Moravian Duets and more

The program of the National Theatre Chorus concert was put together with a logical effort to let the singing be heard as much as possible. Therefore, compositions for choir with minimal instrumental accompaniment were selected. There was no need to go far, because most Czech composers devoted themselves to choral work, thanks to the repertoire needs of many professional and amateur choirs. The opening Moravian Duets are a charming memory of the friendship of two great composers, Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček. From Dvořák's original duets for two female voices and piano, Janáček selected six of them and adapted them for mixed choir, while retaining Dvořák's piano accompaniment. Dvořák's melodic invention and sense of style, which gave rise to original songs inspired by the natural simplicity of folk models, are admirable. Janáček's Wolf's Trail for female choir and soprano solo, based on the text of the epic poem of the same name by the Czech writer Jaroslav Vrchlický, is a dramatic miniature about a man being cheated on by a young woman. The Hukvaldy Songs, arranged for choir, represent one of the significant components of Janáček's interest and work, Moravian folk music, which he dealt with as a collector and inspired as a composer. Czech folk poetry also appealed to one of the most prolific, most performed and most appreciated Czech composers of the second half of the 20th century, Zdeněk Lukáš. His cycle of male choir with violin accompaniment, The Spring is Opening, is an opportunity for an effective performance of seemingly simple songs of various moods. The highlight of the concert will be Mikesh from the Mountains, the last of Bohuslav Martinů's cantatas based on texts by Miloslav Bureš inspired by the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. The evocative atmosphere of the cantata seems to be the composer's farewell to a distant home in the last year of his life. The fairy tale allegory about a clever shepherd boy who drove a herd of goats as white as hoarfrost up a hill, thus saving them from snow and frost, will also be an imaginary dot after the ending winter.

Programme:

Antonín Dvořák: Six Maravian Duets for mixed chorus and piano, arr. by Leoš Janáček
                          1. Dyby byla kosa nabróšená
                          2. Slavíkovský polečko malý
                          3. Holub na javoře
                           4. V dobrým jsme se sešli
                           5. Šípek
                           6. Zelenaj se, zelenaj

Leoš Janáček: Wolfs trail for female chorus and pianor

Leoš Janáček: Hukvaldy Songs, folksong arrangements for mixed chorus after texts and melodies of Hukvaldy folksongs
                         1. Ondraš, Ondraš!,
                         2. Ty ukvalsky kosteličku!
                         3. Na tych fojtových lukach
                         4. Ty ukvalsky kosteličku, hej!
                         5. Pan Buh vam zaplať
                         6. Fojtova Hanka

Zdeněk Lukáš: The Spring is Opening, for male chorus and violin
                          1. Jaro se otvírá
                          2. Když kvete bez, ať i víno kvete
                          3. Proto jsem si housle koupil
                          4. Rosička je pěkně bílá
                          5. Májko, Májko zelená

Bohuslav Martinů: Mikesh from the Mountains, cantata for soli, mixed chorus and instrumental accompaniment