Czech Music for Strings

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

The Janacek Chamber Orchestra is 11 or 12 players strong, but sounds larger. It produces a rich tone, with evident enthusiasm for the varied textures that all the composers require in different... — Classic FM Magazine, September 2011, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 27th Jun 2011
Catalogue No: CHAN10678
Label: Chandos
Length: 64 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Chandos - Downloads at MP3 Prices

Special offer ends: 22/05/2024

Janáček: Suite for String Orchestra, JW VI / 2

Work length19:03

$6.30

$7.80

Janacek Chamber Orchestra

I. Moderato

Track length3:28

$1.05

$1.30

II. Adagio - Meno

Track length3:17

$1.05

$1.30

III. Andante con moto

Track length1:26

$1.05

$1.30

IV. Presto - Andante - Presto

Track length3:04

$1.05

$1.30

V. Adagio

Track length3:47

$1.05

$1.30

VI. Andante

Track length4:01

$1.05

$1.30

Martinů: String Sextet, H. 224a

Work length18:23

$4.25

$5.20

Janacek Chamber Orchestra

I. Lento - Allegro poco moderato

Track length7:04

$1.60

$1.95

II. Andantino - Allegretto scherzando - Tempo I

Track length7:14

$1.60

$1.95

III. Allegretto, poco moderato

Track length4:05

$1.05

$1.30

Haas, P: Study

Work length9:09

$1.60

$1.95

Janacek Chamber Orchestra

Janáček: String Quartet No. 1, JW VII / 8, "The Kreutzer Sonata"

Work length18:01

$4.20

$5.20

Janacek Chamber Orchestra

I. Adagio (Arr. R. Tognetti for String Orchestra)

Track length4:07

$1.05

$1.30

II. Con moto (Arr. R. Tognetti for String Orchestra)

Track length4:29

$1.05

$1.30

III. Con moto (Arr. R. Tognetti for String Orchestra)

Track length3:59

$1.05

$1.30

IV. Con moto (Arr. R. Tognetti for String Orchestra)

Track length5:26

$1.05

$1.30

About
Reviews
Explore

About

This recording presents music by the Czech composers Janáček, Martinů, and Haas, all of whom were prominent figures in their country’s musical history during the early twentieth century. The works are performed by the Janáček Chamber Orchestra, which has won awards for their interpretations of Czech music.

Janáček wrote his String Quartet No. 1 during a particularly creative period towards the end of his life. It took its inspiration from Tolstoy’s novella The Kreutzer Sonata, a portrait of a loveless marriage. The dramatic power and deep emotion of this work, coupled with some extraordinary textures and eccentric orchestration, place it among the greatest string quartets ever written. It is here played in a version for string orchestra. Also recorded is the Suite, one of Janáček’s very first works for orchestral ensemble.

Pavel Haas was considered the most gifted of all of Janáček’s many students. A composer of Jewish descent, he was transported to Auschwitz in 1941, where he died in 1944. The Study for String Orchestra was written in the summer of 1943 for the Auschwitz camp string orchestra, and the first performance of the work is preserved in part in a German propaganda film.

After Janáček, Martinů was the leading Czech composer of the last century. A highly prolific composer, he often wrote at great speed and the prize-winning Sextet for Strings is no exception. It was written in just seven days in May 1932. This work displays a real exuberance, from the energetic opening movement through to the spirited finale.

Reviews

September 2011

The Janacek Chamber Orchestra is 11 or 12 players strong, but sounds larger. It produces a rich tone, with evident enthusiasm for the varied textures that all the composers require in different ways; and their idiomatic style, especially in the Janacek Suite, is a joy...the Haas study is a treat, and it's good to find it in a relatively mainstream programme.

October 2011

even at this stage of his career [Janacek] was forming a voice and had a fine ear for sonorities. This is well caught by the excellent chamber orchestra that takes his name, and by this recording. The arrangement of his First String Quartet gives the group something to play and is cleverly done

7th July 2011

The centrepiece of this disc is Pavel Haas's Study, written in 1943 in the concentration camp at Terezín...Its quality is undeniable, and while we should never forget the circumstances in which it was written, it also seems right that Haas's music should be placed alongside works by both his teacher Janáček and his exiled contemporary Martinů...The Janáček Chamber Orchestra's performances make up in excitement for what they occasionally lack in finesse.

Offer,Czech Music for Strings

CD

Downloads

Contents

Download queue