějovice. In 2003 he was nevertheless admitted to the Prague Conservatory where he became the last student of the composition class of Věroslav Neumann. After one year of studies he moved to AMU (Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) into the composition class of Ivan Kurz. The most significant pieces of his present compositional work may be represented by Three Frescos for sym-phonic orchestra, Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano, Joining of the Roads - a movement for oboe and string trio, Small Sonata for oboe and piano on the poem of Jan Skácel, Maze - sonata for harpsichord, or electro-acoustic composition Brain Death. Lukáš Sommer cooperates with number of young players, he organizes various contemporary music projects, also symposia with musicians and composers, regular concerts in the concert hall of Otakar Jeremiáš in České Budějovice and he also organizes musical releases of young composers’ works.

Lukáš Sommer - Thanksgiving

Main series 71

instrumentation: fl solo, fl, ob, cl, cor, trb, tbn, timp, 4batt, arp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 150price: 150,- CZK

The two movements of the Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra reperesent two antipoles - whereas the intimate first part results from the linear mode of thougt and leaves no space for any instruments (not even the solo instrument) to stan dout, the sekond movement allows the individual instrument groups to emancipace themselves, making use of thein specific timbre characteristics and the dynamics of the orchestration. Also the solo flute part becomes more technically deman-ding. This komplexity, however, is far from being the typical exhibition of the soloist´s skills at the expense of the thematic and ideological solidity of the piece.

The work was premiered by the flautist Hana Brožová Knauerová, whose briliant performance was supported by the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra with Marko Ivanović.

Marie Sommerová - Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 4cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, tb, camp, pfte, arpdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 054price: 305,- CZK

The motion picture based on Fráňa Šrámek‘s stage play and shot by director Václav Krška in 1953, was accepted only with hesitation in the time of its release. Besides demanded creative and political themes, this piece deals with inter-generation relations and slight erotic hints, which, together with its poetical glorification of human tenderness and pronounced love towards all human beings, crea-tes a chance of escaping the ordinary of its time.

The movie suite itself begins with the magnific theme of the river and Slávka‘s window and ends with an open, questioning melody. The music overflows with impressionistic gaiety of colors (the use of piano, harp, etc.); on several places exposing the starting motive of the song „Když jsem já šel tou Putimskou branou“ (When I Walked through that Gate of Putim). The complex is built on finely distinguished contrasts with prevailing lyrical poetics.

Jiří Srnka - Moon over the River, orchestral suite


String Quartet by Miroslav Srnka is the work of a progressive and ambitious author, who is seeking new way of sound, its interpretation and also new approach to the listening of classical music.

The one-movement quartet is built upon a very refined structure and is therefore able to keep a high level of listener’s anticipation even in long dynamic gradations. Players may look forward to inte-resting even adventurous moments of utilizing nearly all possibilities that a string instrument sound may offer. Listeners will face a completely new flamboyance and a very inventive use of dynamic and rhythmic changes that are set into a seemingly stable instrument setting.

Miroslav Srnka - String Quartet

72 Main series

instrumentation: 2fl - II muta fl picc, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, tbn, batt, arp, coro bambino, rec, archi2fl - II muta fl picc, 2ob - II muta cor ingl, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, tbn, batt, arp, pfte, coro bambino, rec, archi2fl - II muta fl picc, 2ob - II muta cor ingl, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, tbn, batt, arp, pfte, coro bambino, rec, archi2fl - I muta fl picc, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, tbn, batt, arp, pfte, coro bambino, rec, archi

description: scorepubl. No.: R 106; R 117; R 124; R 133price: 200,- CZK; 240,- CZK; 310,- CZK; 335,- CZK

The cantata Czech Year in the Village for recitation, solo, children’s choir and orchestra is one of the most successful of Sternwald’s concert works and one that found the greatest success with the audience.

His genesis can be followed over a relatively long period of time - up to the range of “Children’s Year in the Village” for Burian’s “D” theatre from the beginning of the forties, when he without a doubt became thoroughly familiarised with a collection of Czech folk songs and rhymes, above all with the collection of Erben’s work. He also draws from this in his cantata featured today, which was created in 1975 - 76. The work is broken up into four separate parts according to the four seasons and within these, further broken up into smaller thematic spheres, interconnected with an explanatory commentary.

Jiří Sternwald - Czech Year in the Village: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter

instrumentation: vcl solo, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, timp, cel, arp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 139price: 350,- CZK

„Apart from my work as a composer I also engage in studying old music, trying to uncover and process its still relevant - though often wrongfully forgotten - values... in doing it, I am not concer-ned with music only, but also with the broader context that lies, so to speak, behind the creation of a work of art. It is a never-ending and complicated process during which one is faced with many mistakes and much disappointment, but there are also moments of sheer joy over the acquired findings.

It is an incessant struggle to try and grasp or at least to approach the Kantian - Ding an sich - in full awareness of human imperfection. The way to the understanding of a matter in its historical context is never a straight and simple one; much trouble has to be overcome and much dialectic effort has to be made in order to reach such a goal. Moreover, to come to know absolutely everything about the heart of any matter or process is impossible, whether it is a natural or a social phenomenon, not to speak about the realm of the human soul. The journey as such, though often hard to follow, is, nevertheless, worth setting on.“

Zdeněk Šesták - Concerto for violoncello and orchestra No. 2 „The Way of Knowledge“

instrumentation: vno solo, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2tr, timp, perc, arp, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 267price: 120,- CZK

As one of the most popular of Josef Suk’s compositions, a famous little piece originally set for piano Song of Love op. 7, No. 1, the work has been arranged many times, including several settings for orchestra. Smetáček’s arrangement was written in 1943: the instrumentation for solo violin and symphonic orchestra is very subtle with the obvious intention for the violin solo to stand out. Smetáček proves his keen sense for timbre, making full use of all the delicate harmonic niceties of Suk’s score, and ensuring that the melodic counter voices entrusted to various instruments and instrument groups also sound plastic and smooth. The waves of gradation are well-balanced and not overstrained in dynamics, with the absolute peak of the piece in No. 5 of the score, at the start of which there is a single stroke on the cymbals. The final passage, again very delicate in timbre, makes use of the characteristic sound of the harp.

Josef Suk / instr. Václav Smetáček - Song of Love for Violin and Orchestra

Main series 73


“Unlike all my other six symphonies, which make use of all the instruments of the grand orchest-ra, this work is set only for strings. I have always found the sound of a large strings section very attractive – even fascinating – for the breath-taking acoustic potential of the divided and sub-divided plenum that is multiplied by the explosive, hard-bitten, almost mechanically rhythmicized sonority on the one hand, and the innermost, fragile, and subtly generated meaningfulness on the other. These are the preconceptions underlying my attempt in this demanding piece to materialize my aesthetic notions that are rather more apt to being expressed as a matter-of-fact statement of an opinion.

Composing the symphony, I was thinking of the Prague Chamber Orchestra, which also turned out to be the ensemble that premiered the piece at the Czech Radio, conducted by František Vajnar.”

Zdeněk Šesták - Symphony No. 4 for String Orchestra

instrumentation: vno solo, cor solo, 2fg, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 100aprice: 290,- CZK

The song “Kde domov můj?” (Where Is My Home) was performed in public for the first time at the Estates Theatre in Prague on 21st December 1834 in the musical farce entitled “Fidlovačka aneb Žádný hněv a žádná rvačka” (“Fidlovačka, or No Anger and No Brawl”). This song has assumed an irreplaceable position in Czech history ever since. The source for the publication of Škroup’s song Kde domov můj? (Where Is My Home?) was an autograph score from the year 1834.

The song “Where is my home?” by František Škroup (1801 - 1862) and Josef Kajetán Tyl (1808 - 1856), number 19 in the play, is sung by Mareš, a blind violinist. Škroup’s instrumentation of the piece is modest - the singer (bass) is accompanied by solo violin, solo French horn, two supporting violins, a viola, a violoncello, a contrabass, and two bassoons.

František Škroup / Josef Kajetán Tyl - Where Is My Home

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, ptti, gc, arp, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 100bprice: 315,- CZK

The song “Where Is My Home?” - already as part of the Czechoslovak national anthem - has been arranged for various instrumental and vocal settings. Among the most renowned belongs a version for symphonic orchestra written in 1930 by the composer and conductor Otakar Jeremiáš (1892 - 1962).

Jeremiáš created three versions of the Czechoslovak national anthem altogether: firstly, it was his arrangement for grand orchestra (1930); secondly, a version for small orchestra (1932); and finally, an arrangement for organ and grand orchestra entitled “Pastoral” (Christmas 1932).

The editors used two autograph scores as the source for the publication of Otakar Jeremiáš’s (1892 - 1962) arrangement for grand orchestra of the song “Where is My Home?”. These are stored at the Czech Radio Archive. This version was then used in 1946 when Jeremiáš co-operated with the composer Václav Trojan (1907 - 1985) to create a new arrangement of the Czechoslovak national anthem for symphonic orchestra. The resulting score containing vocal parts was published by the State Publishers of Literature, Music and Art in 1955.

František Škroup / arrangement Otakar Jeremiáš - Where is My Home

74 Main series

instrumentation: fl, fg, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 037price: 240,- CZK

Concerto grosso for flute, basoon and strings was written for chamber orchestra Berg. The new season ANNO 2003 was opened by this composition in February.

The composition is a contribution to a repertoire of woodwind instruments with a new modification of the popular baroque form.

Jiří Teml - Concerto grosso No. 3

instrumentation: salterio solo, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 227price: 155,- CZK

„Although Concertino per salterio ed archi is my first piece written for dulcimer, I have been intri-gued by the instrument – so ingeniously used by Igor Stravinskij and other, mainly Hungarian, contemporary composers – for quite some time. What I find particularly inspiring is the rhythmical and timbre potential of the instrument. Hearing of the composition competition announced in 2004 by the Dulcimer Players’ Civil Association in the Czech Republic in Valašské Meziříčí, I took part in the contest, and received an award.“

Jiří Teml - Concerto rustico per salterio ed archi

instrumentation: clav solo, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, perc, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 173price: 225,- CZK

„I composed Concerto per clavicembalo ed orchestra da camera in 2007 - 2008 on the harpsichordist Monika Knoblochová, who had studied the majority of my compositions for that instrument.

Although I like the sound of that archaic instrument (which is of course well suited to contemporary music as well), I was very anxious about the project, being aware of the harpsichord´s limited dyna-mic range. The exquisite harpsichord concertos of Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud and Bohuslav Martinů gave me the courage to make this attempt.“

Jiří Teml - Concerto per clavicembalo ed orchestra da camera

Main series 75

instrumentation: cb solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 235price: 75,- CZK

“The initiative leading to the composition of the SOLO for double-bass came from Mr Jiří Pichlík, a member of the organization committee of Simandl’s double-bass competition and a double-bass player with the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of South Bohemia. The piece opens with a crypto-gram referring to Simandl’s name that makes use of the chromatic scale tones and the solmization syllables. In the case of the letter “n” I used the “damenization” system proposed by Karl Heinrich Graun in the 1st half of the 18th century (da, me, ni, po, tu, la, be). I tried to use also the lower register of the instrument. The rich experience of Mr Radomír Žalud, a professor at the HAMU and the leader of the double-bass section of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, proved more than useful during the revision of the instrumental part.”

Jiří Teml - Solo for Double-bass

instrumentation: 2fl, fl anche fl picc, 3ob, 2cl, cl anche cl b, 3fg, 4cor, 3trb, 2tbn, tbn b, tb, timp, batt, cel, pfte, arp, archi


„Symphony No. 3 is an important turning point in my composition. I was working on in between 1994 and 1998 and I used everything I had experimented with and thought about in the previous years. Then I put aside a nearly finished score and started over.

The symphony in not just a musical rewriting of some particular Kafka’s story. Approximately since I was thirty I have been getting through Kafka’s works with bigger and smaller understanding so it is a continuous process. The literature has affected me in a special way. When reading it I get into a very special mood that I wanted to recreate within my composition.

Jiří Teml - Symphony No. 3 „Kafka“

instrumentation: fl, ob, cl, fg, cor, vno, vla, vcl, cb - soli, 3trb, timp, trgl, frusta, tamb, tamb picc, archi


The three-movements composition built on the ground plan of a Baroque structure, using a group of nine solo instruments as a concertino. The composition was created in the early 90s. The musi-cal voice of the work combines the elements and procedures of neo-baroque with the composing methods of the 20th century.

Vladimír Tichý - Concerto grosso

76 Main series


“In 1986 I composed Sonata on Sergey Prokofiev’s theme for my wife Libuše who first graduated from a piano class at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Its starting point is the theme of the 10th piano sonata by Prokofiev. One and half page of author’s manu-script (started but not finished torso of the planned sonata) from 1953 is his very last manuscript material.

The sonata is the two movement sonata cycle with the first movement having a traditional sonata form, developing Prokofiev’s theme (at the beginning of the exposition it is precisely cited, it is necessary to understand them as a citation “in quotation marks”). The second and final movement is variations. The manner of construction of the two movement sonata cycle has foremost Beethoven’s Sonata op. 111 as a model, as well as Prokofiev’s 2nd symphony and Webern’s Symphony op. 21.“

Vladimír Tichý - Sonata on the theme by Sergey Prokofiev for Piano

instrumentation: trb solo, 2fl, ob, cor ingl, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, timp, gr c, ptti, tamb picc, trgl, gong, tamb rull, xil, arp, archi


Concertino per tromba with its classical three-part form, lyrical middle and exultant virtuoso finale contains no sound novelties in terms of form. However, it offers the soloist the opportunity to demonstrate the virtues of his or her instrument.

Václav Trojan finished composing this 12-minute piece on 23 January 1977. That was the year he celebrated his seventieth birthday. Concertino was commissioned by the international competition Prague Spring, where it was included as a set piece.

Václav Trojan - Concertino per tromba

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl b, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, batt, cel, arp, pfte, archi


Fantasy for a symphonic orchestra Pohádka (Fairy-tale) by Václav Trojan (1907 - 1983) is quiet brief, approximately seven-and-half minutes long piece for the philharmonic orchestra with a piano, a celesta, a harp and a relatively large percussion group. This, by itself, suggests an important role of the colour of sound, variability of the rich timber shades. From a thematic and expressive perspecti-ve it is a temperamental orchestral fantasy with rather quick changes in contrasts.

Trojan created Pohádka probably in 1946 or at the beginning of the following year. It was to be heard for the first time in the broadcast of the Czechoslovak Radio on the 7th of December 1947 performed by the Symphonic orchestra FOK, directed by Zbyněk Vostřák. In the same year Fairy-tale received the Award of the Czechoslovak Radio. Nevertheless the score remained in the manuscript and now it is published for the first time.

Václav Trojan - Fairy-tale

Main series 77

instrumentation: 2fl - II muta fl picc, ob, cor ingl, cl in B, cl in Es, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, 2tbn, tb, euf, timp, batt, pfte, cb


Václav Trojan (1907-1983) created the first version of this musically fresh work at the turn of 1972 - 73 for wind orchestra with piano and percussion. A year later, Trojan modified the composition for the standard make-up of a chamber orchestra with the Pardubice State Chamber Orchestra in mind.

In Four Caricatures and One Extra Trojan used part of his music for the famous fairytale film “Once upon a time there was a king” (on the theme of the fairytale Salt over Gold with J. Werich in one of the leading roles) for the 2nd and 5th movements. This concerns the part known as “Music for pork feasting”, which also accompanies an absurd scene in the film of the “first unsalted pork feasting in history” and then the closing part “At Trojan’s citadel”, the name of which is an obvious allusion to Trojan’s home in Prague - Na baště sv. Tomáše (St. Thomas’s Citadel Street). The other movements in the suite are newly composed - on the contrary, Trojan later used the music for the 4th move-ment (“Masquerades”) in his ballet pantomime - A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1982), from which a concert suite was again created post facto.

Václav Trojan - Four Caricatures and One Extra


Organ concerto documents a very interesting form of the composition art of its author. It is a special symbiosis of natural broad melodics with consistent contrapuntal work. The resulting shape of piece „Fuga a 4 voci“ documents Trojan‘s broad intuition about historical music. His inspiration could have been for example fugues of Seger, Kopřiva, and other masters of the Czech 18th century.

Václav Trojan - Fuga a 4 voci

instrumentation: soprano fiorito, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, tb, tamb picc, cast, tmbo, cel, gr c, ptti, archi


Composer Václav Trojan wrote among others also several popular pieces between 1930 and 1940. One of them was also La Lumia.

This three-minute piece with burning passo doble in the color of symphonic orchestra, which only misses a warm night with dancers. Listeners can expect interesting moments both in the topical work and in instrumentation colors which Václav Trojan uses with joyful and brilliant invention.

Václav Trojan - La Lumia

78 Main series

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl in A, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, timp, tamb picc, tmbo, trgl, gr c, ptti, archi


The musical piece Poslední růže od Casanovy (The Last Rose from Casanova) by Václav Trojan has been composed for a symphonic orchestra. Over twenty minutes long suite consists of eight parts. This is one of Trojan‘s last musical pieces, which was written to the film of the same name directed by Václav Krška.

In the spirit of the topic following the life of an ageing lover employed as a librarian at Duchcov castle, Trojan stylized everything into the rococo color. In addition to this partition, Václav Trojan (student of Vítězslav Novák) also created music for three other films - these were Byl jednou jeden král (Once Upon a Time There Was a King), Srpnová neděle (August Sunday), and Sen noci svato-jánské (A Midsummer Night‘s Dream). It is also important to mention his very successful cooperation with Jiří Trnka in the animated film world.

Václav Trojan - The Last Rose from Casanova


The Prelude for the Organ is an early work of a significant Czech composer, whose name is usually related to a type of music other than this composition.

It is not much known that Václav Trojan studied organ play under Prof. Bedřich Wiedermann during the first phases of his career. This piece originates from this period and by a form of fugue it mode-stly elaborates an old Czech advent song “Lo, The Lord is Coming, Our Savior”.

Václav Trojan - The Prelude for Organ

instrumentation: fgdescription: partpubl. No.: R 016price: 90,- CZK

The Capriccio is a composition in three movements which is easy to interpret and accesible to the audience. The composition provides opportunities for the instrumentalist to display his/her virtuo-sity.

Miloš Vacek - Capriccio for Basoon

Main series 79

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl in B, 2fg, Asax in Es, 4cor, 4trb in C, 3tbn, tb, timp, 5batt, arp, cel, pfte, voc (soprano), el org, archi

description: score, partspubl. No.: R 191price: 240,- CZK

Film scores by Dalibor C. Vačkář (1906 - 1984) became classics in their own right and greatly enhan-ced the popularity of the respective motion pictures. The music score for the film „The Conceited Princess“ was an extraordinary effort. It almost elevated the story to the quality of a musical where the motifs of Princess Krasomila, King Miroslav, the nanny, the deputation, and attendants rounded and interconnected the story.

Dalibor C. Vačkář - The Music for „The Conceited Princess“

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl in B, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb in C, 3tbn, tb, timp, 11batt, arp, pfte, archi


Dalibor C. Vačkář´s (1906 - 1984) film scores became classics in their own right and greatly enhan-ced the popularity of the respective motion pictures.The music score for the film comedy „Andel in the Mountains“ was created in 1954. The plot takes place in Slovakia‘s High Tatra Mountains in wintertime. It is centered on a love story, full of misunderstandings, while celebrating the famous beautiful and rugged mountain terrain. Dalibor C. Vackar created, besides the playful tune „I Feel Like Singing“ (the song introduced first in the film „The Conceited Princess“), and several dance melodies, a very powerful melodically rich musical portrait of the countryside where he employs his dramatic and lyrical imagination.

As in „The Conceited Princess“ and „Andel on Vacation“ the music score strongly contributed to the popularity of these films which remain favorites with viewers even after fifty years. Dalibor C. Vackar soon after the film premiere wrote an independent seven-minute composition titled „The Winter in Tatras“ which hasn‘t lost any of its original striking impact in the concert form.

Dalibor C. Vačkář - Winter in Tatras, the music for the film Anděl in the Mountains

instrumentation: vno I, vno II, vla, vcl, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 181price: 185,- CZK

A few author’s notes on the source of inspiration for this composition: „…We had already performed together with the string quartett Appolón several times when the violinist Radek Křižanovský came with the idea that it would not be bad to have a broader repertoire in common. The idea to actually write a new composition occured to me at Panera, a little café in Bloomington, within a two-hour drive distance southward from Chicago. I had just ordered a cup of Columbian coffee that was described as „Dark and Vibrant“. So, there was nothing left for me to do but to finish the composition later on in Prague.

The piano part of the piece includes improvisation passages, and let it be said that it does not necessarily have to be only jazz improvisation. The pianist-improviser can just as well choose an utterly modern approach, making use of the indicated bitonalities…“

Emil Viklický - Dark and Vibrant

80 Main series

instrumentation: arpa, ob / fl - soli, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 149price: 235,- CZK

“The harpist Ms Jana Boušková and the oboist Mr Jan Adamus asked me some time ago to compose a harp and an oboe concerto for them. They both know that I enjoy playing with my jazz trio, so they expressed a wish for the piece to contain “jazz elements”. I was as improvident as to agree.

In the meantime, I wrote a great deal of all kinds of other music and I managed to learn something from fair harpists about the “royal instrument”. Jan Adamus has been playing my “modern” com-positions for oboe since the end of the eighties. In the end, an idea occurred to me to merge the two long promised concertos into one double concerto. But what really made me start working were consultations with Jana Boušková: The idea of using pedal glissandos in the middle “blues” part was too alluring to resist.”

Emil Viklický - Double Concerto for Harp, Oboe and String Orchestra

instrumentation: 2rec, 2Asax / 2cl / fl, 2Tsax / 2cl, Barsax / cl b, 3trb, trb / flicor, 3tbn, pfte, bass, drums


“Towards the end of the year 2003 the producer Todd Barkan (Jazz at Lincoln Centre) asked me to compose a melodrama for Wynton Marsalis Concert Band based on texts by the Czech ex-president Václav Havel. After a few telephone consultations I agreed with pleasure. The melodrama “The Mystery of Man” was eventually produced on 28th October 2004 on the occasion of the inauguration of Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York. The performances took place on Broadway at 60th Street, i.e. in the very heart of the theatre world. Many celebrities were present at the premiere, including the Mayor of New York City and the UN Secretary General.

The actual production was, however, preceded by several meetings with Václav Havel where we agreed which texts from his extensive output to choose for the libretto. It was also there that the idea to use not only one but two reciters sprung up, which should help achieve more contrast - an essential element of any musical drama.

Emil Viklický - The Mystery of Man

instrumentation: 1fl, 1ob, cor ingl, 1cl in Es, 1cl in B, cl b, 2fg, 2cor, 1trb, 1tbn, timp, 13perc, arp, pfte, archi


The inspiration leading to the composition of the Piano Concerto E major was described by the author as follows: I had been toying with the idea of writing a piano concerto for several years. I thought it might even include jazz motifs, even though I can’t really tell what it actually means. One of my friends, the graphic designer Jiří Anderle, kept provoking me with all kinds of recordings until, under the impression of many prolonged debates on painting and music, I finally set down to work in the spring of 2010. While working on the third movement – sometime in the autumn of 2010 – I unintentionally recalled the term the funhouse of life that Jiří would speak about so often. At that time I played the piano in the theatre show at the Viola theatre featuring Mr Luděk Munzar after his comeback. In the show, which was called I’ll Dress You Up in Stars (Obleču Tě do hvězd) and which commemorated the 100th anniversary of the poet František Hrubín’s birth, Mr Munzar reminisces about his fellow actors at the National Theatre. Some of his words will always remain on the spot, suspended, as it were, above the stage: …Don’t worry, old Kukrálec simply got drunk and turned on the giddy-go-round. Just like that, just for himself…, which are the final lines of Hrubín’s play The Crystal Night (Křišťálová noc). And so it happened that the motif of a giddy-go-round found its way into the third movement of my concerto.”

Emil Viklický - Piano Concerto E Major

Main series 81

instrumentation: ob, vno, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 199price: 175,- CZK

“Towards the end of the 1980s I wrote a composition called “ADAEMUS” for Jan Adamus. The piece was set for solo English horn /eventually for oboe/, and the main motif consisted of the tones “A-D-A-E-A flat” - an anagram of the artist’s name, in which the last syllable “mus” was substituted with the tone A flat. The success of this modern composition - based on a constant tone row - led Jan Adamus to ask me for another piece: this time it was intended for his trio, consisting of an oboe, a violin, and a piano. Adamus explicitly asked for something rhythmical with a virtuoso oboe part, possibly spiced with jazz elements.

He had an easy job convincing me; I liked the idea and wrote the four-part “Spanish Variations”, inspired by Goya’s cycle of graphics entitled “La Tauromaquia”, or “Bullfighting”. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Jan Adamus for the slight alterations in the oboe part that he made in the fourth part, and that I authorized afterwards.

It so happened that it is this very piece that became the most performed of my “classical” com-positions. With an average of 15 to 20 performances a year, it has been played at least 300 times altogether. May all the musicians who decide to play my “Tauromaquia” spend an enjoyable and joyful time both over the score and then on stage.

Emil Viklický - Tauromaquia


The center of extensive compositional work by Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann (1883 - 1951) lies undoubtedly in organ music and vocal pieces. The pieces that are now being published (1. volume: Toccata Diatonica; Tristezza; Capriccietto; Ave Maria in H; Oh, Lamb of God, Christ; As the Beautiful Rose of Jericho; Pastorale frygico; Allegro maestoso; Andante pastorale; Finale) have never been published by print before.

Author’s manuscripts were always preferred among other sources; partly they are deposited in the Czech Museum of Music in Prague, partly they belong to the private collection of Irena Chřibková. In the cases when the manuscripts were not available, we used the authorized copies Czech Museum of Music property.

Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann - Organ Compositions I

instrumentation: vno, pfte/mbdescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 264price: 140,- CZK

“The basic motive of the piece entitled Tristana sprang to my mind one morning in the Průhonice park, and I jotted it down on a crumpled piece of paper. I had just seen two male nurses teaching a beautiful girl to walk on crutches. I realized in horror that the girl’s le leg was missing from the knee down. I am not sure up to this day, whether it was not just a hallucination brought about by the fatigue from the morning jog. I fi nished the composition in a few days and sent it to the Marimolin composition in Boston. It was awarded the 2nd prize. _ e original title, “Girl with One Leg”, however, was not to Viking of Amy Lynn Barber, who premiered the piece in Prague alongside Jitka Adamusová. I did not hesitate to change the title to “Tristana”. I guessed correctly that Amy would not be familiar with Bunuel fi lm, where Catherine Deneuve plays the part of a girl suff ering from the same handicap. Later on I arranged the marimba part also for piano.”

Emil Viklický - Tristana for Violin and Piano or Marimba

82 Main series


The center of extensive compositional work by Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann (1883 - 1951) lies undoubtedly in organ music and vocal pieces. The pieces that are now being published (2. volume: Prelude e minor; Humoresque; Monologue; Dumka; Unseen, Unheard; Hail Holy Queen; Andante quasi pastorale; A Leaf to Your Memory-Book; Minuet of Miletín; Burlesca) have never been pub-lished by print before.

Author’s manuscripts were always preferred among other sources; partly they are deposited in the Czech Museum of Music in Prague, partly they belong to the private collection of Irena Chřibková. In the cases when the manuscripts were not available, we used the authorized copies Czech Museum of Music property.

Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann - Organ Compositions II


None of the compositions by Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann (1883 – 1951) in the current issue has come out in print yet. The objective of this edition is to enliven – if possible – the author’s original intention. Any editorial modifications – which were not very frequent – appear in brackets in the score. This publication includes Variation and Fuge on a Moravian folk song from Napoleonic era (1937), Lullaby (1945), two Patorelas (1912, 1943) and Adoration (1912).

As sources the author’s autographs were given preference (these are partly stored at the Czech Museum of Music – ČMH, and partly they come from Irena Chřibková’s private collection – ICh). The individual sources differ substantially as to the details they contain, ranging from “bare” notation to scores containing quite elaborate dynamic, articulation, and expression instructions. Only at times was the mode of notation tacitly altered (e.g. in the case of added or deleted “safety accidentals”, or when long legato slurs were substituted by the appropriate text “legato” or “leg” that remain valid until the next articulation instruction).

Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann - Organ Compositions III


None of the compositions by Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann (1883 – 1951) in the current issue has come out in print yet. The objective of this edition is to enliven – if possible – the author’s original in-tention. Any editorial modifications – which were not very frequent – appear in brackets in the score. This publication includes Prelude in C minor (1925), Variation On original Theme (1948), two Pasto-relas (1943, 1947), Elegy (1934) and two compositions with the name Ricordanza (sine anno, 1944).

As sources the author’s autographs were given preference (these are partly stored at the Czech Museum of Music – ČMH, and partly they come from Irena Chřibková’s private collection – ICh). The individual sources differ substantially as to the details they contain, ranging from “bare” notation to scores containing quite elaborate dynamic, articulation, and expression instructions. Only at times was the mode of notation tacitly altered (e.g. in the case of added or deleted “safety accidentals”, or when long legato slurs were substituted by the appropriate text “legato” or “leg” that remain valid until the next articulation instruction).

Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann - Organ Compositions IV

Main series 83

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, cl b muta cl in Es, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 2tbn, tb, timp, batt, arp, archi


The symphonic movement Hommage à Gustav Mahler by Zdeněk Zahradník (*1936) has two the-matically connected parts. The first slow one (Adagio) follows the form of a sonata. In dreamy allusions, there are elements of the lapidary theme of the second part at its beginning. When the main theme, consisting of two short contrast parts, is exposed, the second lyrical theme follows. The latter is formed by a widely arched melody interrupted by a brusque final theme. Both themes are interwoven and they form a continuous gradation where at its climax there is a repeat with a secondary theme which gradually breaks up and divides.

The second part (Allegro vivo) follows up with an evolutionary developed theme, out of which continuous gradation arises, dominated by the main theme of the first part. After a short cease, a reminiscence of the secondary theme (Meno mosso) and an extensive coda come, graduating to the end of the whole piece.

Zdeněk Zahradník - Hommage à Gustav Mahler

I was delighted to accept the call from the Czech Radio for a composition for the purpose of the Concertino Praga competition. I like oboe for its beautiful and unmistakeable timbre, for its urgent expressive force. The emotional drive and the dance-like nature of gypsy music – for me these were the motives in which the world of the oboe and the world of the Roma culture interweaved.

In Romany, Kerekate means “in a circle, round and round”. Should I name some typical features of the Roma culture I find inspiring, it would be the return to certain topics, the recurrent processing of grievous experiences on the one hand, and the unrestrained, joyful spontaneity on the other. That is why I decided to divide my “Kerekate” Invocations for solo oboe into two parts, different in nature: The 1st section “Lamentosamente” is inspired by typical gypsy lamentations, whereas the 2nd part “Quasi czardas” evokes the sensuous joy of Roma music in a whirling dance with the characteristic microstructural recurrences.

Sylvie Bodorová - Kerekate - Gypsy Invocation for Oboe Solo

instrumentation: ob solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 283price: 80,- CZK

Concertino per cornamusa ed orchestra in es, op. 76 written by František Domažlický in 1991 for the bagpiper Karel Krasnický belongs to rare concert repertoire for this folk instrument whose historical evolution can be traced back to antiquity.The composition is written for pipes tuned in the key of E flat, which provided the author with tones d – e flat – f – g – a flat – b flat – c. The work with its striking melody, transparent structure, refined harmony in the scope of extended tonality and modest instrumentation distinctly shows signs of a neoclassical shaping. The author fully respects the specifics of a solo instrument. The characteristic bag pipe timbre is completed with the sound of a string ensemble with additional oboes and French horns.

instrumentation: cornamusa solo in E flat, 2ob, 2cor, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 306price: 160,- CZK

František Domažlický - Concertino for bagpipes and orchestra E flat Major, op. 76

84 Main series

instrumentation: vno guitdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 298price: 150,- CZK

Prague Kaleidoscope is written and dedicated to Duo Teres: Lucia Kopsova (V-n) and Thomas Honek (Guit). The idea of the work was to combine a traditional Partita form with a „czech“ melodical music material. Also I intended to create a concert music for 2 soloists and all possible combinations and contrasts between them.

I´d like to admit that before the creative I have listened to the recordings of Duo Teres, after I knew the possibilities od these very professional musicians. So finally I wrote Prague Kaleidoscope in which all items (called above) were succesfully connected plus the Prague itself which inspired me. In other words it´s not only the attempt to show the beautiful landscapes but its´ more – a reproduction of the inner spirit of Prague.

J. Freidlin

Jan Freidlin - Prague Kaleidoscope

instrumentation: vlc solo, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 293price: 160,- CZK

The piece entitled Hommage à Concerto Grosso (A Tribute to Concerto Grosso) was finished in 1996. Unlike the baroque form of concerto grosso, where the dialogue occurs between a group of solo instruments (concertino) and the orchestra (concerto grosso), in this composition the concertino is represented only by the solo violoncello part.

As the title suggests, the work is a kind of a „tombstone“, a tribute to an ancient form, a reminiscen-ce, in a figurative sense, of the biblical „dust you are and to dust you will return“ or the Greek „panta rhei“ - a metaphore of nothingness and the fleeting, unrepeatable nature of time...

Robert Hejnar - Hommage à Concerto Grosso

instrumentation: cl/Ssax, pnodescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 313price: 150,- CZK

Air for Clarinet and Piano was written in 2013 for Třeboň and is inspired by genius loci of the town. Not only by its history, scenery, architecture, but also a living presence.

Jiří Hlaváč was a co-founder and for many years also a dramaturgist of the international music festival Třeboňská nokturna (Třeboň Nocturnes). For an artistic support of cultural activities of the town he was awarded a honorary citizenship of the town of Třeboň in 2013. Air is composer’s small musical acknowledgement for this honour.

The composition was premiered in Třeboň on 23 January 2014 featuring Jana Černohouzová /clarinet/ and Daniel Wiesner /piano/. In the same year the author composed also clarinet quartet version for Five Star Clarinet Quartet. Since then the composition has been performed many times, both in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Jiří Hlaváč - Air

Main series 85

instrumentation: vcl, pnodescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 295price: 140,- CZK

„I have been lucky enough to have had the chance to cooperate with Jiří Bělohlávek and the PKF – Prague Philharmonia on a concert performance of Mozart´s Cosi fan tutte, where my task was to comment on the evolving storyline of the opera in places where recitatives had been missed out.

I grew so fond of the opera that I eventually decided to select my most beloved passages of the work and compile them in the shape of a bousterous little piece of music. The work was premiered at Bertramka in the times when it was in good hands and regular concert were given there.“

Lukáš Hurník - Cosi Fun Tutte

„I was writing the Saxophone Quartet during a weekend stay at our Cottage. It was no ordinary wee-kend: the president of our country was being elected – still by the parliament at that time. Watching TV, I saw rather undiginified scenes taking place in the very dignified setting of the Vladislav Hall, with legislators being transported on hospital beds and with shady deals over votes.

On the sheet in front of me, I watched a more or less classical sonáta form taking shape with oc-casional bizarre detours from its well-established structure. The second movement represents calm calculations, which belong to the world of politics just as much as rough-mannered cheerfulness of the winners, whose exuberant tune goes through somewhat destructive sequence of variations in the last movement.“ L. Hurník

Lukáš Hurník - Saxophone Quartet No. 1 „President“

instrumentation: 4 Saxdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 296price: 250,- CZK

František Chaun in his symphonic trilogy created orchestral parallels to Kafka’s novel trilogy: The Metamorphosis (Proměna), The Trial (Proces) and The Castle (Zámek). The compositions were written in reversed order to Kafka’s novels: the first piece, The Castle, was finished in 1965 and eventually became the second part of the trilogy. In 1967 Chaun completed The Trial, the final part of the trilogy as it stands now.

Chaun, originally a pharmacist, was a versatile artist and a spontaneous creative soul in the field of visual arts, literature, and music. In KafkaTrilogy,Chaun the composer is undoubtedly at his best. Both the first and the last parts are composed spontaneously, making free use of diverse methods of contemporary composition techniques with mutually contrastive passages put alongside each other. The structure of these two movements is thus analogical to a large extent, even though they both remain convincingly distinctive.

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, bcl, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 4trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, batt, xf, 2pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 308price: 195,- CZK

František Chaun - Metamorphosis (Kafka Trilogy No. 1)

86 Main series

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, bcl, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 4trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, batt, xf, pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 290price: 195,- CZK

František Chaun in his symphonic trilogy created orchestral parallels to Kafka’s novel trilogy: The Metamorphosis (Proměna), The Trial (Proces) and The Castle (Zámek). The compositions were written in reversed order to Kafka’s novels: the first piece, The Castle, was finished in 1965 and eventually became the second part of the trilogy. In 1967 Chaun completed The Trial, the final part of the trilogy as it stands now. The middle part of the trilogy, The Castle (originally entitled The Story ofGeodesist K.), is, on the contrary, based on serial material that has been processed using rational operations. Its form is also different: it resembles the shape of an uninterrupted convex arch. Starting quietly in deep gloomy registers, it gradually gains in dynamic and expressive force. It might be a depiction of the ghostly castle, judging by the downright atonal music chained up in sound passages of alternating forte and piano dynamics and an underlying static inner nature. Or it may evoke a sight quite as ghostly: that of a funeral procession marching in on the listener’s senses. Just like in The Metamorphosis and The Trial, here also one is aware of a certain stabilising as well as separating element in the form of repeated short aggressive incursions of the percussions. The dramatic gradation of the first section is then followed by a gradual stifling of suspense with the final notes of the piece (just like the endings of both the remaining parts of the trilogy) leading into a conciliatory, resigned silence.

František Chaun - Castle (Kafka Trilogy No. 2)

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, bcl, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 4trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, batt, xf, 2pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 307price: 250,- CZK

František Chaun in his symphonic trilogy created orchestral parallels to Kafka’s novel trilogy: The Metamorphosis (Proměna), The Trial (Proces) and The Castle (Zámek). The compositions were written in reversed order to Kafka’s novels: the first piece, The Castle, was finished in 1965 and eventually became the second part of the trilogy. In 1967 Chaun completed The Trial, the final part of the trilogy as it stands now.

Chaun, originally a pharmacist, was a versatile artist and a spontaneous creative soul in the field of visual arts, literature, and music. In KafkaTrilogy,Chaun the composer is undoubtedly at his best. Both the first and the last parts are composed spontaneously, making free use of diverse methods of contemporary composition techniques with mutually contrastive passages put alongside each other. The structure of these two movements is thus analogical to a large extent, even though they both remain convincingly distinctive.

František Chaun - Trial (Kafka Trilogy No. 3)

instrumentation: pno solo, fl picc, 2fl, obI / cor ingl, obII, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 3trb, 2tbn, btbn, tb, timp, perc, arp, archi


Like her father, Kaprálová was drawn to piano as her natural instrument, and piano compositions are well represented in her relatively large output that includes about fifty compositions.

Piano also played a crucial role in her music as a compositional tool with which she experimented in both smaller and larger forms. It is therefore not surprising that the most original and most sophisti-cated works in her catalog are those for piano: from the Sonata Appassionata and piano concerto to April Preludes and Variations sur le Carillon (and the Martinů-influenced neoclassical Partita in which the piano also plays an important percussive role).

Vítězslava Kaprálová - Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in D Minor

Main series 87

instrumentation: tom-tom, marimba, vibr, percdescription: partspubl. No.: R 294price: 220,- CZK

“The title Rytmus a témbry (Rhythm and Timbres) refers to my long-term interest in rhythm and harmony. After all, before I found my way towards contemporary classical music during my com-position studies at the JAMU in Brno, I had been much preoccupied with playing trombone and arranging for jazz orchestras.

The common feature of the four pieces for percussive instruments is polystylism: a combination of non-European (African drums, Indian ragas, gamelans, etc.) and jazz inspirations with the serialistic mode of thought of the present-day compositional technique. There are two basic elements present in the four compositions: a 7/4 rhythmical model and a serial rhythmical pattern consisting of a symmetrical numerical sequence. Both elements enable manifold variations and modifications, and together with other operations – such as layering in the manner of African polyrhythmics, hetero-phonic multiplication of voices or combinations with jazz or rock rhythms – they represent a supply of music material rich enough for the whole work. These two elements and their variants, then, are further elaborated through the processes of polyrhythmic layering and heterophonic or imitative multiplication of voices to give rise to the whole composition.“ J. Kollert

Jiří Kollert - Rhythm and Timbres (for singles and percussion ensembles)

I believe that whoever tries to compose music or to express oneself through music should get to know, to understand and inevitably also to fall in love with all the great composers of the ba-roque era. Being a fundament of modern music, baroque music opens up the door to technical and metaphysical possibilities of music expression: through the balance between order imagination; through the natural cantability of the voices made apparent in the polyphonic structure; through the distinctive rhythm.The title Baroque Reminiscence(s) in the Czech original the name is both singular and plural refers to all these phenomena. Even after all the centuries , Bach´s, Händel´s or Corelli´s music still affects us in a lively, energetic, modern way. And it was also my aim in this concertante piece for piccolo trumpet to achieve simile effects by means of stylized baroque elements.

The first movement i sof a brisk yet ceremonial nature, and is characterised by a distinctive recurrent fanfare motive. The brief slow movement should bring to mind the spiritual aspect of life that per-meated the whole baroque era in all artistic directions: not in a sentimental way, but rather with the intention of returning our attention to the transcendental. The third movement is a virtuoso finale that ens with a short motive from the first movement.

Jan Kučera - Baroque Reminiscence

instrumentation: tr picc solo, timp, pno/cemb, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 278price: 140,- CZK

I believe that whoever tries to compose music or to express oneself through music should get to know, to understand and inevitably also to fall in love with all the great composers of the baroque era. Being a fundament of modern music, baroque music opens up the door to technical and metaphysical possibilities of music expression: through the balance between order imagination; through the natural cantability of the voices made apparent in the polyphonic structure; through the distinctive rhythm.The title Baroque Reminiscence(s) in the Czech original the name is both singular and plural refers to all these phenomena. Even after all the centuries , Bach´s, Händel´s or Corelli´s music still affects us in a lively, energetic, modern way. And it was also my aim in this concertante piece for piccolo trumpet to achieve simile effects by means of stylized baroque elements.

The first movement i sof a brisk yet ceremonial nature, and is characterised by a distinctive recurrent fanfare motive. The brief slow movement should bring to mind the spiritual aspect of life that per-meated the whole baroque era in all artistic directions: not in a sentimental way, but rather with the intention of returning our attention to the transcendental. The third movement is a virtuoso finale that ens with a short motive from the first movement.

instrumentation: tr picc solo, pno/cembdescription: piano score, partpubl. No.: R 279price: 140,- CZK

Jan Kučera - Baroque Reminiscence (piano score)

88 Main series

instrumentation: fg solo, pnodescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 286price: 120,- CZK

There are times when everything inside you dances and you don’t know why. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the time of your life, you can even be dealing with something annoying, but there is just no stopping the dancing You within.

This is what my composition is about. I wanted it to be playful, cheeky, sexy, constantly surprising… Drawing on the jazz music tradition of the 1920s, the music is full of syncopations and distinctive rhythm, with reminiscences of ragtime and the blues. The two instruments, the piano and the solo bassoon, are equals, two complementary and cooperating partners.

Jan Kučera - Dancing You Within

instrumentation: trb in C solo, fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, clb, 2fg, 4cor, 2trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, batt, arp, archi


The Joker for trumpet and piano was commissioned for the purpose of the International Prague Spring 2010 competition , where it was set as a compulsory piece for the second round. The award for its best performance went to the brilliant French trumpetist Olivier Bombrun, who finished third in the competition itself. We also cooperated with Olivier on a recording of the piece for the Czech Radio. It was thanks to the prestigious competition that the composition to my great delight got widely recognized, especially in France and the USA.

The idea for an orchestral version of the score occured to me already during the competition, where it was my pleasure to conduct the brilliant performance sof the contestants. I was very pleased to find out that the jury president, the legendary French trumpetist Guy Touvron, as well as yet ano-ther member of the jury, the long-standing first trumpetist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Miroslav Kejmar, welcomed and supported my spontaneous idea. The orchestral version was created over the summer in 2011 and it was finished by January 2012.

Jan Kučera - The Joker

instrumentation: pnodescription: scorepubl. No.: R 302price: 120,- CZK

Vlastimil Lejsek (1927–2010) was a pianist, composer, teacher and co-founder of a piano duet he formed together with his wife Věra, née Králová. They were true groundbreakers in this field in Czechoslovakia.Thanks to their extensive concert activity and a plentiful number of recordings at the Czech Radio and on LPs, they stimulated authors to create new compositions, and premiered many contemporary pieces, both Czech and of foreign origin. In 1978 they established the International Schubert Com-petition for Piano Duets in the town of Jeseník, which currently belongs to prominent competitions worldwide. Vlastimil Lejsek wrote both for solo piano (Preludes, Měsíční suita /Moon Suite/, Pianisté a koně /Pianists and Horses/, Písničky ze sklepa /Songs from the Cellar/, Sonatella, etc.), and for piano duets (Duets, Balady z Moravy /Ballads from Moravia/, Brazilské tance /BrazilDances/, Tanečky mistrů /Dances of the Masters/, Sonata, Quattuor ludibria, etc.). Many of his works were dedicated to children and the youth. Surprisingly, he never considered himself a composer, although he was a member of the Club of Moravian Composers. He referred to himself as a composing pianist who writes for pleasure.

Vlastimil Lejsek - Twenty-one Reminiscenses of a Piano Veteran

Main series 89

instrumentation: fl I, fl II / fl alto, 2ob, cl I, cl II / bcl, 2fg, 2cor, 3trb, 2tbn, btbn, timp, perc, arp, cori solo, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 314price: 250,- CZK

„The first impulse to write The Heart of the Gardens came right after a premiere of a violin concerto that I wrote and that was performed by a violin virtuoso Gabriela Demeterová in April 2012 at Žofín in Prague.

A friend of mine and an amazing performer Jitka Tomšíčková who played the first oboe in the or-chestra then came to me and asked me to write a concerto for her – and especially for her favorite instrument cor anglais. So I did and I finished it already in September 2013 and it was premiered in Rudolfinum in Prague already in February of the following year.

The reason why there is the word garden in the title is simple – the concert is a part of pentalogy of concerts that have this word in their titles. The already mentioned violin concerto “The Key to the Gardens“, or a piano concerto “The Gate to the Gardens“ /2014/ and also the other planned works of the cycle of concerts will be related to gardens. The heart of the gardens – that is the place where all the routes that interlace the garden finally meet in the very centre of it. One has to take care of it and also fight for its survival, for example by writing a concerto about it.“ K. Marek

Kryštof Marek - Heart of the Gardens

„I am very fond of dance theatre so I usually do not turn down commissions for ballet music. After stage premieres, I am regularly asked by conductors and orchestras to create a suite from the work.

So far, I have always given preference to starting a brand new work - although in the case of the ballets IBBUR and The Garden I had made a resolution to create a suite one day. This „one day“ came when such a commission came from the Austrian Schloss Kirchestetten festival, which inspired me finally to prepare a suite from my ballet music. I chose a recently premiered (28th Feb 2013) ballet score for The Sorcerer‘s Apprentice (Krabat). In the original version for the ballet performance at the National Theatre the setting includes a piano part and girls‘ vocals. Since the Austrian com-mission did not allow this, the suite is instrumented for a classical symphonic orchestra.“ Z. Matějů

Zbyněk Matějů - Imagine That (Suite from the ballet Krabat)

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 3cor, 2trb, 2tbn, tb, timp, batt, 2arp, cel, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 289price: 150,- CZK

„The title of the piece brings to mind the historical steles (this term is used in archaeology to refer to vertically erected stones, pillars or slabs containing an important message).

I was inspired not only by these artefacts but also by the book Steles written by the poet Mr. Victor Segalen. Since the year 1991, when the piece was written, it has been performed numerous times, and has found its way into the repertoire of many clarinettists including the American player George Stoffan. It has also been recorded both home (CD Panton 1995, Kamil Doležal and Barbora Vácha-lová, the latter of which is the dedicatee of the work) and abroad - the last recording was made in New Zealand.“ Z. Matějů

instrumentation: cl, arpdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 297price: 130,- CZK

Zbyněk Matějů - Stele of Forbiddance

90 Main series

instrumentation: cl solo, pnodescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 285price: 110,- CZK

The one-movement Sonatina for clarinet and piano has the characteristics of a morning serenade.

The individual themes interweave with each other on their way from a lively and playful tarantella to an ironic-sounding march. The contrasting middle part consists of a multi-layered passacaglia that culminates in the climax of the whole piece. After the tumult ebbs away, a reprise brings back the initial atmosphere of the composition. The whole Sonatina fades away in a recurrent march pulse.

Aleš Pavlorek - Sonatina „Mattinata“

instrumentation: fl solo, pnodescription: score, partpubl. No.: R 284price: 120,- CZK

The title itself – Sonatina Brasileira - betrays that author was inspired by Brasil musical rhythms in his new Sonatina for flute and piano.

The South- American temperament is apparent in the livelier sections, whereas the slow-paced parts evoke the world of the opera. Here, Pelikán pictures the flute as an opera singer performing a rather exalted aria that is seasoned with a recitative in the middle section. The one-movement piece is rounded up by a recurrent wild Brazilian dance.

Jaroslav Pelikán - Sonatina Brasileira

instrumentation: guitdescription: partpubl. No.: R 311price: 150,- CZK

A guitar album „Were we?“ is actually a time lapse documentary. It includes melodies and ideas from my beginnings as a composer that changed considerably over the time.Suite in the Old Style is honour to Czech musicians, lutenists and choirmasters – with each move-ment we travel deeply into the past until the final From the Depths which is a kind of a dark mirror in which one can vaguely recognize melody of a plainsong. Fugue and Dance I wrote while thinking of Dmitry Schostakovich. How would 24 fugues for guitar look like? I have fullfilled the imaginary A minor with this composition. With Song for Lili I celebrated the conception of our daughter Julie. I wanted to give her a first melody of her life, hopefully cheerful. Three Melancholic Preludes are some kind of a summary of instrumental thinking – a composer shold not be afraid of conscious conti-nuation of the breathtaking history of instrumental literature. The introductory prelude Do Not Leave Me… connects Catalanian rhythms with a painful chromatic melody full of please of forgiveness. Legend about Viktorka originated as a scenic music that accompanies the tragic fate of the woman in Jaroslav Seifert´s poem. The final prelude Were we? is dedicated to my friend, a poet Vít Slíva, an author of a painfully concise poem. The composition Hommage à J. Rodrigo has the subtitle Por caminos de Sagunto (On the Stairs of Sagunto). When I first played this composition in Sagunto, the people of this charming town took me for an old friend. The album is called Were we? and I myself ask this question often, for example in the last Second Letter to Father.

Lukáš Sommer - Were we?

Main series 91

instrumentation: ob, pnodescription: scorepubl. No.: R 304price: 140,- CZK

„Only after I learned about the death of the classic of French music, Mr. Henri Dutilleux, did I realize how close I was to this composer.

There are many authors who influence us in rather a superficial way - we experiment with „their“ harmonies or get used to the sound effects they had discovered. There are, however, also com-posers who make a much more complex and much less blatant, but all the more lasting impression.

I would like to express my gratitude towardds the Prague Spring festival for the confidence in my work that they have, yet again, proved.“ L. Sommer

Lukáš Sommer - Impromptu

„Accumulator 1 (Akumulátor 1) was the first out of four films directed by Honza Svěrák that I made music for. It was duly monumental – rather excessively in places – and a bit too sweet from time to time, just as the topic of the film called for. It was my first truly large-scale score – the whole symphonic orchestra and a mixed choir.I got a lot of help with orchestration from Jirka Svoboda, a brother of the more famous composer Karel. Jirka lived near the Strossmayer Square in an attic appartment with curtains drawn at all the times. I was wondering why this was so, because he always worked only at night, anyway. What I did, then, was that I spent a few nights with him, smoking (he even more than myself), drinking coffee, and – each sitting at his own table – writing down our scores, just like that, without a piano. It was quite tough for me, because I hadn´t been used to that way of composing. We used to take long breaks during which we smoked even more and kept chatting about music, our experiences with film directors (quite a populár topic among composers), and about life in general. Jirka died even before Karel did; I often think of them both. The recording was done at the Rudolfinum, a hall with exceptional acoustics – one can hear that on the records.“ O. Soukup

Ondřej Soukup - Accumulator (orchestration by Lukáš Sommer)

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4 cor, 3 trb, 3 tbn, tb, timp, 2 perc, vibr, arp, pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 274price: 180,- CZK

„The score for Dark Blue World (Tmavomodrý svět) was easy to write. I love flying, I even fly myself, and I know a lot about the war pilots and thein tragic life stories. The topic was very close to my heart.Already back in 1990 I had written music for 60-minute BBC documentary on Czech pilots who have served in the RAF. There were a few of them at the premiere of Dark Blue World. I wanted to speak with them but it was impossible in the post-premiere bustle. I felt sorry afterwards for not trying harder to find the time. I remember the beautiful first night of Dark Blue World in London. The American film Pearl Harbor was also just starting off at the time. In his speech after the screening, Eric Abraham, co-producer of Dark Blue World, pointed to the fact that the total cost of Dark Blue World was 10 million dollars – the price of the Pearl Harbor after party that took place in Hawaii. The music for Dark Blue World brought me my second Czech Lion Award.“ O. Soukup

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4 cor, 3 trb, 3 tbn, tb, timp, 2 perc, xf, arp, pfte, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 273price: 180,- CZK

Ondřej Soukup - Dark Blue World (orchestration by Lukáš Sommer)

92 Main series

instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4 cor, 3 trb, 3 tbn, tb, timp, 2 perc, xf, arp, pfte, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 271price: 170,- CZK

„Unlike Dark Blue World, the music for Empties (Vratné lahve) was a tough nut to crack. It´s always a bit of problem to write music for comedies. Dramas, romances, action films, fairy tales, these all are much easier to set to music…

In the end I did manage to find a solution. I didn´t want to write music that would be simply cheer-ful, I wanted also a touch of hope, optimism and expectations, sometimes even sarcasm. Eventually, also some nostalgic pieces found their way into the score; the film is not such a comedy after all. Honza Svěrák also used bits from Mahler´s 10th symphony, for example in the final balloon scene. There is no Mahler in this suite, but just as a matter of interest: the author of one of the reviews somehow didn´t notice this and reproached me for writing such cheesy romantic music for this scene.“ O. Soukup

Ondřej Soukup - Empties (orchestration by Lukáš Sommer)

instrumentation: 3trb, timp, batt, org, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 315price: 200,- CZK

I wrote my first organ concerto in 1985. It was a commission for the Instrumental Radio in Bratislava (Bratislavský rozhlas pro nástroj), established for a new radio studio then. There the concerto was also recorded, featuring a Slovak organist Imrich Szabó and the Symphonic Orchestra of Czechoslo-vak Radio in Bratislava with Ondrej Lenárd as a conductor.

The concerto was performed once again with Imrich Szabó at the Week of a New Composition (Týden nové tvorby) in Prague in 1987 and in Teplice in 1988 and with Zuzana Němečková in 1990 in Zlín (then Gottwaldov).

About 25 years later I decided to make some minor abridgements in the composition and I did some changes in instrumentation. As far as the form is concerned, there is an obvious internal segmen-tation in this one movement composition. The first part is a fantasy dialogue between the organ and an orchestra. The second part brings meditative calming, aiming at timbre. Virtuoso allegro of the third part develops in a firmly defined metre and heads for the final chorale. In the composition, I intentionally used melodic and rhytmic impulses from folklore.

Jiří Teml - Concerto № 1 for Organ, Trumpets, Strings and Percussion


„I wrote the main theme for Kolya right after I´d finished reading the script – it made such an impression on me. I actually never do that; I always compose only once the film has been edited, because I find the visual aspect very inspiring and I like to follow its lead when I work.This time, however, it worked this way. The theme appears in the film either on the piano or with strings joining in. Once only does a solo cello start and is later joint by the whole orchestra. The solo trumpet part – played by Mirek Kejmar, a trumpetist with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra – contains a blue tone (to clarify: a tone that seems to be out of tune). When we had recorded this section, he came running into the control room from the studio with the sheet-music as proof, shouting: „That wasn´t a mistře, he did write it in here!“ And it remained on the rekord, we liked it. Later on, Kolya was thrashed to pieces by critics such as Messrs. Rejžek and Just and Ms. Brdečková. Deservedly, no doubt. How dare such an dewy-eyed, sentimental kitsch of a film bring shame on us all around the world and win Oscars!“ O. Soukup

Ondřej Soukup - Kolya (orchestration by Lukáš Sommer)

Main series 93


instrumentation: 2fl grande muta fl dolce, fl picc, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, bcl, 2fg, cfg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, timp, perc, arp, cemb, pno, coro, archi


The folk song played a very important role throughout the whole life and compositional work of Václav Trojan (1907 – 1983). Melodic inventiveness was the basis of Trojan’s musical thinking – and his concise musical ideas are completely and firmly rooted in Czech folklore.

Through these, Trojan managed to excellently capture the drama and mood of the situation in his film and scenic music (he is especially famous for his music to the animated films of Jiří Trnka). His concert work remained somewhat in the shadow of the international success of his music for film – besides, many ofTrojan’s concert compositions were created by additional modification of what was originally music for film, most frequently in the form of suites with several movements.

Václav Trojan - Spring (from The Golden Gate)

instrumentation: 3fl/2picc, 2ob, cor ingl, 2cl, cl in Es, bcl, 2fg/cfg, 4cor, 3trb, 3tbn, tb, tb/bomb, timp, perc, arp, mand, pno, corm, cimb, coro, archi


The folk song played a very important role throughout the whole life and compositional work of Václav Trojan (1907 – 1983). Melodic inventiveness was the basis of Trojan’s musical thinking – and his concise musical ideas are completely and firmly rooted in Czech folklore.

Through these, Trojan managed to excellently capture the drama and mood of the situation in his film and scenic music (he is especially famous for his music to the animated films of Jiří Trnka). His concert work remained somewhat in the shadow of the international success of his music for film – besides, many ofTrojan’s concert compositions were created by additional modification of what was originally music for film, most frequently in the form of suites with several movements.

Václav Trojan - Winter (from The Golden Gate)

instrumentation: fl picc/fl grande, 2fl, ob I, ob II/cori, cl I in B/cl in Es, cl II in B, bcl, 2fg, 4 cor, 3trp, 3trb, tb, timp, perc, arp, archi


I grew up among painters; my father and uncle were two of them. My father’s studio lay in what is today a Seminary at Žerotín Square with a beautiful view over the roofs of Olomouc.

In those days, the faculty premises included also the adjacent monastery building, in whose corri-dors I got lost one day. I was about six years old and I could not find the way out. I was eventually found by some young ladies, students of teaching, who led me back upstairs to the studio.

In the first part of the composition entitled Obrazy pro orchestr (Images for Orchestra) a duet of wind instruments line by line draw up the symmetrical curves leading into the monastery. In the following movements of the Images several Moravian folk motifs can be heard. The motif based on a folk dance melody “Kdože nám zakáže” (“Whoever Can Forbid Us”) that appears in the third section refers to my uncle Viktor, who was not broken even by a false accusation and a three-year service for the PTP (military service for the “politically unreliable”)”. E. Viklický

Emil Viklický - Images for Orchestra


Historical series

96 Historical series

instrumentation: vno solo, vno I, vno II, vla, cemb [b.c.]description: score, partspubl. No.: R 195price: 510,- CZK

The composer and violinist František Benda (1709 - 1786) dedicated much of his music to this instru-ment. Both his masterful skills as a violinist and his compositional work were influenced significantly by his engagement in the court orchestra band of Friedrich II, the future Prussian King, and also by his stay in Dresden where he had the opportunity to get acquainted with a number of prominent artists of the time (J. G. Pisendel, J. J. Quantz).

The publication of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra C major is based on the manuscript score and parts stored at the Saxon Library in Dresden, which is the oldest existing source of the concerto whose autograph has not been preserved. Composed probably in Rheinsberg (judging by the note Reinsberg in the score), Concerto for Violin and Orchestra C major represents the 12th volume of the Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae historical series.

František Benda (edited by Václav Luks) - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra C major

instrumentation: vno solo, 2cor in D, vno I, vno II, vla, cemb [b.c.]description: score, partspubl. No.: R 196price: 510,- CZK

The publication of the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra C major is based on the manuscript score and parts stored at the Saxon Library in Dresden, which is the oldest existing source of the con-certo whose autograph has not been preserved. The concerto was probably intended for a smaller ensemble: the setting and the instrumentation of the concerto correspond with the rather modest - as compared with Dresden - size of the Rheinsberg band.

The Dresdner transcription of the score in question, however, contains a feature typical of the period general practice in Dresden: The copyist left space in the score so that the setting could be supplemented with wind instruments; this space is taken up by French horn virtuoso parts written by an unknown hand. Concerto for Violin and Orchestra D major represents the 13th volume of the Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae historical series.

František Benda (edited by Václav Luks) - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra D major

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 2trp, 3trb, timp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 259price: 705,- CZK

The source for the publication of Vilém Blodek’s Symphony in D minor was an undated copy of the score stored at the Czech Radio, created by the Czech composer and conductor Karel Moor probably from 1934. Symphony in D minor comes from the early period of Blodek’s life; the exact year of origin, however, is unknown, the dates mentioned in literature varying from 1857 to 1866. Blodek’s symphony, then, was probably written not long after Smetana’s Triumphal Symphony, and alongside J. B. Kittl’s Symphony No. 4 C major, and V. J. Veit’s Symphony in E minor.

The four-movement symphony is exceptional in several respects: in its unusually large scale; in its chromatic complexity – this concerns mainly the extensive development sections in the first and last movements; and in its non-schematic motivic work.

Vilém Blodek (edited by František Kolář) - Symphony in D minor


instrumentation: org solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 248price: 190,- CZK

Composers whose music appears in this album are all closely connected with the Prague organ school (or the Prague Conservatory, since these two institutions merged in 1889/90). Organ book is based on original period sources and features compositions written by czech significant composers, organists, and music teachers Karel František Pitsch, Josef Leopold Zvonař, Josef Krejčí, František Skuherský a Josef Suk.

Czech Organ Compositions I (edited by Josef Popelka)

instrumentation: org solodescription: partpubl. No.: R 252price: 260,- CZK

Composers whose music appears in this album are all closely connected with the Prague organ school (or the Prague Conservatory, since these two institutions merged in 1889/90). Organ book is based on original period sources and features compositions written by czech significant composers, organists, and music teachers Karel František Pitsch, Josef Leopold Zvonař, Josef Krejčí, František Skuherský, Josef Förster a Josef Suk.

Czech Organ Compositions II (edited by Josef Popelka)

instrumentation: clav, vnoI, vnoII, vla, bassodescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 068price (score): 300,- CZKprice add. single part: 20,- CZK

Although it is not dated, the origin of the Harpsichord Concerto in C major (on the basis of the fact that the concerto is listed in Breitkopf catalogue from 1774) can be placed into the 1760s or 1770s, that is the time when the harpsichord was still the dominant keyboard instrument, as both a concert and figured bass instrument. However, it is obvious that Dušek‘s concerto can be played on the hammer or tangent piano, too.

Because of the character of the piece and the number of extant parts, the concerto can be per-formed „a quattro“, with 2 violins, a viola and a violoncello, or it is possible to choose a chamber string ensemble with a double-bass or a violone which doubles the part marked as „basso“; J. J. Quantz recommends, for example, 10 players (3-3-2-1-1). In line with the practice of Dušek‘s time, it is also possible to let the whole ensemble play only the orchestral tutti, and to accompany the solo episodes „a quattro“ or with a reduced ensemble.

František Xaver Dušek (edited by Vojtěch Spurný) - Concerto per il clavicembalo, due violini, viola e basso in C


instrumentation: clav, 2cor in D, vnoI, vnoII, vla, bassodescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 089price (score): 365,- CZKprice add. single part: 20,- CZK

The origin of the Harpsichord Concerto in D major can be placed into the 1760s or 1770s, that is the time when the harpsichord was still the dominant keyboard instrument, as both a concert and figured bass instrument. However, it is obvious that Dušek‘s concerto can be played on the hammer or tangent piano, too.

The cast of the solo instrument is connected also with the choice of the accompanying ensemble. Because of the character of the piece and the number of extant parts, the concerto can be per-formed, with 2 violins, a viola, a violoncello and 2 French horns or it is possible to choose a chamber string ensemble with a double-bass or a violone which doubles the part marked as „basso“; J. J. Quantz recommends, for example, 10 players (3-3-2-1-1). In line with the practice of Dušek‘s time, it is also possible to let the whole ensemble play only the orchestral tutti, and to accompany the solo episodes „a quattro“ or with a reduced ensemble.

František Xaver Dušek (edited by Vojtěch Spurný) - Concerto per il clavicembalo, due corni, due violini, viola e basso in D

instrumentation: clav, 2cor in Es, vnoI, vnoII, vla, bassodescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 069price (score): 380,- CZKprice add. single part: 20,- CZK

Although it is not dated, the origin of the E flat major Harpsichord Concerto can be placed into the 1770s, that is the time when the harpsichord was still the dominant keyboard instrument, as both a concert and figured bass instrument. However, it is obvious that Dušek‘s concerto can be played on the hammer or tangent piano, too.

The cast of the solo instrument is connected also with the choice of the accompanying ensemble. Because of the character of the piece and the number of extant parts, the concerto can be per-formed, with 2 violins, a viola, a violoncello and 2 French horns or it is possible to choose a chamber string ensemble with a double-bass or a violone which doubles the part marked as „basso“; J. J. Quantz recommends, for example, 10 players (3-3-2-1-1). In line with the practice of Dušek‘s time, it is also possible to let the whole ensemble play only the orchestral tutti, and to accompany the solo episodes „a quattro“ or with a reduced ensemble.

František Xaver Dušek (edited by Vojtěch Spurný) - Concerto per il clavicembalo, due corni, due violini, viola e basso in Es

instrumentation: 2ob, fg, vnoI, vnoII, vla, cemb [vcl, cb]description: score, partspubl. No.: R 083price: 475,- CZK

Ouverture g minor by Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688 - 1758), a representative of supreme baroque instrumental music and Bach’s contemporary, was released as the fourth volume of the historical series Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae.

The complexity of the volume required creating a critical edition referring to the two preserved sources available at the Saxon State Library in Dresden, one of which is the author’s manuscript. Ouverture was written in a traditional suite form - a French ouverture followed by dance move-ments. In reference to its music language that is marked by an orchestral virtuosity and rich sound colour we can presume that the piece was written directly for the Dresden Orchestra - one of the best orchestras of its time that Fasch kept close contacts with for all his life.

Johann Friedrich Fasch (edited by Václav Luks) - Ouverture g minor FWV K: g 5


instrumentation: 2cor ingl, 2cor di caccia in Dis, vnoI, vnoII, vla, bassodescription: scorepubl. No.: R 045price: 200,- CZK

Four-movement composition for two English horns, two French horns and strings. It was composed according to the orchestral voices deposited at the National Museum - Czech Museum of Music.

This is so called Pachta‘s fund owned by the Prague family of Pachtas from Rájov. This Citoliby musical group was in a close contact. Realization of this piece was undertaken by a composer and scholar in one person - PhDr. Zdeněk Šesták. He was literally amazed by the Citoliby castle archives. The piece named Sinfonia ex Dis by Jan Adam Galina was part of the Prague Spring 2004 music festival.

Jan Adam Gallina (edited by Zdeněk Šesták) - Sinfonia ex Dis

instrumentation: 2ob, fg, 2cor in Dis, soli, coro, archi, orgdescription: scorepubl. No.: R 014price: 465,- CZK

Under the inspiring and pedagogical influence of the preceptor Václav Jan Kopřiva (1708 - 1789), a group of composers was formed, which without exaggeration may be designated as the Cítoliby composer school. This group includes his two sons - Jan Jáchym Kopřiva (1754 - 1792), his father’s successor in the preceptor’s office, and Karel Blažej Kopřiva (1756 - 1785), an extraordinary organ player and composer, subsequently from Seger school.

The advanced music culture of Cítoliby, which is located 60 km north-west of Prague and which in later 18th century consisted of up to 60 houses, was the result of the intensive artistic activities surrounding the castle, school and St. Jacob’s Church. Cítoliby and the entire estate of the same name were lucky to be inherited to the art-loving descent of Pachts of Rájov in 1720. The Pachts had a uniquely refined taste for the quality and progressive in music. Their personal contact with many significant artists, such as Mozart, Weber, Wagner, as well as the Czech artists Seger, Mysliveček and Dušek, are well known.

Karel Blažej Kopřiva (edited by Zdeněk Šesták) - Missa solemnis in D sharp

instrumentation: 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2trb, timp, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 220price (score): 280,- CZK

Born in the town of Rokycany, Antonín Kraft (1749 to 1820), a Czech cellist and composer, studied composition with Joseph Haydn, and went on to become the first violoncellist with several court orchestras – those of Prince Nikolaus Esterházy, Count Grassalkovicz, and Prince Joseph Lobkowicz. Considered one of the leading cello virtuosos of his day, he also left behind a noteworthy output of music – namely, his numerous chamber compositions and, above all, his two cello concertos, both in C major key (op. 4 and the so-called Seydl’s concerto).

The sources for the publication of Kraft’s Cello Concerto C major, op. 4 – the 22nd volume of the Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae historical edition – consist of a single print: the only surviving source of the piece, an undated copy coming from the original period, printed in Leipzig by Breitkopf & Härtel (Premier Concerto Pour le Violoncelle : Oeuvre 4. L. 1), and currently stored at the Saxon State Library in Dresden under the location number Mus.3920-0-1.

Antonín Kraft (edited by Jakub Michl) - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra C major, op. 4


instrumentation: fl, vno, 2vla, vcldescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 143price: 465,- CZK

F. V. Kramář’s Quintetto surely contains, typically of the author, features of Haydn’s and Mozart’s compositional style, which is particularly explicit in the gentle introductory parts of the third and fourth movements where the flute dominates the other instruments. On the whole, however, the separate parts of this Quintetto all play unusually balanced roles within the piece as a whole when compared to other chamber compositions of its time; the six-voice fugato from the beginning of the first movement that recurs later on in the second part of the same movement in a different order of instrumentation can serve as an example testifying this.

The source for this edition of Quintetto op. 58 by F. V. Kramář is the impression published by the Viennese Chemische Druckerei that is currently housed in the Music Department of the National Library of the Czech Republic. It came out already during the composer’s lifetime; although it is not dated, it was probably created in 1807. The publication includes faksimile of the first pages of each part.

František Vincenc Kramář (edited by Marek Štryncl) - Quintetto pour une Flûte, Violon, deux Violes, et Violoncelle, Oeuv. 58

instrumentation: 2cl, fg, 2cor, vnoI, vnoII, vla, bassodescription: scorepubl. No.: R 044price: 175,- CZK

The original artwork for Mysliveček‘s concert partition creation was the manuscript voices stored in the archive of Thurn-Taxis prince family from Regensburg. The original manuscript title was: Con-certo in Es a 2 Clarinetti in B, 2 Corni, 1 Fagotto, 2 Violini, Viola e Basso. This music was published based on the order from the regional studio of Český rozhlas - Plzeň. The concert was adapted by the member of the Český rozhlas‘s Symphonic Orchestra - clarinetist Miloslav Richter.

Josef Mysliveček (edited by Miloslav Richter) - Concerto in Es

instrumentation: 1fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, tymp, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 244price (score): soon available

Born in Prague, Antonín Rejcha (1770-1836) was a music theoretician and composer of great signifi-cance for both Czech and French music life at the turn of the 18th and 19th century. As a composer, he contributed to all genres including orchestral music. This part of his output includes almost twen-ty symphonies. The new edition of Rejcha’s Symphony F major is based on the author’s autograph stored at Bibliotheque National in Paris.

Antonín Rejcha (edited by Jakub Michl) - Symphony F major



Josef Seger (1716 - 1782) was considered one of the best organ virtuosos and improvisers in the mid-18th century. He focused mainly on church music, and took special interest in organ compositi-ons. He was also a recognized and sought-after pedagogue; among his numerous students can be found the names of many significant Czech composers and organists, such as František Xaver Brixi, Josef Mysliveček, Karel Blažej Kopřiva, Jan Evangelista Koželuh and Jan Křtitel Kuchař.

The source for the new publication of Josef Seger‘s organ compositions is the manuscript stored at Leipzig Municipal Library. The document is probably the oldest preserved transcription of Seger‘s organ music. We have singled out several representative pieces from the total number of fugue compositions and, while leaving the original order of the pieces intact. The location of the composi-tions neither in the Leipzig source nor in any other comparative sources sufficed as a basis for the completion of the free forms and the fugues; in all likelihood, however, they were not performed like that anyway.

Josef Seger (edited by Pavel Kohout) - Organ compositions, Fugues

instrumentation: vno I, vno II, vla, vcldescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 212price: 160,- CZK

František Xaver Richter (1709 to 1789) belongs to the large number of Czech composers and musi-cians who spent most of their lives abroad. His contribution to the field of chamber music has been significantly influential. What stands out besides his sonatas, trios, and divertimentos are the seven string quartets, whose singularity lies in Richter’s ability to apply polyphonic techniques within pieces of lighter and secular nature. The polyphonic style thus appears in unprecedented forms and con-texts and with a force and intensity unequalled by any of Richter’s contemporaries.

The main source of these quartets – published in the TAM edition – is the earliest known print of Richter’s quartets printed in London in 1768. Other sources have been used as comparative sources: a print dated c1722 from Paris and four copies surviving in Czech lands, Germany and Austria. Soon will be available also the quartets C major, A major, E-flat major, G major, D major and G minor.

František Xaver Richter (edited by Marek Štryncl) - String Quartet B-flat major

instrumentation: orgdescription: partpubl. No.: R 221price (score): 225,- CZK

The source for the new publication of Josef Seger‘s organ compositions is the manuscript stored at Leipzig Municipal Library. The document is probably the oldest preserved transcription of Seger‘s organ music. We have singled out several representative pieces from the total number of preludes, preambles and fantasias and, while leaving the original order of the pieces intact. The location of the compositions neither in the Leipzig source nor in any other comparative sources sufficed as a basis for the completion of the free forms and the fugues; in all likelihood, however, they were not performed like that anyway.

Josef Seger (edited by Pavel Kohout) - Organ Compositions, Preludes, Preambles, Fantasias


instrumentation: fl picc, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 4cor, 4trp, 3trb, tb, timp, trg, ptti, tamb rull, gc, archi

description: scorepubl. No.: R 262price (score): 160,- CZK

The Prague Carnival belongs to Bedřich Smetana’s (1824 to 1884) last works. Judging by the preser-ved correspondence, Smetana had been considering the idea of a “large symphonic poem entitled The Prague (or Czech?) Carnival” already from the year 1880. His original intention was that of an extensive cyclic orchestral work. The admirable idea, however, remained but a fragment, the only finished pieces being the Introduction and Polonaise (a scene of the whirling carnival dance and the initial dance of a ball).

The style of the fragment is close to that of Smetana’s innovatory period of the 1860s, represented by such works as the Macbeth and the Weird Sisters piano sketch or the symphonic poems Richard III, Wallenstein’s Camp, and Hakon Jarl. The current edition of the score corresponds with the origi-nal version and is based on the critical Study Edition of B. Smetana’s Work, Orchestral Compositions II (Studijní vydání děl B. Smetany, Orchestrální skladby II), Prague 1951.

Bedřich Smetana - Prague Carnival

instrumentation: pfte, fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor, 2cln, timp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 081price: 675,- CZK

The second piano concerto E flat major is kept in National Museum - Czech Museum of Music. It was preserved in two fragments. The older manuscript misses the beginning of the piece, the younger consists only of the beginning of the first movement. Nevertheless, we have a piano score that corresponds with the older version. Considering the fact that Tomášek never finished the intended revision of the piece and his work was interrupted virtually in its first run, we have released his piano concerto in its first version.

Václav Jan Tomášek (1744 - 1850) is counted among the most significant figures of Czech musical scene in the first half of the 19th century. He was a brilliant pianist, acknowledged composer and a famous music preceptor. The larger instrumental pieces - symphonies, concertos, overtures - he wrote in the first decade of the 19th century. Tomášek composed only two concertos, both for piano. It was C major, op. 18 and E flat major, op. 20.

Václav Jan Tomášek (edited by Vojtěch Spurný) - Concerto for Piano and Orchestra E flat major, op. 20


Born in the town of Hluboká on the Vltava River, Jan Pavel Veselý (1762-1814) was a skilled violinist and composer. A member of the theatre orchestras in Alton and Kassel as well as the concertmaster of Duke Bernburg in Ballenstedt, Veselý is the author of two singspiels and, most importantly, of chamber music for string instruments (trios, quartets), several of which have come out in print. The new edition of the String Quartet C major is based on the period Hoffmeister, Vienne print of the individual voices stored at the Moravian Library in Brno.

Jan Pavel Veselý (edited by Monika Jägerová) - String Quartet C major



Born in the town of Hluboká on the Vltava River, Jan Pavel Veselý (1762-1814) was a skilled violinist and composer. A member of the theatre orchestras in Alton and Kassel as well as the concertmaster of Duke Bernburg in Ballenstedt, Veselý is the author of two singspiels and, most importantly, of chamber music for string instruments (trios, quartets), several of which have come out in print. The new edition of the String Quartet G major is based on the period Hoffmeister, Vienne print of the individual voices stored at the Moravian Library in Brno.

Jan Pavel Veselý (edited by Monika Jägerová) - String Quartet G major

instrumentation: ob, vno, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 156price: score: 220,- CZK; parts: 170,- CZK

The source for the publication of graduale Benedictus es by Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek (1791 - 1825) is the autograph score stored in the Archive and Program Funds of the Czech Radio under the loca-tion number ARCH 431. The autograph was originally a part of the so-called Balling’s collection with the original location number of B. S. 420. Graduale Benedictus es was released as the ninth volume of the historical series Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae.

Should the offertorium Quoniam iniquitatem cognosco be a reminiscence of polyphonic church Baroque music, then it seems that graduale Benedictus es contains elements of the Classicist con-ception of the genre, including the sunny atmosphere of a holy day that the music of this era was so particularly capable of depicting. The instrumentation is similar to other religious works by Voříšek - the usual oboes, bassoons, trumpets, trombones, kettle-drums, human voices, strings, and the organ are, however, in the case of this particular piece (unlike the other three compositions) supple-mented by the French horns that underline the festive sound of the orchestra. (Since the French horn is one of the characteristic instruments of Christmas pastorals, it should be pointed out that Voříšek finished the mass during the Christmas period, on 6th January 1825).

Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek (edited by Marek Štryncl) - Graduale Benedictus es

instrumentation: pfte solo, 1fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2fg, 2cor in D, 2trp, tymp, archidescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 245price: 350,- CZK

Piano compositions – whether solo or concertante – play an irreplaceable role in the oeuvre of the excellent organist and pianist Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek. Published as the 23rd issue of the TAM histo-rical series, this virtuoso piano piece is based on two available sources: the period Haslinger Tobias, Wien print, which is part of the Czech Radio historical collections, and the fragmented autograph written by the author that is located in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Wien collection.

Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek (edited by Petra Matějová) - Introduction and Rondo Brillante for piano and orchestra, op. 22


instrumentation: S A T B soli, 2ob, 2fg, 2trb (clarini in B), 3tbn, timp, vno I, vno II, vla, org [vcl, cb]

description: score, partspubl. No.: R 154price: score: 230,- CZK; parts: 200,- CZK

The source for the publication of offertorium Mentis oppressae is the autograph score stored in the Archive and Program Funds of the Czech Radio under the location number ARCH 432. The autograph was originally a part of the so-called Balling’s collection with the original location number of B. S. 420. Offertorium Mentis opressae was released as the tenth volume of the historical series Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae.

There are striking differences to be found among the religious compositions J. V. H. Voříšek wrote within the last two years of his life. Whereas his Mass in B-flat major and particularly Graduale Benedictus es present Voříšek as an ingenious consummator of the art of his ancestors from nearly a century ago, Offertorium Mentis oppressae could be considered his Classical-Romantic confession. The dismal and oppressive meaning of the text Voříšek respects throughout the work in an ingenious and creative way.

Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek (edited by Marek Štryncl) - Offertorium Mentis opressae

instrumentation: S A T B soli, 2ob, 2fg, 2trb (clarini in C), 3tbn, timp, vno I, vno II, vla, org [vcl, cb]

description: score, partspubl. No.: R 162price: score: 270,- CZK; parts: 240,- CZK

The source for the publication of the offerorium Quoniam iniquitatem is the autograph score stored in Österreichische Nationalbibliothek Wien in Vienna under the location number Wn Mus. Hs. 16441. This composition was released as the tenth volume of the historical series Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae.

The initial Andante is marked for its homophonic setting full of romanticizing dramatic rhythmical and dynamic turns - at times gradual, but in the second part also surprisingly abrupt. The Allegro moderato represents a truly remarkable piece of art as designed by a top-class master of Ba-roque counterpoint and polyphony. Despite that, however, the accompanying violin ostinato and the harmonic background of the composition unmistakably evoke the late Classicist era. In the final monumental Adagio Voříšek‘s music is inspired by the art of the Renaissance polyphonic composers that the author managed to blend with Classical-Romantic instrumentation. The resulting character, noted for its exceptional nobleness and religious force, has been present in the music of all the eras of the western civilization for centuries, ever since the rise of certain tokens of medieval music.

Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek (edited by Marek Štryncl) - Offertorium Quoniam iniquitatem

instrumentation: cemb, vnoI, vno II, vla, bassodescription: score, partspubl. No.: R 144price: 290,- CZK

The source for this critical edition is the manuscript of Zach’s concerto, housed in the Musical Department of the State Library in Berlin: Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv. According to the up-to-date research on J. Zach’s work, this manuscript is the only preserved source of this work.

Concerto c minor reflects modern techniques characteristic of the period development of music. The time of its origin is not specified and any attempts at its rough estimation can be based merely on an assessment of the style of the composition and the biographical data. The work is firmly set in the tradition of Baroque concertos that are based on the contrast between solo passages and variedly set orchestral sections where the soloist on the one hand and the orchestra on the other are seen as partners, and both the groups make use of equivalent thematic material. Formally, the concerto consists of three movements with regularly alternating tutti and solo sections. Individual groups of instruments not only take turns, but also complement one another, and in some passages an independent dialogue between the harpsichord and the first violin section is discernible.

Jan Zach (edited by Eva Tornová) - Concerto per il Cembalo obligato, Violino Primo, Violino Secondo, Viola e Violoncello GS C 17


instrumentation: A T B soli, coro misto, 2fl, 2ob, vno I, vno II, vla, b. c.description: scorepubl. No.: R 145price: 550,- CZK

In 1735 - 1736 J. D. Zelenka had the chance to write and present two passion oratorios. Gesu al Calvario was followed by the oratorio I penitenti al sepolcro del redentore, performed on Good Fri-day, the 30th of March in 1736. The work is a profound exploration of characters - Mary Magdalen (Maddalena), King David (Davide) and the Apostle Peter (Pietro) - who meet at the sepulchre of the Saviour and meditate on the message of Christ´s sacrifice.

The source for this critical edition is the manuscript from the Saxon State Library in Dresden. Though the legibility of this autographic manuscript was poor we aimed to release an authentic version of the piece keeping all the peculiarities of Zelenka‘s musical language. Oratorio I penitenti al sepolcro del redentore represents the 14th volume of Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae historical series.

Jan Dismas Zelenka (edited by Václav Luks) - I penitenti al Sepolcro del Redentore ZWV 63

instrumentation: 2ob, fg, vnoI, vnoII, vla, cemb [vcl, cb]description: score, partspubl. No.: R 080price: 475,- CZK

Ouverture F major is one of the best known orchestral pieces by J. D. Zelenka (1679 - 1745). It was most probably written together with another five orchestral pieces during author’s visit in Prague on the occasion of court festivities for the coronation of the Emperor Charles VI in 1723.

The note on the front page of the manuscript score ”a Praga 1723” proves the fact. The manuscript can be found at the Saxon State Library in Dresden and it presents a major source of this critical edition volume. Though it was badly damaged and the legibility of this autographic manuscript was poor we aimed to release an authentic version of the piece keeping all the peculiarities of Zelenka’s musical language. Ouverture a 7 concertanti F major represents the fifth volume of Thesaurus Antiquae Musicae historical series.

Jan Dismas Zelenka (edited by Václav Luks) - Ouverture a 7 concertanti F major ZWV 188

Antonín Rejcha - Ouverture in C major, op. 24 (edited by Jakub Michl)Overture in C major, op. 24 was with high probability composed during Rejcha‘s stay in Hamburg between 1795 and 1799. It ranks among eleven concerto overtures that Rejcha composed during his lifetime. C major, op. 24 belongs to seven overtures that were probably written before 1799 (Overtures in E flat major, two D major a four Overtures in C major).

This edition of Overture in C major, op. 24 by Antonín Rejcha is based on an undated print of parts Bronswick a la Höhe kept in Czech Radio.

If the Overture C major was not performed already in Hamburg, it was apparently premiered in Paris where Rejcha went in 1799. After a succesful performance of symphonies op. 41 and 42 as part of the cycle Concert des Amateurs and in the Paris Opera in 1800, also the overture became successful that was performed at a benefit concert of a conductor Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode (1774-1830) in Favart theatre. According to Peter Eliot Stone it was the Overture C major op. 24.

instrumentation: fl, 2ob, 2fg, 2cor in C, 2trp in C, timp, archidescription: scorepubl. No.: R 299price: 220,- CZK


instrumentation: fl, 2cl in Si bemolle ossia in Do, 2cor, trb in Si bemolle ossia clarino in Do/in Si bemolle, timp, org, archi, coro misto, SATB soli

description: score, partspubl. No.: R 312price: 550,- CZK score, 1700,- CZK parts

Jakub Šimon Jan Ryba (1765–1815), without any doubts, belongs to the most famous Czech cantors and at the same time he is seen (rather unjustly) almost always as an author of a single piece, although commonly known and popular. Czech Christmas Mass is not only the first complete liturgic work in Czech language but also the most famous composition by J. J. Ryba. In spite of repressions and forced restrictions of church life in communist times, the composition became the symbol of Czech Christmas – not only in churches but also at concert stages and audio records.Our edition aims at presenting the composition to a wide audience in a form as close to the original as possible – we took the oldest preserved copy that according to us preserves the Czech Christmas mass in its purest and most impressive way. This edition of Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass is based on a set of parts in a manuscript preserved in the National Museum – Czech Museum of Music. As material for comparison we used a copy by deanery church choir director Mansvet Klička from 1864. This publication was published to the 250th anniversary ofthe birth and 200th aniversary of the death of Jakub Jan Ryba.

Jakub Jan Ryba - Czech Christmas Mass (ed. Vojtěch Spurný)

instrumentation: vno/fl, cemb [Basso continuo]description: score, partspubl. No.: R 287price: 320,- CZK

Václav Vodička (Wenceslao Wodiczka) (c.1712–1774) was one of the musicians-composers who belonged to Czech musical emigration of the eighteenth century. He worked in Munich and Paris and his output includes symphonies, Violin or Flute concertos and sonatas.

For the release of the Eight Sonatas for Violin or Flute and Basso Continuo, op. 2 by Václav Vodička (c.1712–1774), two sources were used, as the original autograph manuscripts no longer remain extant. An undated Parisian print issued by Madame Boivin and Sieur Le Clerc is now stored in the music department of the Bayrische Staas-Bibliothek in Munich. This print became the primary source of the current edition. After 1742, Vodička received royal privilege to print and make public the volume of these sonatas named “Huit Sonates pour le violon et la basse dont il y en a quatre pour la flute Traversiere ... oeuvre second“, which he dedicated to the former empress and Bavarian elector, Maria Amalia of Austria.

Václav Vodička - Sonatas for Violin or Flute and Basso continuo, op. 2 (edited by M. Ambrosi)

CMF Edition 109

CMF Edition

110 CMF Edition

instrumentation: fl, cl in B, vno, vla, vcl, pfte, syntdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 004price: 295,- CZK

„At the beginning of the year 1999 I have composed a new piece for the ensemble MoEns (formerly known as Mondschein Ensemble). At that time I was interested in using of consonant sounds in another relation than the tonal music had brought. The Passing of Time is based mostly on major triads ranged according to a system developed especially for this piece. Sometimes it sounds rather like a spectral music style, but the base of the system and also my expressive intentions are different from that contemporary French stream.

Slow and unobtrusive changes of the harmony and the required, for the instrumentation leading colour of the synthesizer, give to the music an expression of a slow flight. The title, which I invented after having finished the piece, corresponds with this feeling. The Passing of Time was performed since 1999 by the MoEns ensemble many times in the Czech Republic and other countries. The Passing of Time has been also performed by Ensemble continuum at Toronto (Canada) in April 2008 and recently by the Norwegian ensemble BIT 20 at ISCM World New Music Days Gothenburg 2009.“

Hanuš Bartoň - Passing of Time

instrumentation: accdescription: partpubl. No.: R-CHF 001price: 195,- CZK

„The title of the piece the English equivalent of which is “The Fictitious (Unreal) Prisons” was taken over from a cycle of graphics of the Italian Baroque artist and architect G. B. Piranesi (1720–1778) that depicts bizarre constructions of fictitious dungeons with hidden ways out. The decision to set the piece for accordion stems from an analogy with Piranesi’s conditions: In the impoverished country that Italy was in his day he had hardly any chance of materialising his architectonic visions; he therefore merely designed buildings that could not exist anywhere but on the paper. Similarly, it is “just” an accordion that is used to bring the score of rather monumental dispositions to life – however, the use of any other instrument is ruled out due to specific techniques that are made use of in the score.“

Peter Graham - Carceri d´invenzione, Chromatic fantasy and fugue for accordion

instrumentation: choro mistodescription: scorepubl. No.: R-CHF 007price: 250,- CZK

„The composition entitled Věruju (I Believe) based on an Old Church Slavonic text was written in 2004 on the occasion of Eva Tálská’s performance of the Ancient Czech Myths (Studio Dům). It was, in fact, merely an interlude within a more extensive score based on the myth about Svatopluk and only a part of it was actually used in the performance. In 2007 I revised the piece and dedicated this new version to the composer Roman Berger on the occasion of his 77th birthday. The uncommonly plain choral setting calls for a corresponding rustic and inornate mode of expression reminiscent of the atmosphere of the early Christian piety.“

Peter Graham - Věruju (I Believe)

CMF Edition 111

instrumentation: MS, vno, tb, acc, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 012price: 310,- CZK

„A nostalgic construction – the two terms put together give full account of the compositional in-tention and the result that is this piece: for the most part, it turns back to the techniques I used in the 1960s; a time I, looking back over the years with both nostalgia and detachment, remember being pregnant with worldwide effort to seek new ways of musical expression, and that also meant a constant struggle of Czech composers against the phantom of the socialist realism as preached by totalitarian Association of Czechoslovak Composers. The “piquant variant” with the singing voice spices up the composition by adding another up-to-date dimension: the listener will kindly decipher in the fragmented text the passion hidden deep in a woman’s soul; a passion that has found its fruition only in some members of the animal kingdom. However, the piece could just as well play its part for instance in an imaginary feminist festival.“

Marek Kopelent - Nostalgic construction, piquant version for Mezzosoprano, Violin, Tuba, Accordion and Piano

instrumentation: fl, cl, vno, vla, vcl, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 002price: 275,- CZK

„The name of my composition Shadows and Reflections (1999/2000) is bound with the name of the Czech ensemble “Mondschein”, for which my piece was originally written. During the moonshine we can often see fantastic shapes of shadows and reflections. Therefore my composition contains several different movements. Just as shadows and reflections of moonshine are multiple reflections of sunshine in their essence, so my music is a multiple “reflection” of the contemporary musical world surrounding me. I tried to deal with the rampant contemporary musical present. Perhaps it is for that very reason that my music is also deliberately diverse, perhaps on that account it contains the reminiscences, and perhaps therefore that thirst for synthesis.“

Lukáš Matoušek - Shadows and Reflections for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Violoncello and Piano

instrumentation: guitdescription: partpubl. No.: R-CHF 008price: 185,- CZK

„There are six strings in space and time that make up the resounding Cosmos, the opposite of the vibrating Chaos. And so the thing to do was, among others, to supplement the myriads of the alrea-dy existing patterns by another six, in which, for instance, six potentially resounding structures – parts of a hypothetical set of blocks – would be graphically encoded. A set of blocks whose parts may be multiplied and combined at will, and then use these components to compose or build bridges, or mere walkways… and thus to connect things. To connect what is temporarily disconnected. That is one of the few things a human being can do in wellgrounded hope of doing something useful. The parts can be performed in any order.“ This composition was written in 2000.

Vlastislav Matoušek - Hexachordon for Guitar (amplified ad lib.)

112 CMF Edition

instrumentation: el guit, vno, vla, vcldescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 009price: 265,- CZK

„I have only one burnin´desire – let me stand next to your fire!“ (Jimi Hendrix)„The composition was originally conceived as homage to the phenomenal guitarist. After some time, however, I realized that any effort to imitate his music was bound to fail. In the end, the only bits taken over from Hendrix that remained in the piece were two chords (C-sharp minor 7, B minor 7) I used as the thematic material. The basic unifying idea underlying the five-part form consisting of music full of inner contrasts lies in the use of certain loci communes, musical moments common to more parts of the composition. In each part these moments were used in starkly different contexts – here as a form linking element, there as an ostinato, etc. The prescribed use of specific guitar effects (the flanger and the wah-wah pedal) suggested in the score is not obligatory. The strings are not amplified.“

Michal Nejtek - Music for 18 Strings

instrumentation: 2pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 003price: 270,- CZK

„The title was taken over from Vladimír Holan’s poem Je... (There Is...) Imagine a journey leading through a long period of inner silence. At one point this silence explodes, as if upon awakening. The silence that ensues comes from a different world…“ The composition Such silence that you must pronounce it was written in 2004.

Tomáš Pálka - Such Silence which You have to Pronounce, composition for four pianists on two pianos

instrumentation: fl, vcl, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 005price: 145,- CZK

„As I was working my way through this piece, the first thing that sprang to my mind was the shape of the individual movements. I did not want to censor or develop these initial ideas in any way in later stages; on the contrary, it was my intention to preserve them in their naive plain state. It was then a simple, natural process for the music and its poetics to replenish and enliven these shapes that had grown rather murky and limp over the previous weeks and months. When composing, I felt very much aware of the intensive and mutually dependent relation between the shape and the poetic mode of expression; indeed, the less (intentionally) rational work was involved, the more intensive this feeling grew. The poetic calligram simile thus gives the best account of the impression the finished composition makes on the author.“ Calligrams was written in 2008.

Ondřej Štochl - Calligrammes for Flute, Violoncello and Piano

CMF Edition 113

instrumentation: vno, vcl, pftedescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 006price: 145,- CZK

„As I was working my way through this piece, the first thing that sprang to my mind was the shape of the individual movements. I did not want to censor or develop these initial ideas in any way in later stages; on the contrary, it was my intention to preserve them in their naive plain state. It was then a simple, natural process for the music and its poetics to replenish and enliven these shapes that had grown rather murky and limp over the previous weeks and months. When composing, I felt very much aware of the intensive and mutually dependent relation between the shape and the poetic mode of expression; indeed, the less (intentionally) rational work was involved, the more intensive this feeling grew. The poetic calligram simile thus gives the best account of the impression the finished composition makes on the author.“ Calligrams II. for Piano Trio was written in 2009.

Ondřej Štochl - Calligrammes II. for Piano Trio

instrumentation: vcl solodescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 010price: 185,- CZK

„The two-movement composition reflects my views on the cyclic form in the 1990s. The Sonata actually consists of a continuous melodic line – the basis of the initial movement is developed in the second virtuoso movement; the piece that is for the most part conceived horizontally contains no more than shades of the most essential elements of the harmony. The Sonata is dedicated to the memory of my older friend P. J. Zemek (died 1989) who used to be my frequent companion back in the 1970s and 1980s.“

Pavel Zemek - Sonate No. 2 for Solo Violoncello

instrumentation: Ssax in B, Asax in Es, Tsax in B, Bsax in Esdescription: score, partspubl. No.: R-CHF 011price: 285,- CZK

Unison I for four saxophones (I. Der Bach und die Zeit, II. Der Fluss und die Zeit, III. Der See) from 2004 is a concise reflection on time, its flow and its layering.

Pavel Zemek - Unisono I for Four Saxophones

Books 115

Books

116 Books

description: book + CDprice: 370,- CZK

The book Where is My Home? sets out the life Czech national anthem, its reception and importace, the historical context of the time in which it was written and further developments in the Czech lands concerning perceptions of Czech statehood and symbolism. Specialists from several institutions were invited to collaborate on this publication. In their contributions they examine the national anthem from various viewpoints, thereby offering readers a wealth of material related to this topic, which has not been dealt with comprehensively much until now. Here we find studies in history, musicology and biographies. This publications was published as a part of a project to mark the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the Czech republic and the celebrations of Czech Statehood Day.

An enclosed CD both historical and present-day recordings of the anthem is also a part of the publi-cation; these recordings include also the performance of the National Theatre Orchestra with Jiří Bě-lohlávek from 1st Ma, 2008. The book was created thanks to the cooperation of the Czech Radio with the Office of the Government of Czech republic, the National Museum, and the National Theatre.

Where Is My Home - The Czech Republic´s National Anthem Down The Ages

description: book + 4 CDprice: 490,- CZK

The publication includes stitched book and two radio historical recordings of Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride. Both these historical recordings were recorded in the 1940s. They are linked with the names of important representatives of Czech musical culture of the twentieth century, Karel Boleslav Jirák and Karel Ančerl. The earliest recording from the accessible was recorded in February 1945 under Karel Boleslav Jirák, Karel Ančerl recorded The Bartered Bride as the head of the radio orchestra immediately after taking that position in the autumn of 1947.

In the stitched book we find chronological survey of life and work of Bedřich Smetana, biography of the both conductors and studies of notable specialists about Bedřich Smetana in czech musical life of the nineteenth century, about context of the rise and next fate of the opera The Bartered Bride, about musical broadcasting on Czech Radio and the analyse of the both recordings as well.

Bedřich Smetana - The Bartered Bride

118 Index

A

Adámek, Ondřej 20Ambrosi, Michaela 106

B

Báchorek, Milan 20Bartoň, Hanuš 20, 21, 110Bartošík, Zbyněk 21Benda, František 96Bendl, Karel 22Bernátek, Jan 22Blodek, Vilém 96Bodorová, Sylvie 83Boreš, Ivan 22

D

Domažlický, František 23, 24, 83Douša, Eduard 24, 25Dřevikovský, Libor 26Dušek, František Xaver 97, 98Dvořák, Antonín 26, 27Dvořák, Milan 6, 7, 16

F

Fasch, Johann Friedrich 98Feld, Jindřich 27Fišer, Luboš 27Flosman, Oldřich 28Foerster, Josef Bohuslav 28, 29Freidlin, Jan 84

G

Gallina, Jan Adam 99Gemrot, Jiří 29, 30, 31Gondolán, Antonín 15Graham, Peter 110

H

Hapka, Petr 12Havelka, Svatopluk 32, 33Havlík, Ferdinand 7, 8, 9Hejnar, Robert 33, 84Hejný, Petr 33Hlaváč, Jiří 34, 84Horáček, Michal 12Hurník, Ilja 34, 35Hurník, Lukáš 36, 85Husa, Karel 36, 37Hybler, Martin 9, 22, 37, 38, 39, 40

Ch

Chaun, František 23, 85, 86

J

Jägerová, Monika 102, 103Jaroch, Jiří 40Jeremiáš, Otakar 69, 73Ježek, Jaroslav 13Ježková, Olga 40, 41Jirásek, Jan 41, 42

K

Kalaš, Julius 42Kaprálová, Vítězslava 42, 43, 44, 86Kohout, Pavel 101Kolář, František 96Kollert, Jiří 87Kopelent, Marek 111Kopřiva, Karel Blažej 99Kozel, Václav 10Kraft, Antonín 99Kramář, František Vincenc 100Kratochvíl, Martin 10Krček, Jaroslav 16, 44Krejčí, Iša 28, 44, 45, 69Kubička, Miroslav 45Kučera, Jan 47, 87, 88Kurz, Ivan 48, 49, 50Kvěch, Otomar 50, 51

L

Lejsek, Vlastimil 88Loudová, Ivana 51Lukáš, Zdeněk 52, 53, 54Luks, Václav 96, 98, 105

M

Mácha, Otmar 55Marek, Kryštof 89Matějová, Petra 103Matějů, Zbyněk 55, 56, 89Matoušek, Lukáš 56, 111Matoušek, Vlastislav 111Meisl, Jan 57Michl, Jakub 99, 100, 105Míšek, Adolf 57Mittner, Jiří 57, 58Musorgskij, Modest Petrovič 58Mysliveček, Josef 100

N

Nečasová Nardelli, Jindra 58Neckář, Václav 15Nejtek, Michal 112Nezval, Vítězslav 44Nohavica, Jaromír 17Novák, Jan 59, 60, 61, 62, 63Novák, Petr 15

O

Ostrčil, Otakar 64

P

Pálka, Tomáš 112Pauer, Jiří 64, 65Pavlica, Jiří 12Pavlorek, Aleš 65, 90Pelikán, Jaroslav 90Petr, Zdeněk 11Pilarová, Eva 14Pololáník, Zdeněk 66Popelka, Josef 97

Index

Index 119

R

Radio-album 11, 12, 13, 14, 15Raichl, Miroslav 66Rak, Štěpán 67Rejcha, Antonín 100, 105Rejšek, Radek 67Richter, František Xaver 101Richter, Miloslav 100Rottrová, Marie 13Rut, Josef 67Růžička, Karel 10Růžičková, Kateřina 68Ryba, Jan Jakub 106

S

Saidlová, Jolana 17Seger, Josef 101Slavický, Milan 68Sluka, Luboš 69Smetáček, Václav 27, 58, 72Smetana, Bedřich 69, 102, 116Sommer, Lukáš 70, 90, 91, 92Sommerová, Marie 71Soukup, Ondřej 91, 92Spurný, Vojtěch 97, 98, 102, 106Srnka, Jiří 71Srnka, Miroslav 71Sternwald, Jiří 72Suchý, Jiří 11, 14Suk, Josef 72Svoboda, Karel 14

Š

Šesták, Zdeněk 72, 73, 99Škroup, František 73Šlitr, Jiří 11, 14Štaidl, Jiří 14Štochl, Ondřej 112, 113Štraus, Ivan 43Štryncl, Marek 100, 101, 103, 104

T

Teml, Jiří 74, 75, 92Thuri, František Xaver 26Tichý, Vladimír 75, 76Tomášek, Václav Jan 102Tornová, Eva 104Trojan, Václav 76, 77, 78, 93Tyl, Josef Kajetán 73

V

Vacek, Miloš 78Vačkář, Dalibor C. 79Veselý, Jan Pavel 102, 103Viklický, Emil 11, 79, 80, 81, 93Vodička, Václav 106Voříšek, Jan Václav Hugo 103, 104

W

Wiedermann, Bedřich Antonín 81, 82

Z

Zach, Jan 104Zahradník, Zdeněk 83Zelenka, Jan Dismas 105Zemek, Pavel 113

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