Tadeáš SALVA Cello Concerto Three Arias Little Suite Slovak Concerto Grosso No. 3 Eight Preludes

Eugen Prochác, Cello Ján Slávik, Cello • Nora Skuta, Piano Juraj Cˇ ižmarovicˇ, Violin • Bernadetta Šunˇavská, Organ Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra • Marián Lejava Tadeáš Salva (1937–1995) 1967 was the first Slovak work under socialism to set a typical of Salva’s work. Cello Music liturgical text. At the same time he wrote his choral Litaniae In the 1980s Salva started to designate many of his lauretanae and remarkable Glagolithic Mass on an Old- chamber pieces as Concerto Grosso or Slovak Concerto 1 Concerto for Cello and Chamber Orchestra Slovak Concerto Grosso No. 3 for Violin, Cello Slavonic text. Beside vocal-instrumental works Salva also Grosso. Solo parts of these compositions are distinguished (1967) 11:57 and Organ (1987) wrote orch-estral and chamber music, electro-acoustic by the concertante principle and technical virtuosity; Three Arias for Cello and Piano (1990) 9 I. Etude 4:46 music, and he was the author of the first Slovak television thematically they often stem from traditional folklore opera Margita and Besná (1972), as well as of the first radio motives. Slovak Concerto Grosso No. 3 for violin, cello and 2 I. 2:59 0 II. Danza rustica 7:24 opera, The Weeping (1976). organ from 1987 has two string instruments and organ, 3 II. 6:48 ! III. Rhapsody 8:21 In the early 1970s Salva composed a cycle of pieces for forming the characteristic Corelli concertino. The diatonic 4 III. 3:53 Eight Preludes for Two Cellos (1995) various instruments, each described as a “ballad”. In these writing of the string parts suggests the idiom of Slovak @ Prelude in A flat major 2:29 Little Suite for Cello and Piano (1989) works the synthesis of folklore and avant-garde methods folklore. The dramatic progress of the work increases # 5 I. Melody: Moderato 2:01 Prelude in B flat major 2:53 – clearly inspired by Stravinsky’s work – was combined gradually through the three movements of the piece, Etude, 6 II. Song without Words: Moderato 1:36 $ Prelude in G major 2:01 with inspiration from historical models. The works Danza rustica, and Rhapsody. 7 III. Little Dance: Lento – Allegro – Moderato 2:56 % Prelude in C sharp major 3:32 characterized by this new synthesis carried a typical Salva- In 1989 and 1990 Salva wrote two cyclic pieces for cello 8 IV. Little Rondo: Moderato 2:30 ^ Prelude in B major 1:56 like title – Slovak Concerto Grosso. This attempt to achieve and piano. The four-movement Little Suite (Melody, Song & Prelude in E flat major 1:05 the integration of traditional inspiration and modern avant- without Words, Little Dance, Little Rondo) from 1989 was * Prelude in A major 1:39 garde methods resulted in a crystallization of the dedicated to Juraj Fazekaš ,who had given the première of ( Prelude in F sharp major 1:46 composer’s original musical language, pervading his vocal- his Cello Concerto. The suite brings together four con- instrumental, orchestral, chamber as well as choral works. trasting miniatures into one whole. Three Arias (1990) use Slovak composer Tadeáš Salva studied the cello, piano socialist realism did not last long, especially in Polish culture, As the cello was the instrument through which Salva the contrast of cantabile cello playing and piano passages. and accordion at the Žilina Conservatory and simultaneously and in Polish music had come to an end by 1956. In the had come to music, it is not by chance that it found its place All seven movements of both pieces are marked by studied composition privately with Ján Zimmer. He con- same year the Warsaw Autumn festival was established in his work during the whole of his creative life. Salva’s rhapsodic progress and free elaboration of diatonic themes tinued his compositional studies at the Academy of and one of its consequences was the start of the new Polish Concerto for Cello and Chamber Orchestra was written in and motives. Performing Arts in Bratislava (1958–1960). The conservative compo-sitional school, which represented the mainstream 1967, at the time of the composer’s first period of creative The last of Salva’s compositions is the cycle Eight ambience of the Academy did not satisfy his artistic of avant-garde music for all countries under socialism. growth and of Penderecki’s Sonata and Ligeti’s Concerto, Preludes for Two Cellos, which remained unfinished. All the inclinations, however, and therefore he moved to the State Composers such as Witold Lutosł awski, Tadeusz Baird, which are similar in outline. What all the three works have movements of the cycle are dominated by a concertante College of Music in Katowice (Poland), where he graduated Kazimierz Serocki, Wł odzimierz Koton´ ski, Krzysztof in common is a two-movement form and an attempt at a use of counterpoint often employing imitational connection as a student of Bolesł aw Szabelski, former pupil of Karol Penderecki, and Henryk Mikoł aj Górecki were the leaders non-traditional approach to orchestral writing. In Salva’s between the two instruments. The rhythm of these cello Szymanowski and teacher of Henryk Mikoł aj Górecki. of the Polish school, which enriched the development of Concerto the solo instrument is joined by an orchestra bicinia is enriched by frequent use of polyrhythms. Having finished his studies, Salva worked for Czechoslovak music after the Second World War with new stimuli. It was consisting of piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet, violin, Salva’s works dedicated to his favourite instrument are Radio Koš ice, and later for Czechoslovak Television in in Katowice, Poland, that Salva became a student of double-bass and an extensive percussion section characterized by a synthesis of modern and traditional Bratislava, for SUK (Slovak Folk Art Ensemble), and for the Szabelski, at the college where Górecki had been teaching, (xylophone, vibraphone, wood-blocks, bongos, bass drum, elements, distinguished by kaleidoscopic transformations of Association of Slovak Composers. He also taught at the and in these surroundings Salva had an opportunity to cymbals, tubular bells, gongs and tam-tam). As with texture, extremely rich rhythmical elements and avoid-ance Faculty of Education at the Constantine the Philosopher discuss his compositions even with Witold Lutosł awski, Penderecki’s compositions, Salva uses a non-traditional of any orthodoxy in thought or inspiration. University in Nitra. Nevertheless, composition remained the the leading figure of the Polish compositional school. Thus, graphic score and aleatoric elements, yet the rhapsodic main passion and preoccupation of his whole life. when writing his student works, Salva already had the expressivity of the music is entirely unique and later became Salva had started to be interested in composition during chance to deal with the most recent problems of Vladimír Godár his childhood. He grew up surrounded by lively, genuine contemporary music. Bruitism, present in Górecki’s works folk traditions. After mastering the basic principles of play- of the time, appealed to him as well as Lutosł awski’s ing string and keyboard instruments, he fully engaged aleatoric textures and the new, expressive dimensions himself in his own compositions. The period brought artistic resulting from the confront-ation of avant-garde techniques controversy between the advocates of traditional compo- with traditional texts, in Penderecki’s compositions. Even in sition approved by the official ideology, and the defenders his first pieces Salva followed the achievements of the Polish of artistic innovation supported by strong impulses from school with texts carrying a universal humanistic message. the avant-garde in socialist countries. The doctrine of His Requiem aeternam (in memory of J. F. Kennedy) from Eugen Prochác Juraj Cˇ ižmarovicˇ The cellist Eugen Prochác was a pupil of Juraj Fazekaš at the Conservatory in Juraj Cˇ ižmarovicˇ is one of the most celebrated Slovak violinists. He has won Bratislava. He continued his studies at the Academy of Music and Drama in Prague numerous prizes and awards at national and international competitions, including the with Josef Chuchro and later with Daniil Shafran, Erling Blöndal Bengtsson, Mikhail violin competition in Belgrade, the Slovakian National Competition and the Tibor Khomitser and Angelica May. As a student he twice won the Slovak Conservatories Varga Competition. Solo appearances have taken him to many European countries, competition. He won the Interpretation Competition of Slovakia (1983) and the the United States, Japan, and Korea. He performs regularly with renowned international Premio Valentino Bucchi Competition (1990) in Rome. As a soloist he orchestras, among them the Budapest Radio Symphony Orchestera, the Portland has appeared with many leading orchestras and in important festivals. Concert tours

Photo: Peter Brenkus Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Czech Philharmonic have taken him him to many European music centres, and also to Canada, Japan, Orchestra and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. He has collaborated with such Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and many other countries. Active as a Photo: Philipp Ramakers distinguished conductors as Daniel Barenboim, James Levine, Pierre Boulez, teacher, since 1990 he has taught at the High School of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Christian Thielemann and Giuseppe Sinopoli and is a guest at festivals, including the and from 1993 to 1997 taught at the principal conservatories in Lisbon, with master- Rheingau Musikfestival and the Bratislava Music Festival. Juraj Cˇ ižmarovicˇ was classes in Portugal, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Czech Republic. Since concertmaster of the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne from 1990 to 2004, and in April 2006 he has served as director of the international Štiavnica Summer Classes, which 2004 was appointed principal concertmaster of the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne. he founded, holding and hosting cello classes. Since 1997 he has been engaged regularly as one of the concertmasters of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra. He plays a Nicolò Gagliano violin from 1761. Ján Slávik The Slovak cellist Ján Slávik studied at the Bratislava Conservatory and the Academy Bernadetta Šunˇ avská of Music and Performing Arts, where he has held a senior position since 2002. He Bernadetta Šunˇ avská studied organ and piano at the Conservatory in Košice, has taken part in many interpretation courses (Weimar, Kerkrade, Bayreuth, Piešt’any) continuing at the Academy of Music and Drama in Bratislava, the Freiburg Staatliche and has been awarded a number of important prizes. He is a founding member of Hochschule für Musik and at the Stuttgart Musikhochschule. Since 2010 she has the Moyzes Quartet (1975) which, between 1986 and 2005, was the chamber

Photo: Yurkovic taught the organ at the Saarbrücken Musikhochschule. ensemble of the Slovak Philharmonic and, from 2006 to 2007 of the city of Modra. Since 2008 it has been the chamber ensemble of the city of Skalica. With the quartet he has given concerts in almost all European countries, in Japan, the United States Photo: Pavel Kastl and Canada and participated in more than thirty recordings. As a soloist he has given performances with renowned Slovak orchestras and abroad, and has given concerts in Germany, Spain, France, Denmark, Austria, Poland, Russia and Ukraine. Ján Slávik regularly collaborates with radio and television and records for Diskant, Naxos, TUTL and Classico.

Nora Skuta Marián Lejava Nora Skuta is among leading Slovak pianists, sought after as a chamber and solo Born in 1976, Marián Lejava is among the most remarkable of younger Slovak ˇanová player and as a performer of contemporary music. Her extensive involvement with contemporary music has resulted in collaborations with the Veni Ensemble, the musicians, active both as conductor and composer. He has conducted more than Opera Aperta Ensemble and with Miki Skuta in a piano duo. Currently she is working eighty contemporary works, and since 2007 he has led the Opera Studio and taught closely with the Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik in Salzburg. She has composition and orchestral conducting at the Academy for Music and Drama in collaborated with distinguished composers, performers and conductors of twentieth- Bratislava. As a composer he has won prizes both at home and abroad, and in 2009 century music, including Sofia Gubaidulina, Louis Andriessen, John Cage, György was awarded the L’udovit Rajter Prize, followed by a doctorate in composition in Kurtag, Christian Wolff, Salvatore Sciarrino, Alberto Caprioli, Zygmunt Krauze, 2010. Photo: Katarina Jesna Photo: Lenka Rajc Thomas Kessler, Beth Griffith, Sigune von Osten, Steve Reich, the Amadinda percussion group, Klangforum Wien, Emilio Pomárico, Johannes Kalitzke, Franck Ollu, Michael Gielen, Rupert Huber, Peter Rundel, Gerd Kühr, Arturo Tamayo, Daniel Harding and others. Tadeáš Salva was one of the foremost Slovakian composers of his generation. His studies Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1929 as the first professional musical ensemble fulfilling the equipped him with a thorough awareness of the new Polish School, and his temperament needs of radio broadcasting in Slovakia. The first conductors already placed particular emphasis on contemporary Slovak inclined him toward a synthesis between contemporary technique and the inspiration of music in their programmes, resulting in a close connection with leading Slovak composers, including Alexander Moyzes, folklore. The cello was his favourite instrument. The Concerto is vibrantly orchestrated, Eugen Suchonˇ, Ján Cikker and others. The original ensemble was gradually enlarged and from 1942, thanks to Alexander absorbingly contoured and shares something of Penderecki’s aesthetic. The Slovak Moyzes, the then Director of Music at Slovak Radio, regular symphony concerts were given, broadcast live by Slovak Radio. From 1943 to 1946 the Croatian Krešimír Baranovicˇ was the chief conductor of the orchestra, to which he made Concerto Grosso marries Stravinskian virtuosity with folk impressions, the Three Arias a vital contribution. His successors were L’udovít Rajter, Ladislav Slovák, Václav Jirácˇek, Otakar Trhlík, Bystrík Režucha and Little Suite are touching, inspired miniatures whilst the unfinished Preludes illustrate and Ondrej Lenárd, whose successful performances and recordings from 1977 to 1990 helped the orchestra to establish Salva’s richness of originality and imagination. itself as an internationally known concert ensemble. His successor Róbert Stankovsky continued this work, until his unexpected death at the age of 36. Charles Olivieri-Munroe held the position of chief conductor from 2001 to 2003. Oliver von Dohnányi was chief conductor of the orchestra in 2006, resigning in 2007, and regular live concerts have Tadeáš continued under the young Slovak conductor Mario Kosik. Through its broadcasts and many recordings the orchestra has also become a part of concert life abroad, with successful tours to Austria, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, France, Bulgaria, Spain, Japan, Great Britain and Malta. SALVA (1937–1995) 1 Concerto for Cello and Chamber Orchestra (1967) 11:57

Photo: P. Kastl 2–4 Three Arias for Cello and Piano (1990) 13:40 5–8 Little Suite for Cello and Piano (1989) 9:03 9–! Slovak Concerto Grosso No. 3 for Violin, Cello and Organ (1987) 20:30 @–( Eight Preludes for Two Cellos (1995) 17:20 Full track details will be found in the booklet Eugen Prochác, Cello Ján Slávik, Cello 12–19 • Nora Skuta, Piano 2–8 Juraj Cˇ ižmarovicˇ, Violin 9–11 • Bernadetta Šunˇavská, Organ 9–11 Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra 1 • Marián Lejava 1

Recorded at the Concert Hall of Slovak Radio, Bratislava, Slovakia, 26 April 2004 (tracks 12–19); 11 May 2004 (2–4); 17 May 2004 (5–8); 28 May 2005 (9–11); 9–10 February 2006 (1) Producers: Emil Nižnˇansky´, Ivan Burlas • Engineers: Hubert Geschwandtner, Pavol Hanzel Publisher: Music Fund Slovakia • Booklet notes: Vladimír Godár • Cover painting: Tadeáš Salva (1982) by Lea Mrazova, 1906–1995 (reproduced with the permission of the artist’s estate)