Archives Vol. 1. Music to Films by Jan Švankmajer

„Zdeněk Liška Archives“ is a project aimed at releasing a sequence of vinyl records featuring a selection of original recordings of film music by this important Czech composer, from his personal audio-tape archive. The first album of the collection contains music from three short films by Jan Švankmajer from 1966 to 1977 – Don Šajn (Don Juan), Leonardův deník (Leonardo’s Diary) and Žvahlav aneb Šatičky Slaměného Huberta (Jabberwocky). Out of a total of ten short films by Švankmajer, which Zdeněk Liška provided music for, the recordings of these three films have been preserved in his home archive. In the album's booklet, Jan Švankmajer highlights Liška's brilliant film-composing skills: "What was amazing about Liška’s music was that, unlike most other composers, he didn’t attempt to go with the mood of the film and milk the emotions but listened to the rhythm of the movie itself. Especially in an animated film, this helped to greatly enhance the sense of the picture’s pace and drama. He was able to discover rhythms in films that even their authors weren’t aware of.“ The album is released in the year of Jan Švankmajer's 90th birthday. The work of this exceptional surrealist artist is represented by a retrospective exhibition presenting works by Jan and Eva Švankmajer in the Central Bohemian Region Gallery or a program section dedicated to his film work in the Dafilms online cinema.