This program comprises choral and orchestral music by Martinů and perhaps his finest student, Moravia’s Jan Novák. Set to his own Latin text, Novák’s moving cantata Ignis pro Ioanne Palach commemorates a desperate young activist who immolated himself to protest the end of the Prague Spring. As a former professional violinist, Martinů wrote for the instrument with intimate understanding, and his Second Violin Concerto stands among his mature masterpieces. It was commissioned by the great Mischa Elman, who premiered the work with Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony, before performing it for many years, as did Isaac Stern and Josef Suk. Completing the program are an aria from Martinů’s one-act opera Ariane, a surrealist take on the Theseus myth that was inspired by Maria Callas, and The Epic of Gilgamesh, the composer’s only large-scale oratorio. Scored for narrator, soloists, choir, and orchestra, this takes its text from an English translation of the Mesopotamian saga, and is notable for some of Martinů’s most inspired choral writing.

EPSG:4326

Bard Music Festival — Program 9

Sosnoff Theater

In a concert featuring exclusively percussion instruments, audiences can expect to experience raw energy through their whole bodies. For this performance, the Percussion Ensemble of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno and its Artistic Director Martin Opršál present a variety of works for percussion instruments at the Suk Hall. In Bartók’s Allegro barboro, pianist Dominik Gál will show how the composer also regarded the piano a percussion instrument.

Czech Chamber Music Society • Percussion Ensemble JAMU

Rudolfinum

The programme and performers for this concert of young competition winners will be announced during the season following the results of these competitions and discussions around programming.

Czech Chamber Music Society • Concert of competition winners

After performing the previous night with the Czech Philharmonic on our grandest stage, the Prague Philharmonic Choir graces the intimate Zankel Hall with this powerful, all-Czech program in honor of the 100th Year of Czech Music celebration. The ensemble is one of the world’s leading champions of Czech choral music—a singular tradition—and in this concert, they perform vocal works by many of the nation’s most beloved composers: Eben, Janáček, Dvořák, Martinů, and Jan Novák.

Jan Novák

Events

Past events

Aug 16, 2025

Bard Music Festival — Program 9 · American Symphony Orchestra

Apr 15, 2025

Czech Chamber Music Society • Percussion Ensemble JAMU · Czech Philharmonic

Future and recently performed repertoire

Violin in Violin Sonata by Janáček

Czech Philharmonic

Violin in Violin Sonata No. 2 by Brahms

Czech Philharmonic

About

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