Novák - Autumn Symphony

Vítězslav Novák (1870-1949): Autumn Symphony, Op. 62 (1931-1934) for male and female chorus and orchestra by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Karel Ančerl. It's a reflection on the brevity of life and passing of time, work of balancing life, consolation and celebration of joys and beauties that life has brought but also still can bring. The first eight minutes of the 2nd movement are purely orchestral and make an ouverture to the vocal scene of Moravian folk festivity. Not long after beginning melodic and rhytmic elements of Moravian folk music appear and Novák's complex polyphony gets a dancing temperament with the specific tinge gradually.

NAS

Novák - Slovácká suita

Vítězslav Novák (December 5, 1870 – July 18, 1949) was one of the most well-respected Czech composers and pedagogues, almost singlehandedly founding a Czech 20th century  school of composition. Stylistically, he was a leading figure in the Neo-Romanticism movement, occasionally considered an early example of Czech modernism. Slovácká suita (Slovak suite) pro malý orchestr, op. 32 was composed in 1903.

NSS

Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů, Novák, Schulhoff, Eben - Songs My Mother Taught Me

Magdalena Kožená, one of the most acclaimed recitalists of today, presents a personal collection of songs she has known since childhood and that form some of her earliest musical influences. A haunting collection of songs by Czech composers such as Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček, Bohuslav Martinů, Vítězslav Novák, Ervín Schulhoff and Petr Eben, all deeply rooted in the rich Czech folk song tradition.

SMM