Anna Talácková – flute
Barbora Trnčíková – oboe
David Šimeček – clarinet
Kryštof Koska – horn
Petr Sedlák – bassoon
Program:
Alexander von Zemlinsky
Humoresque (Rondo)
Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Wind Quintet in D major, Op. 95
Allegro moderato
Andante Sostenuto
Allegro Scherzando
Moderato e tranquillo - Allegro vivo - Allegro deciso
Darius Milhaud
La cheminée du Roi René (The Fireplace of King René), Op. 205
Cortège
Aubade
Jongleurs
La Maousinglade
Joutes sur l'Arc
Chasse à Valabre
Madrigal nocturne
Norman Hallam
Dance Suite
Waltz
Bossa nova
Quickstep
Charleston
Seventeen years of Alexander Zemlinsky's (1871–1942) life were linked with Prague. He was born in Stupava, near present-day Bratislava, grew up and studied in Vienna, where he started his career as a conductor and composer. In 1911, he became the head of the opera at the New German Theatre in Prague, where he significantly influenced the Prague concert scene with the theater's orchestra. Between 1927 and 1933, he worked at Berlin's Krolloper, which was closed after the rise of National Socialism. Zemlinsky moved to Vienna, occasionally guest-conducting with the Czech Philharmonic in Prague. After the Anschluss, he emigrated to the United States, where he died, ill and exhausted. The immediately playful and humorous Humoresque (Rondo) from 1941 was created as an educational piece and does not reflect the difficult situation its composer found himself in.
The Wind Quintet in D major, Op. 95 by Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859–1951) was written in 1909, while he was living in Vienna. Foerster drew on the legacy of the great Romantic figures, though the wind quintet also shows older influences, such as the wind harmonies that were popular at the time. The first movement is built on three contrasting ideas. The second movement is dominated by a lyrical melody that transitions into a dance section in the rhythm of a "sousedská" (a Czech dance), and also evokes memories of 18th-century suites. The scherzo is based on the contrast between minor and major tonalities and sonic registers, with the clarinet leading the main melody. Foerster fully utilized the colorful combinations of all five instruments. Dance melodies also characterize the final movement, where the composer employed a compositional element of an earlier period, the fugato.
The French composer Darius Milhaud (1892–1974) effortlessly moved between different genres. In 1939, he was tasked with composing music for the opening part of the film Cavalcade of Love, directed by Raymond Bernard and based on a screenplay by Jean Anouilh. This part of the film was set in the medieval period, during the reign of King René of Anjou (the music for the other sections was composed by Roger Désormière and Arthur Honegger). For Milhaud, it was later no problem to transform the film score into a suite for wind quintet, which he called La cheminée du Roi René (The Fireplace of King René), where court dances, a morning stop, playful traveling entertainers, a visit to Milhaud's homeland in Aix-en-Provence, the river Arc, and a boisterous hunt are followed by a nocturne to end the day.
British clarinetist and composer Norman Hallam (b. 1945), after suffering from polio in childhood and being confined to a wheelchair, is an example of immense willpower, with which he managed to develop and express his talent despite his handicap. He played in several orchestras, and between 1970 and 1999 was a member of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, all while composing. Dance Suite was composed in 1980 as a piece "for entertainment" for the Canzona Wind Quintet, of which Hallam was a member for ten years. The style and character of the piece are suggested by the titles of the individual movements.
Alinde Quintet
The ensemble was founded in 2019. During its five years of existence, it has succeeded in a number of international competitions (Bucharest International Wind Quintet Music Competition, ODIN International Chamber Music Competition, OPUS International Chamber Music Competition), won a Gold award at the Antonín Dvořák Showcase in Prague, and recently took 3rd place in the international Carl Nielsen Competition in Copenhagen. The members of the ensemble have gained orchestral experience in prestigious youth orchestras (Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and European Union Youth Orchestra) and currently hold leading positions in top Czech orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague National Theatre Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, as well as performing with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra and PKF – Prague Philharmonia. Individually, they are awardees of international and national competitions, including the Prague Spring International Competition (2019), the International Competition in Chieri, the Pro Bohemia Ostrava International Competition, the International Brass Competition Brno, and Czech Clarinet Art. Alinde Quintet is listed among the Young Artists of the Czech Music Fund Foundation and regularly performs throughout the Czech Republic and abroad. In September of this year, the ensemble won the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.