condition (record/cover): NM / EX

A Czech brass music LP from 1986, gathered around the central figure of Josef Matěj (1922-1992), one of the most admired composers in the Czech wind and brass repertoire. Matěj's deep knowledge of the trombone - he had studied the instrument alongside composition - informed a body of music for brass instruments that was technically demanding and expressively consistent: brass sonatas, concertos, quintets, and ensemble pieces through which a generation of Czech wind performers built their contemporary repertoire.

The work by Matěj presented here, Hudba pro pět žesťových nástrojů (Music for Five Brass Instruments, 1978), carries the subtitle Omaggio à Leoš Janáček - a wreath laid at Janáček's monument in the year of the fiftieth anniversary of his death. In the stylized brass writing, the listener finds "clear echoes of Lachian folk fanfares, May songs, and folk dance music" - the Moravian master's spirit absorbed and transmitted through Matěj's own voice. Premiered in Prague on 15 March 1980. Zdeněk Liška (1922-1983), known internationally for his film scores for Otakar Vávra's Markéta Lazarová and the Zeman fantasy films, contributes brass pieces that bring his cinematically-inflected sound into the concert hall. Lukáš Matoušek and Arnošt Parsch complete the program. Performed by the Prague Brass Soloists (Pražští žesťoví sólisté). Original Supraphon pressing.