Program Two • The French Connection

Martinů came of age as a composer in the musical melting pot of Paris, where his Czech influences would absorb more international ones. This program examines the worlds that shaped him, contextualizing the composer among his teachers and peers. These include Jaroslav Řídký, with whom he had played in the Czech Philharmonic, and their teacher Josef Suk, whose youthful yet confident First Piano Quartet is dedicated to Suk’s own teacher (and soon-to...