AOI TRIO - MARTINU/DVORAK:PIANO TRIOS

Two Czech composers, one piano trio from each - that is the programme of this recording. Not that they are contemporaries: the first composer, Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904), was born about half a century before his compatriot Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959). Both composers came from Bohemia, Dvorak from the little town of Nelahozeves on the west bank of the Vltava, Martinu from Policka in east Bohemia. And in the history of 'classical' music, both of them are representatives of the National Czech School. This was a movement that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century to match similar developments in other European countries. This national dimension continued to grow up to the middle of the 20th century. The core commitment of the National Schools is to be seen in the way numerous European composers alluded in their works to the folk music of their land, bringing out national colour in the sound of their music. Both Dvorak, an early representative of the Czech School, and Martinu, a late champion of Czech nationhood, pay tribute in their compositions to the popular music of their Czech homeland.