KAPRÁLOVÁ V. (1915-40) MILITARY SINFONIETTA, STRING QUARTET, APRIL PRELUDES, 2LOVE CAROLS

Vítězslava KAPRÁLOVÁ (1915-1940) - Portrait of Composer

1. Vítězslava Kaprálová - Military Sinfonietta op.11 (1937) 14:34

Vítězslava Kaprálová - String Quartet op.8 (1935-36) 19:25

2. Con brio 7:08

3. Lento 6:58

4. Allegro con variazioni 5:09

Vítězslava Kaprálová - April Preludes op.13 (1937) for piano 9:30

5. Allegro ma non troppo 1:49

6. Andante 3:21

7. Andante semplice 2:17

8. Vivo 1:48

9. Bohuslav Martinů - Love Carol (1937) for voice and piano 0:48

10. Vítězslava Kaprálová - Love Carol (1938) for voice and piano 1:20

11. Vítězslava Kaprálová - Ritornell op.25 (1940) for cello and piano 4:13

Vítězslava Kaprálová - Partita op.20 (1938/9) for a string orchestra and piano 19:26

12. Allegro energico 5:07

13. Andantino 6:48

14. Presto 7:21

15. Vítězslava Kaprálová - Waving Farewell op.14 (1937) for voice and orchestra 5:16

Total time 75:14

Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra / Státní filharmonie Brno, conductor František Jílek (1,12-15)

Janáček Quartet / Janáčkovo kvarteto (Bohumil Smejkal, Adolf Sýkora, Jiří Kratochvíl, Karel Krafka) (2-4)

Lenka Škorničková - soprano (9,10), Vilém Přibyl - tenor (15), Ivan Měrka - cello (11), Jitka Drobílková - piano (9,10), Jiří Skovajsa - piano (12-14), Jaroslav Smýkal - piano (5-8,11)

The first 25 years in most artists' lives are generally a period of development towards maturity, a time of youthful exploration usually represented in a biography by a brief chapter, or perhaps even a single paragraph. Some artists, however, in early life give the world works that are remarkably mature and perfect in both form and technique. This seems to be particularly true of those who, as if aware of a life to be cut short, work from the beginning with extreme intensity. Mozart composed his first operas aged twelve, Schubert was twenty five when he worked on the Unfinished. In Czech music Vítězslava Kaprálová represents such artists. She was born in 24.1.1915 in Brno, died 16.6.1940 in Montpellier, and her rich life and creativity could fill several lifespans.

... Kaprálová met Bohuslav Martinů in April 1937. In October of the same year she became his pupil but the relationship became more close. In November they began composing trio for wind instruments in a spirit of artistic rivalry. The change in their relationship is best seen in Love Carol. Martinů set to music a piece of folk poetry which became a starting point for Kaprálová's work of the same name. (She delighted in writing to her parents that Martinů preferred her composition to his own). The work must have been of particular significance to them because Martinů used the title and a rhymed paraphrase of the Love Carol in a letter to Kaprálová asking her to return to Paris. The next piece of work on which they worked together was Martinů's Tre Ricercari. In a letter Martinů refers to it as "our dear ricercares". This work also motivated Kaprálová to try the pre-classical form in Partita for String Orchestra and Piano, op. 20. The preliminary sketches were made in Autumn 1938 in Brno, and the work was finished in Spring 1939 in Paris. Martinů made a substantial contribution to the final version, rejecting some of her ideas and advising on themes and orchestration.

(Studio Matouš 1998)