ZDENĚK FIBICH (1850–1900): SYMPHONY Nr.1, F MAJOR
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904): VIOLIN CONCERTO A MINOR
Roman Patočka, Musica Florea, Marek Štryncl 

with financial support of The Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic 

Zdeněk Fibich, together with Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák, was one of the three founders of Czech national music, the legacy of which transcended the boundaries of Czech national culture. Fibich was involved in all music genres, using his specific talents to varying degree: his natural sense for drama, extensive melodic invention, romantically colorful ear as well as his feel for balladic twilight. He introduced the ballad into various forms of Czech music. However, he did not limit himself to Czech and Slavic themes, nor to the use of folk music elements.

Fibich enriched Czech music not only with new themes, but also with new forms. In his music, he focused on drama and intimate piano lyricism. In the spirit of Romantic innovation, he came up with a new type of programmatic compositions, the "musical painting." In the field of drama, he creatively thought through Gluck's and Wagner's reform, and his melodrama trilogy Hippodamia is completely unique in terms of genre, type and style and has no parallel in world literature. Somewhat overshadowed by these compositions is his orchestral music, which includes symphonic poems, programmatic overtures, and above all three mature symphonies (Symphony No. 1 in F major, Op. 17, Symphony No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 38, Symphony No. 3 in E minor, Op. 53).

Symphony No. 1 in F major was composed over a period of almost seven years. The first two movements were completed in 1877-1878 and performed at the Academy of the Union of Czech Journalists on 16 May 1879. The composer worked on the next two movements during the years 1882-1883. The manuscript finale was finished on 10 April 1883. The symphony premiered at the jubilee concert of the Artists’ Club on 3 May 1883.

This symphony is often referred to as "romantic" or the "symphony of Fibich's youth." Its four movements (Allegro moderato, Allegro assai, Adagio non troppo, and Allegro con fuoco e vivace) are surprising because of their many innovations - the unusual richness of moods of the opening theme, the variation affinity of the main and secondary themes in the first movement (Fibich's so-called "diversity in unity"), the use of polka stylization in the second movement, the rhapsodic nature of romance in the third movement leading to a programmatic interpretation of the symphony, the organic incorporation of the rondo into the cyclical form of the symphony as the final movement and the re-intonation of the main theme of the first movement from a romantically poetic mood to an energetic allegro.

Symphony in F major synthesized the romantic impulses of the 1870s, in the framework of which Fibich achieved a distinctive expression in the symphonic genre. It should be noted that in the 1880s, it was one of Fibich's most successful compositions.

Antonín Dvořák composed his Concerto for Violin in A minor, Op. 53, based on the publisher Simrock’s commission for the world-renowned virtuoso Joseph Joachim. However, the genesis of the concerto was difficult and long (1879-1882), as Dvořák regularly consulted the composition with Joachim and reworked it according to his comments. In the end, Joachim never performed it. The concerto premiered at Rudolfinum on 14 October 1883 where the young violinist František Ondříček performed it with the National Theater Orchestra and then played it at concerts around the world, thus contributing to its popularity.

The concerto respects the traditional three-movement concertante form (fast – slow – fast) but interconnects, in a completely unconventional way, the first and second movements into a whole and does not include any solo virtuoso cadenza. The introduction of the first movement does not have the usual orchestral exposition; instead, there is a violin solo immediately after a few bars of the introduction. The conclusion of the first movement lacks a repetition and transitions directly into the contrasting second movement that is full of melodic inventions and instrumental ideas. The rondo third movement is one of Dvořák's best stylizations of folk dance.

Concerto for Violin in A minor is considered one of the masterpieces of Dvořák's so-called Slavic period. This optimistic composition, which is full of energy, has become the basic musical repertoire of Czech violinists and an essential part of the world violin repertoire.

Věra Šustíková

It was Johannes Brahms who made sure that Dvořák established himself in the music world, not only by providing him with a scholarship, but also by proofreading his sheet music before it was published. And it was A. Dvořák who helped Z. Fibich achieve at least some modest social recognition. Fibich was sidelined by many. Was it because he was a lesser composer? Dvořák and Smetana were often inspired by "folk" melodies, song rhythms, and regularity. Fibich went further! He gradually got rid of these music sources because he wanted to take the romantic ideal as far as possible, to a place of pure emotion and passion and no "reasonable" form or regularity. This is why the interpretation of his music requires a so-called flexible tempo. Every phrase, every distinct rhythmic and melodic element needs its own tempo progression. Gradual or radical acceleration, deceleration, and - at certain moments- playing even outside the rhythmic beat was something that was rarely, if ever, written down in the score. Composers counted on and used this truly romantic approach, e.g. R. Wagner, who was able to slow down a phrase by up to one half, or A. Dvořák, who was criticized by English reviewers for using tempos that were not in the score. The ideal was to agogically "experiment" even in an orchestra, just like a soloist, a chamber ensemble, or a pianist would do. This CD is unique because it returns to this forgotten, truly romantic musicality, without which Fibich's brilliant music cannot be fully understood.

Marek Štryncl

Futher recordings by Marek Štryncl & Musica Florea: