Josef Suk belongs to the second generation of Czech nationalist composers, after Smetana and Dvořák. He was born in 1874 in Křečovice, the son of a village schoolmaster. He began to play the violin at the age of eight and later the piano, writing his first composition, a Polka, in 1882. At the age of eleven he entered the Prague Conservatory, studying the violin with the director Antonín Bennewitz and theory with Josef Foerster, Karel Knittl and Karel Stecker. His chamber-music teacher, during an extra year of study in 1891, after his graduation with his Piano Quartet No.1, was Hanus Wihan, for whom Dvořák wrote his famous Cello Concerto and who trained the distinguished Czech Quartet. Wihan himself played in the quartet for twenty years, from 1894 until 1914, and Suk played second violin from the foundation of the ensemble in 1892 until his retirement in 1933, two years before his death. It proved impossible to replace him and the quartet consequently disbanded, after giving a final concert in honour of their colleague’s sixtieth birthday. During its existence the Czech Quartet gave over four thousand concerts at home and abroad. Suk studied composition first with Karel Stecker and after his graduation in 1891 with Dvořák, whose favourite pupil he became. In 1898 he married the latter’s daughter Otilie, whose death in 1905 brought him great sadness. He taught composition at the Prague Conservatory, of which he later became director, and as a teacher exercised a strong influence over a whole generation of Czech composers.
In spite of his long professional association with chamber music, Josef Suk also wrote a quantity of vocal and orchestral music, as well as music for piano, an instrument that he himself played, finding in this last a means of heartfelt self-expression. His Six Piano Pieces, Opus 7, were written between 1891 and 1893. The first of these, the relatively well-known Song of Love, marked Adagio, non troppo lento, opens in a gently romantic mood, moving forward from D flat major to a more intense and grandiose F major, before returning to the mood of the opening and eventually to the home key. The charming B flat major Humoresque, marked Allegretto grazioso, is in a lively waltz rhythm and is followed by Recollections, with the direction Andante con moto quasi improvisando and in C minor, inspired by memories at times sad, then mounting to a passionate climax, before subsiding once more. The first of the two Idylls, marked Moderato and in F major, has the mood of a nostalgic waltz, and the second, marked Tempo comodo and in F minor, suggests the same feeling, at a more relaxed pace. The D minor Dumka follows the example of Dvořák, who had made use of this form of Slavonic lament in his writing for the piano and in chamber music. The melancholy of the opening section follows precedent in the introduction of a rapid major section, a contrasting dance of lively character, before the return of the initial mood. The set of pieces ends with Capriccietto, marked Allegro scherzando, a lilting A minor triple metre conclusion.
About Mother, Opus 28, was written in 1907 and consists of five pieces, described as simple pieces for his son, presumably to be heard rather than played, since they make increasing demands on a performer. The first of these has the title When mother was a little girl and has much of the gently nostalgic mood of the first of the Opus 7 pieces. The second of the series, Once in spring, in F sharp major, offers changes of mood and has a central F sharp minor section that suggests sadder memories. How mother sang at night to her sick child maintains a throbbing accompanying B flat in an insistent rhythm in the lower part throughout the piece, while ambiguous harmonies weave their way above. This is followed by From mother’s heart, with its own constant rhythmic octave repetitions, at first in the upper part, giving a feeling of urgency that gives way, in a middle section, to a brighter mood. The set of pieces ends with Souvenirs, again set against a repeated accompanying rhythm, gently tender memories of his wife, who had died two years before and whom his son would never know, as he grew up.
Moods, Opus 10, was written in 1895. The first of the pieces, all of which are relatively simple in structure, is Legend, its opening section marked by arpeggiated accompanying chords and suggesting a dumka. There is a shift from the opening key of D flat major to C sharp minor, giving a darker hue to the central section, before the varied return of the earlier thematic material. Capriccio offers a whimsical E flat minor framework for a central Allegro scherzando in the tonic major key. This leads to the contrasted B major Romance, in a tenderly wistful mood. The fourth piece of the set, the A major Bagatelle, is delicately subdued in character, and the series ends with the E flat major Spring Idyll, with a more delicate central section in C major. The more elaborate material of the opening returns, bringing further reminiscences of what has gone before. Keith Anderson
Tracklist & Credits :
Best known for his Variations on a Nursery Theme for piano and orchestra, the Hungarian composer Ernő Dohnányi also wrote two published Symphonies, two Piano Concertos and two Violin Concertos, all of which have been undeservedly neglected. The rarely heard Violin Concerto No. 1, notable for its Brahmsian slow movement, combines virtuosity and lyricism. Written in the mould of the great Romantic violin concerto, and with an unmistakably Hungarian flavour, the superbly orchestrated and remarkably inventive Violin Concerto No. 2 (1949-50) is worthy of being ranked alongside the Concertos by Barber and Korngold. naxos
Tracklist & Credits :
Albéniz’s output as a composer was vast, embracing songs, operas, symphonic rhapsodies, concertos and choral music, but it was through his own instrument, the piano, that he most decisively put the musical heritage of Spain on the international map. Ranging from pleasantly atmospheric salon pieces to blisteringly virtuosic tone poems, his piano works amount to a kind of biography of his native land, drawing on the styles and spirit of every region with incomparable vividness and skill. naxos
Albéniz was a leading figure in the creation of a national style of composition in Spain. This second volume of his piano music combines the early, romantic Recuerdos de viaje, with works composed during the composer’s Parisian period, which ran up to his death in 1909. Whereas in his early works Albéniz borrows tunes from native Spanish folk-lore, almost all of his melodies in the Parisian works are original. Here the writing is bolder and more experimental, marked by tonal ambiguity and new sonorities as in, for example, the dissonant and intricately polyphonic La Vega or the technically difficult and harmonically complex Navarra. Volume 1 of Guillermo González’s recording of the complete Albéniz piano music is available on Naxos 8.554311-12. naxos
The third volume of Albéniz’s piano music presents three contrasting sets of dances, each brimming with the delicacy, joie de vivre and voluptuous beauty that characterise so much of his music. Albéniz is touched by the spirit of Chopin in his delightful Pequeños valses, while the Mazurkas de salón, like those of his predecessor, and the Danzas españolas both transcend mere folkloricism. Volumes 1 (8.554311-12) and 2 (8.570553), also featuring Guillermo González, one of the leading authorities on the composer, have been critically acclaimed. naxos
Just as Albéniz did in his concert programmes, this recording alternates pieces in Spanish style with some of the entertaining salon miniatures written for Spain’s aristocracy during the last two decades of the 19th century. The Suite ancienne reflects Albéniz’s delight in creating personal versions of 18th-century dances, while echoes of Chopin and Grieg lurk behind the themes of the Sonata No. 5. The Rêverie is a work of great expressive intensity, the Serenata árabe is more recognisably Albéniz, and the Tres improvisaciones are a transcription of the only recording ever made by the composer. naxos
In the latest volume of this critically admired series, a number of rarely heard pieces from Albéniz’s first compositional phase can be savoured. They were composed between 1881 and 1892 and reveal the variety and flair of which he was capable, even in the smallest of musical forms, such as the delicious mazurkas. The Siete estudios (Seven Studies) are no mere exercises—rather they fuse the colour of Iberian music with the rigour of Central European traditions. Les Saisons is an evocative portrait of the seasons and can be seen as a forerunner of the impressionistic writing that would soon appear in French music. naxos
Volume 6 of this complete edition focusses in the main on Albéniz’s richly varied, early salon style. It includes the dazzling Chopin influenced Vals Champagne, the Estudio de concierto which rivals Liszt for virtuosity, and the famous Tango from España: Seis hojas de Álbum, a set which conjures up Spain in its rhythms, harmonies and sense of drama. Written a year before the composer’s death, Yvonne en visite! includes a humorous scene during a pupil’s reluctant performance, while the Marcha militar is Albéniz’s earliest work, composed at the age of eight. naxos
The seventh volume in this acclaimed series is devoted to two works of Albéniz’s early maturity. The 12 Piezas características is a cycle of exquisite miniatures encompassing a wide variety of styles, including the assimilation of Andalusian folk music into his own personal idiom, reminiscences of earlier greats such as Scarlatti and Chopin, and elements of nineteenth-century salon music. The work led Felipe Pedrell, the father of Spanish musical nationalism, to call Albéniz not only a superbly equipped pianist but a great composer as well. The romantic and virtuosic Piano Sonata No. 3 opens with a richly contrapuntal Allegretto, followed by a slow movement of the utmost delicacy in the manner of a romanza and concludes with a technically complex Allegro assai. naxos
The eighth volume in this acclaimed series of Isaac Albéniz’s complete solo piano works features a wide range of pieces from his early period. These charming works show a development from 19th-century salon style towards the assimilation of Spanish folk music, including rare jewels such as the relatively unknown Minuet in G minor, and the Mallorca barcarole with its use of novel rhythmic material. The programme concludes with the virtuoso Spanish Rhapsody in its less well-known solo piano version. naxos
Villa-Lobos, although not a concert pianist himself, wrote over 200 piano pieces, many of them derived from folk music and often reflecting his fascination with the world of childhood. Both of these elements are heard in the music for dolls of Prole do Bebê and the children’s dances of Cirandas, suggesting the example of Schumann as his Hommage à Chopin suggests that of Chopin. naxos
The musical persons of Heitor Villa-Lobes has always been discussed and evaluated in light of the rôle of Brazilian traditional music in shaping his musical idiom. There is nothing strange in focusing on the nationalist elements of a composer's style, and the history of Western music provides ample evidence of the productive influence of the native folklore of composers. The issues surrounding the works of Villa-Lobos, and, by extension, those of other Latin American composers who have achieved international recognition, acquire another dimension owing to the fact that they are too often perceived as stemming from an exotic, peripheral tradition that should be evaluated and analyzed against European or mainstream musical traditions. Villa-Lobos himself was made aware of the vagaries of such critical categories when living in Paris between 1923 and 1930. In one of two articles that he wrote for the Brazilian newspaper O País in 1929, ha addressed what he saw as a misperception by Europeans about the relative rôle of their music in shaping his style:
"A good example of the Europeans' ignorance is that they see an apparent affinity between our music, native and popular, and some compositions of Stravinsky, owing to the latter's universal influence. Some European critics and chroniclers have perhaps heard in Paris some Brazilian compositions based on Indian and traditional carnival themes by our popular composers. Then they said in the press, having landed the original form, that this work obviously had been influenced by Stravinsky, because it contained phrasing, development and exaggerated rhythmic accents that were peculiar to the Russian composer. … However, those parallel phrases and exaggerated accents to which the critics referred were nothing more than either religious songs of our Indians or ponderous melodies created by our popular composers, all of which was highly familiar to us" (quoted from Eero Tarasti, Heitor Villa-Lobos: The life and works, 1887-1959, London: 1995, p. 49).
Villa-Lobos's trip to Paris was the result of fortuitous encounters between the composer and Darius Milhaud in 1918 and Arthur Rubinstein the following year in Rio de Janeiro. These meetings paved the way for his arrival in Europe, where his reputation already preceded him. In one of his articles for La Revue musicale, for example, Milhaud commented on his encounter with the young Brazilian composer, highlighting his rough and hardy temperament. There is no denying that Villa-Lobos's stay in Paris bad a significant impact on his stylistic evolution and helped to consolidate his reputation as a cosmopolitan composer whose vocabulary transcended mere exoticism. From this perspective, he could stand side-by-side with composers such us Stravinsky, Bartók, Kodály, Copland, and many others whose identities were shaped by merging national and international elements. It is the native element in his music, however, that continues to exert the strongest appeal to audiences worldwide. Villa-Lobos himself was thoroughly conscious of his immersion in Brazilian folklore, as he made clear in countless speeches and interviews throughout his career. In one of them, his prose seems to emulate the luscious sonorities of his music: "Yes, I'm Brazilian – very Brazilian. In my music, I let the rivers and seas of this great Brazil sing. I don't put a gag on the tropical exuberance of our forests and our skies, which I intuitively transpose to everything I write," Then, when pressed with questions about the rôle of Brazilian folklore in his music, he resorted to an all-encompassing formula that became legendary: "I am Brazilian folklore." He was also fond of spreading anecdotal tales about his travels throughout Brazil in search of material to use in his compositions. In one of the most notorious, he told unsuspecting foreign audiences about being captured by cannibal Indians in the heart of the Amazon forest, after which he narrowly escaped being eaten. In general, his accounts of his travels should be taken with caution, because his exuberant personality had a propensity for flamboyance and over-elaboration. Ultimately, the specific places that he visited are irrelevant for an understanding of his musical vocabulary, since he rarely quoted directly from folk-music, preferring instead to use the folk melodies as a stimulus for further elaboration and transformation, as any inventory of his most common technical devices would confirm: the juxtaposition of contrasting materials, preventing a rational sequence of events; the use of long pedal-points that create a hypnotic and ambiguous harmonic environment; angular rhythms derived from Afro-Brazilian music; the frequent use of polyrhythms to create a multi-layered texture; the relentless repetition of small melodic modules and motifs, in a process resembling the shamanistic qualities of Amerindian music; and the colourful use of dissonance. These elements had already coalesced into a distinctive style by the time Villa-Lobos arrived in Paris, and his confidence in the validity of his experiments prompted him to remark that he had not gone to Europe to study with anyone, but rather to show what he had done.
Villa-Lobos's approach to composition reveals some unexpected and anecdotal features. According to the testimony of several friends, colleagues, and acquaintances, he often considered a work to be completed the moment it took its definitive shape in his mind, even if it still needed to be written down. This helps to explain some discrepancies between the works listed in his personal catalogue and those that have actually been completed, since it is very likely that he listed works which he later failed to put down on paper. Even judging from the works that have survived, the scope and diversity of his output are quite remarkable. This stylistic variety is well represented in his works for piano, an instrument for which he wrote with great confidence and understanding of its distinctive resources. It was also through his piano compositions that he first drew international attention, particularly those works inspired by the imaginary world of childhood. Villa-Lobos's use of familiar folk material or children's round songs was also important for his career as educator. When he returned to Brazil in 1930, he embarked on a massive project of organizing and institutionalizing music education in Brazilian schools. The ground-work for the didactic material to be used in these schools was the Guia Prático, a projected six-volume series that would provide a comprehensive coverage of different types of melodies, both national and international, and that would also function as an inventory of the traditional melodies of Brazil. Only the first volume, comprising 137 folk melodies for two- or three-voice chorus, or piano, or instrumental ensemble, was completed. Then, from 1932 to 1949, Villa-Lobos arranged for piano several of the melodies collected in the Guia Prático, which were published in eleven separate volumes also entitled Guia Prático. This collection is a major source of reference for the folk melodies found elsewhere in Villa-Lobos's works, as can be seen in several of the pieces recorded here and in other volumes of this series.
Among these pieces are three suites entitled Prole do Bebê (The Baby's Family), each one focusing on a different subject. The first suite, recorded in the first volume of the present series, emulates the world of dolls and the imaginary companions that populate the child's world; the third series, focusing on different types of sports and games, is thought to be lost. In the light of Villa-Lobos's compositional habits discussed above, however, one may conjecture that he may have worked out the composition in his mind and never actually written it down. The Prole do Bebê II (1921), recorded here, depicts a menagerie of toy animals, each one made of a different material described in the title (Villa-Lobos's original spelling for each title, although by now archaic, has been retained). This suite is one of the most complex works in Villa-Lobos' output, and deserves to be ranked among the greatest achievements in the piano literature of the twentieth century. The sheer technical challenges of the collection prompted the great pianist, pedagogue, and composer Souza Lima to dub it a set of transcendental etudes. Musically, the breadth of Villa-Lobos's imagination, already fully displayed in the first Prole do Bebê, is here even greater. The range of moods and colours is supported by a wealth of technical devices, including vibrant rhythms, unusual metres, and a rich harmonic palette that employs atonality in a free and bold manner. Villa-Lobos conveys to perfection the range of animal sounds, as one hears the barking of dogs, the heavy walking of bears, cat meows, and the sound of shattered glass. These are not merely sound effects, but vital elements leading to a carefully articulated narrative that infuses the emotional world of the original folk melodies with a new, complex, and highly personal view. This reinterpretation of the world of children through the eyes of an adult will become evident to anyone who peruses the intricate textures and challenging sonorities of this suite. Indeed, it demands such a concentration from performers and listeners alike, that it can hardly be understood solely on the basis of its source of inspiration. From its bewildering tapestry of sounds, the melodies an familiar to generations of Brazilian children emerge in a completely new guise, coloured by the richness and complexities of their harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic garb: "Fui no Tororó" in No. 1 (A Baratinha de Papel), "Anquinhas" in No. 2 (O Gatinho de Papelão), "Garibaldi foi à Missa" in No. 5 (O Cavalinho de Páu), and "Carneirinho, Carneirão" in No. 8 (O Ursozinho de Algodão). Other features of the anile include elements of jazz in No. 6 (O Boisinho de Chumbo), a highly inventive use of 11/8 metre in No. 4 (O Cachorrinho de Burracha), and some remarkable sound effects depicting the exuberance of tropical birds in No. 7 (O Passarinho de Panno). The Prole do Bebê suites belong to a rich tradition of works inspired by the world of children, which include pieces such as Bizet's Jeux d'Enfants, Schumann's Kinderszenen, Debussy's Children's Corner, and Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye. While this is particularly true of the Prole do Bebê I, the second suite is unique among these works because of the extreme sophistication of its language. It is all the more remarkable that, being childless, Villa-Lobos managed to capture the world of children in such beautiful and inspired works. It should be noted that, while in Paris, Villa-Lobos developed a strong attachment to the group of composers known as "Les Six", for whom the world of children was also a frequent source of inspiration.
The collection of Cirandinhas is closely related to the more complex and musically more adventurous set of Cirandas, recorded in the first volume of the present series. The difference in breadth and scope of the musical features between the two collections is already implicit in their titles, "Cirandinhas" being the diminutive of "Cirandas". The pieces in both sets, however, are all based on familiar children's round songs. A comparison between the collection of Cirandinhas and the Cirandas in the first volume reveals that several of the titles appear in both sets. Even though must of these pieces are simple and delicate miniatures, as befits the world of children, there are some unexpected turns towards a darker, more sinister atmosphere, as exemplified in Lindos olhos que ela tem; in Nesta Rua tem um Bosque, the original melody is supported by a clean, transparent counterpoint, as if the two parts of the texture were engaged in a friendly dialogue; in Todo o mundo passa, the march-like central section emulates the choreography of the traditional game with which the melody is associated, while the two alternating sections of Carnerinho, Carneirão suggest the struggle of a child who refuses to yield to the soothing rhythms of the lullaby. There are many other inspired devices in these jewels. As with the pieces in the Guia Prático, they provide a convenient way to introduce children to some of the most distinctive aspects of Villa-Lobos's style. The Cirandinhas were composed in 1925, while Villa-Lobos was still married to his first wife, Lucília Guimarães, who was herself a renowned pianist and teacher.
The three individual pieces here included represent distinct phases of Villa-Lobos's career. The earliest, Ondulando (1914), is truly an etude for the piano in the tradition of the Romantic technical literature for the instrument. In fact, the piece is also known as Estudo, Op. 31. In spite of its affiliation to European salon music, its melodic material reveals great originality, providing an early example of Villa-Lobos's ability to create emotionally charged and engaging themes. A melody of a different kind pervades A Lenda do Coboclo (1920), one of Villa-Lobos's best known compositions. The marking moderato e muito dolente (moderato and very plaintive) captures the melancholy associated with the brooding caboclo, a mestizo of Indian and white ancestry, but a term also used generically to refer to a peasant. The ebb and flow of the harmony has a hypnotic effect that derives from the regular swaying of the chords, as if they were meant to punctuate the introspective thoughts of the protagonist. In his attempt to depict the temperament of this quintessentially Brazilian type, Villa-Lobos departed from the prevailing influence of French impressionism that was by then considered the modern musical language in Brazil, opting instead for a more nationalist idiom. This piece marks an important change toward greater emphasis on native elements in Villa-Lobos's style, and as such it is of great historical significance. The latest of the three pieces, the Valsa da Dor (1932), dates from the same year that Villa-Lobos met Arminda Neves d'Almeida, affectionately known as Mindinha, who was to become his second wife. Written in a 12/8 metre, the piece unfolds as an emotional voyage represented by the shift in tempo, from fast to possessively slow, as the primary melody is stated three times. In this manner, what begins like a waltz slowly turns into a song and finally metamorphoses into a lament. It is from this process of internal transformation that the piece derives much of its poignancy, and which is clearly embodied in its title.
Villa-Lobos was a composer of great exuberance and seemingly inexhaustible imagination, and one of the best assessments of his musical personality was given by the critic Andrade Muricy, when he said:
"He composed just as he felt, without premeditation and without any prejudices whatsoever, which was a consequence of the complexity of his nature, contrasting, illogical, but of indisputable vitality. He tried to express the vacillating character of Brazil, with its variegated style and its real aptitude for living and affirming itself. As a true interpreter of this instability, Villa-Lobos could only rarely be simple and linear". (Villa-Lobos: Uma Interpretação, 1969; quoted in Eero Tarasti, op. cit., p. 84) James Melo naxos
The hugely prolific Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos remained throughout his career fiercely independent of any one compositional style or influence and the works in this recording offer a comprehesive sample of the variety of genres and styles to be found in his piano music. The majority of his compositions for the instrument consist of character pieces, either single or organised into suites or collections and while they reveal a proliferation of traditional formal procedures, they are united in exhibiting the composerʼs unique synthesis of Brazilian and Western cultures. naxos 
The hugely prolific Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was fiercely independent of any one compositional style or influence, yet his work is unified by a unique synthesis of Brazilian and Western cultures. The present volume offers three single works and four cycles or suites. Bachianas Brasileiras No. 4, heard on this recording in its original version for piano, interprets the legacy of J.S. Bach in the light of very specific features of Brazil’s traditional music. Children’s Carnival and Francette et Piá, the story of a little Indian boy from Brazil who went to France and met a French girl, are two of several collections inspired by or written for children. naxos 
Written variously for piano solo, two unaccompanied voices, choir, and voice with piano accompaniment, the Guia Prático is an educational collection of over one hundred pieces based on traditional songs from all regions of Brazil, assembled by Villa-Lobos for the Brazilian National Conservatory of Choral Singing. This is the first time that all the pieces of the Guia Prático for piano solo have been recorded complete, in their original order and with complete translations of all the song texts. Guia Prático X and XI will appear on a later release in this series. naxos
Of all the volumes in this series, the current one presents arguably the most diverse sample of Villa-Lobos’s musical language and techniques. The pieces take their inspiration from a wide variety of influences, including children’s games, Brazilian traditional music, avant-garde techniques, and extra-musical elements. It includes Villa-Lobos’s most important work for piano solo (the Rudepoêma) and a selection of pieces that provide a comprehensive sample of his pianistic style. Together, they offer a detailed picture of Villa-Lobos’s exuberant musical personality. naxos 
Villa-Lobos was one of the most prolific of all 20th-century composers. The works on this seventh volume of the complete piano works show the multilayered nature of Villa-Lobos’s idiom, which is as exuberant as the Brazilian landscape that inspired him so often. Amazonas, subtitled ‘Brazilian Indian ballet’, is based on indigenous themes that were embedded in the texture, and innovatively varied and transformed through sophisticated harmonic and rhythmic experiments. Even today Amazonas remains startling for its adventurous musical language. Several of the shorter pieces on this disc exist only in manuscript, and receive here their world première recording. naxos 
This eighth and final volume of Villa-Lobos’ complete solo piano music features Albums 10 and 11 from his Guia Prático (Albums 1–9 are available on Naxos 8.570008), the composer’s own piano arrangements of works from the related Guia Prático Volume 1: 137 Traditional Children’s Songs as Sung by Brazilian Children, originally written for various instrumental and vocal combinations, and his two Children’s Suites. In all these works the world of childhood is lovingly evoked with extraordinary originality and brilliant virtuosity. naxos
One of the greatest slide guitarists of the early blues era, and a man with an odd fascination with the kazoo, Tampa Red also fancied himsel...
