HURNÍK I., DOBIÁŠ V., KAPR J., KALAŠ J., KALABIS V., SEIDEL J., JIRKO I., EBEN P. ...(4CD)

CDI

1. Benjamin Britten - The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1946) 17:48

english text: Eric Crozier

speaking part: Eric Shilling

Ilja Hurník (1922-2013) - Four Seasons / Čtvero ročních dob (1954) 30:52

Vlach Quartet

1. Jaro. Plují ledy 1:31

2. Jaro. Kukačka 1:44

3. Jaro. Měsíc nad rybníkem 2:25

4. Jaro. Slavnost 2:32

5. Léto. O žních 1:05

6. Léto. Dusno 1:28

7. Léto. Dožínková polka 1:59

8. Léto. Vysoká oblaka 1:53

9. Podzim. Babí léto 1:11

10. Podzim. Vlaštovky odlétají 1:29

11. Podzim. O posvícení 1:33

12. Podzim. U ohníčku 2:03

13. Podzim. Jezevec jde spát 1:24

14. Podzim. Déšť 2:10

15. Zima. Vánoční 1:54

16. Zima. Sněhové vločky 1:17

17. Zima. Hladový ptáček 1:25

18. Zima. Sanice 1:08

Ilja Hurník - Ondráš. Ballet Music (1956) 23:57

1. Tanec s halekáním 2:23

2. Dívčí tanec svatební 3:14

3. Zbojnický tanec 2:55

4. Tanec věštebný 2:49

5. Tanec ve sviadnovské krčmě 7:14

6. Smrt Ondrášova 5:19

CDII

1. Václav Dobiáš - Build Up Your Contry to Reinforce the Peace - Cantata / Buduj vlast, posílíš mír - Kantáta na slova F. Halase (1950) 22:58

text: František Halas

choir master: Jan Kühn

Children Choir

Prague Philharmonic Choir

2. Jan Kapr - In the Soviet Country - Cantata / V sovětské zemi. Kantáta (1951) 20:40

text: Vítězslav Nezval

baritone: Jan Soumar

choir master: Jiří Pinkas

Prague Radio Chorus

3. Julius Kalaš (1956) - The Nachtigale and the Rose - Symphonic Fairy-tale after O.Wild / Slavík a růže. Symfonická pohádka podle O.Wilda, op. 81 16:12

flute: Géza Novák

CDIII

Viktor Kalabis - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No.1 Op.17 (1958-59) 21:53

violin: Václav Snítil

1. Maestoso. Andante 8:20

2. Andante angoscioso. Quasi adagio 6:57

3. Allegro vivace 6:28

Jan Seidel - Concert for Oboe No.2 (1956) 23:47

oboe: Josef Shejbal

1. Allegro animato 11:48

2. Variazioni. Moderato grazioso 5:37

3. Allegro vivace 6:17

Ivan Jirko - Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No.3 (1961) 22:49

piano: Viktorie Švihlíková

1. Allegro 8:33

2. Andante tranquillo 8:49

3. Allegro vivo 5:21

CDIV

Petr Eben - Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1961) 25:27

piano: František Rauch

1. Allegro risoluto 8:36

2. Tranquillo 10:00

3. Molto con brio 6:47

Pavel Bořkovec - Symphony for Large Orchestra No.2 (1957) 31:40

1. Allegro moderato 9:50

2. Scherzo. Vivace 5:22

3. Adagio 9:30

4. Finale 6:51

CDI-CDIV

soloists

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Karel Ančerl conductor

On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the conductor Karel Ančerl the "final word" remains to be said within the Ančerl Gold Edition. The four CDs sum up the work of Ančerl's contemporaries, with the exception of Britten's "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra", that of Czech composers. The set bears unprecedented witness to the 1950s and 1960s, the period when the Communist powers that be decided on taste and composition trends, and when the criterion for acceptance or rejection of a work was its "mass appeal" and the degree of consonance with the "Socialist Realism" style. The excellent Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with its internationally sought-after conductor is here involuntarily in the services of propagandist kitsch (Dobiáš's cantata "Build Up Your Country to Reinforce the Peace", Kapr's panegyric cantata "In the Soviet Country"). However, concurrently originating were also a number of recordings of remarkable works by composers who were able to withstand ideological pressures. Alongside folklore inspiration (evident, for example, in the ballet "Ondráš" by Ilja Hurník and Seidl's oboe concerto), neoclassical influences and "genetic" linkages to the work of Janáček, Dvořák, Suk and Novák were still palpable, while also present was the seeking of a singular and contemporary musical language (Eben, Bořkovec, Kalabis). Paradoxically, today's young composers could envy their counterparts of half a century ago - many a time their compositions experienced paramount concert performance and recording within a short time from the last note drying out in the score.

The 4 CD set mapping the post-February 1948 Czech compositional scene rounds off the Ančerl Gold Edition - a testimony of an epoch of our modern musical history.

(Supraphon 2008)