Violin concerto No.2. Serenade for strings No.2. Toccata e due canzoni

A composer to discover or rediscover! Long overshadowed by the reputation of his Bohemian compatriots Smetana, Dvořák and Janáček, Bohuslav Martinů is at last enjoying his fair share of the limelight. Commentators have so often confined themselves to describing his music in terms of multiple influences – Roussel, French music, the 18th-century concerto grosso – that they have tended to forget his own strong personality and his perfect assimilation of Baroque style. The three works presented on this recording display the Czech composer’s endless creativity within the framework of a vivid concertante language.