Martina Jankova - soprano, Tomaš Kral - baritone, Ivo Kahanek - piano
Folk songs are evidently one of the seminal sources of inspiration that Bohuslav Martinů drew upon in his music. The composer would take Sušil's extensive collection of traditional Moravian songs along with him wherever he travelled. The texts from the volume were used for the majority of the Songs on One Page, Songs on Two Pages and The New Chapbook. Just as Dvořak had done in his Moravian Duets, so Martinů conceived his own tunes and accompaniment, yet his having been profoundly impacted by folk music, its rhythm, melody and harmonic techniques is palpable. Created in the early 1940s, in the middle of World War II, during the composer's exile in the USA, the three song cycles represented for Martinů and his compatriots a connection with their beleaguered homeland. Jan Masaryk, a Czech diplomat and a skilled amateur pianist, often performed the songs together with the soprano Jarmila Novotna, a MET soloist. Owing to their elliptical expression and modesty, the three cycles may serve as the clue to Martinů's late works. The New Slovak Songs constitute a unique piece in the composer's oeuvre; he himself had collected them during his visit to Slovakia in 1920 and subsequently wrote for them piano accompaniments. Three renowned artists, bearing an authentic relation to folk music and Martinů's work alike, have made a benchmark recording, in which they have succeeded in highlighting the songs' tender beauty.
BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ (1890–1959)
PÍSNIČKY NA JEDNU STRaNKU SONGS ON ONE PAGE, H 294, 1943 8:03
1 Rosička Dew 1:06
2 Otevření slovečkem Unlocked by a world 0:34
3 Cesta k milé Riding to see my love 1:24
4 Chodníček The footpath 0:36
5 U maměnky At my mother’s 0:56
6 Sen Panny Marie Dream of the Virgin Mary 2:06
7 Rozmarýn Rosemary 1:06
PÍSNIČKY NA DVĚ STRaNKY SONGS ON TWO PAGES, H 302, 1944 8:09
8 Děvče z Moravy The Moravian girl 1:12
9 Súsedova stajňa The neighbour's stable 0:59
10 Naděje Hope 2:13
11 Hlasný The night watchman 0:54
12 Tajna laska Secret love 0:52
13 Boží muka The wayside cros 0:49
14 Zvolenovcí chlapci The lads of Zvolen 0:54
NOVÉ SLOVENSKÉ PÍSNĚ THE SLOVAK SONGS, H 126, 1920 55:07
15 Mať moja, mať moja My mother, my mother 2:38
16 Povedz, že mi, povedz Tell me, tell 2:42
17 Čo robíš, Hanka? What are you doing, Hanka? 1:22
18 Ej, hora, hora Hey, ye hill 3:27
19 Od Oravy dažď ide There’s rain coming from the Orava region 2:21
20 Povedz mi, môj najmilejší Tell me, my most beloved 1:59
21 Ešte jednu sestru mam I’ve got yet another sister 1:41
22 Mala som ja rukavce I had a blouse 1:11
23 Vysoko zornička The evening star 1:39
24 Ej, poznať je to, poznať Hey, you can tell 1:12
25 Oženil som sa ja I’ve got married 0:57
26 Zjedzte ma, vľčky Eat me, wolves 0:49
27 Stojí dievča u šentýša A lass is standing by the tap 1:07
28 Hore Vahom Up the Vah river 1:12
29 Hore Hronom Up the Hron river 2:23
30 V trenčianskej kasarni At the Trenčín barracks 1:27
31 Bože, Bože, čo mam robiť God, oh God, what am I to do 3:22
32 Hanulienka, Hanulienka Little Hana 3:12
33 Čie sa to ovečky Whose sheep are these 1:22
34 Chlapovi je dobre A man is all right 0:55
35 Never že mu, never Don’t you trust him 0:56
36 Kopala studienku She was digging a well 1:15
37 Sedemdesiat sukien mala She got seventy skirts 1:02
38 Ej, lúka, lúka Lo, meadow, meadow 5:06
39 Ej, mal som frajerku Lo, I had a lass 0:48
40 Holubienka biela The white dove 1:17
41 Spoza čiernej Hory From behind the black hill 2:08
42 Povídajú ludé The folk say 2:17
43 Budzil som ca I kept waking up 0:53
44 Dievča z Bielej hory The lass from White mountain 1:19 |
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