Pavel Haas Quartet

Leoš Janáček, Bohuslav Martinů and Pavel Haas all made their marks on the music of the Czech interbellum: Janáček by struggling in his own way with his late-Romantic roots, Haas with his Jewish background and fascination with jazz and folk music, and Martinů with his cosmopolitan desire to connect his musical heritage with western Europe’s innovative trends.

Although the Czech soul smoulders on in all three composers, the differences between them are unmistakeable. In Janáček’s Intimate Letters, the central theme is the (unrequited?) passion for his young muse Kamila Stösslová. Haas stirs up memories of a happy stay in the Moravian Highlands in his quartet. Martinů’s quartet has no particular programmatic connotations, but still captures the imagination with its scintillating rhythms and unusual sound colours.