Composer(s): Martinů, Bohuslav
Label: Naxos
Genre: Instrumental; Opera; Vocal
Period: 20th Century
Catalogue No: 8.557494
Barcode: 747313249428
Release Date: 10/2005

MARTINU: Songs for mezzo-soprano and piano

Although Martinů is known for a number of significant choral works, including his oratorio The Epic of Gilgamesh [Naxos 8.555138], relatively little attention is given to his vocal music. Songs with piano, many of them still unpublished or only made available in print recently, make up a fair proportion of his output. This disc features a selection of songs written during the 1930s and early 1940s, a period in which Martinů moved away from French influences towards a musical language rooted in folklore from his native Bohemia and other areas of Central Europe. Several of the songs on this disc are world première recordings.

Tracklist

Martinů, Bohuslav
Pátková, Blanka - Lyricist
Chan, Yo Sun - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
1 2 Songs, H. 213bis: No. 2. Květ broskví (Blossom of the Peach Tree) (Sung in Czech) 04:06
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Chan, Yo Sun - Lyricist
Apollinaire, Guillaume - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
2 2 Songs, H. 213bis: No. 1. Automne malade (Sickly Autumn) (Sung in French) 03:13
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Apollinaire, Guillaume - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
3 3 Songs to poems by G. Apollinaire, H. 197: Saltimbanques (Acrobats) 00:53
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
4 Vocalise-Etude, H. 188 01:10
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Traditional - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
5 Putovali hudci (The Minstrels were Wandering) 02:53
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
6 Sirota (The Orphan) 03:38
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
7 Konicky na ouhore (Ponies on the Fallow Field) 01:09
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
8 Ztraceny pantoflicek (The Lost Slipper) 00:43
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
9 Pisen nabozna (Religious Song) 02:36
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
10 Pozvani (Invitation) 01:12
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
11 2 Dances from the ballet Spalicek, H. 214c: II. Polka 02:13
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Traditional - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
12 Bohata mila (The Rich Sweetheart) 01:14
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
13 Opusteny mily (The Abandoned Lover) 01:31
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
14 Touha (Yearning) 00:58
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
15 Zvedave dievca (The Inquisitive Girl) 01:10
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
16 Vesele dievca (The Happy Girl) 00:26
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
17 Smutny mily (The Mournful Lover) 02:58
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
18 Prosba (Prayer) 01:32
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
19 Vysoka veza (The High Tower) 01:07
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
20 2 Dances from the ballet Spalicek, H. 214c: I. Waltz 06:05
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Gramont, Ferdinand de - Lyricist
Xanrof, Léon - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
21 Le poulet (The Chicken) (text: T. de Gramont) 01:02
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
22 Le petit chat (The Little Cat) (text: attrib. L. Xanrof) 01:45
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Erben, Karel Jaromir - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
23 Pocitadlo (Counting Song) 00:19
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
24 Divoky holub (The Wild Dove) 00:23
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
25 Vlastovicka (The Little Swallow) 00:16
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
26 Detska hadanka (Children's Riddle) 00:19
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Traditional - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
27 Koleda milostna (Love Carol), H. 259 00:53
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Mucha, Jiří - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
28 Prani mamince (A Wish for a Mother), H. 279b 01:16
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Martinů, Bohuslav
Nezval, Vítězslav - Lyricist
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
29 The Miracles of Mary, H. 236: Narozeni Pane (Christ's Nativity) (arr. for voice and piano) 01:57
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)
30 The Miracles of Mary, H. 236: Sestra Paskalina (Sister Pascalina) (arr. for voice and piano) 04:45
Cerna, Olga (mezzo-soprano)
Čechová, Jitka (piano)

Total Playing Time: 53:42