Songs with piano formed a fair proportion of Bohuslav Martinů’s output until 1930, and this collection focuses largely on those written during 1910–1912. With the notable exception of the Gothic gloom of Poe’s The Sleeper, Czech poets provided the younger Martinů with a wealth of texts on themes of life and love, expressed in songs both lively and luminous. Evocations of nature are also to be found, as well as a diversion into popular genres with the sophisticated ‘Red Seven’ Cabaret cycle. Volume 1 (8.572588) of this edition has been admired as “beautifully and often movingly sung…a most rewarding disc”. (Gramophone)