Martinů: Piano Works

If there is talk about the greatest masters of the piano of our century, then names such as Rachmaninov, Bartók, and Prokofiev will come to mind, but hardly the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959). Martinů nonetheless was one of the most hard-working composers for the piano: the number of his piano compositions is larger than Prokofiev and comparable with the giant of pianomusic Béla Bartók. It is all the more interesting that Martinů himself was not a concert pianist and his technique of piano playing never came to a higher proficiency. Perhaps as a consequence Martinů tends to have little in common with the traditional and particular instrumental practice of piano playing: for instance he took a particular pleasure in utilizing the sound of the piano in his symphonic scores. In this way his approach to the instrument was all the more original.
For his independence from the big names of the piano literature and his masterful instrumental syntax, the piano works of Martinů are all the more beloved at home and abroad, and for the needs of interested parties both active and passive there is an undisputed value in Supraphon presenting a complete digital recording of his works for this instrument. This recording is to the credit of the pianist Emil Leichner, whose relationship to Martinů's works has become institutionalized through his lengthy activities with the Bohuslav Martinů Piano Quartet. He is the first pianist to fulfill the task of learning the complete solo works of this Czech classic composer of the twentieth century.