PIANO SONATA NO. 1 was written in 1955. Fiser worked on it during his last year at the Prague Conservatoire under the supervision of Emil Hlobil. The piece is one of Fiser’s early works which still respect a traditional compositional approach. Unlike his major and late piano sonatas, this sonata has three movements, each representing the traditional Classical-Romantic form. The sonata was premiered by Fiser’s fellow-student and friend AntonÃn JemelÃk in Theatre D34 on 30 January 1956. The new setting for this piece is based on the single edition to date (SNKLHU, 1957); only with regard to a few inconsistencies in the score was it necessary to consult the composer’s manuscript (kept at the National Museum – Czech Museum of Music, acquisition number 297/2006). H 7911, ISMN 979-2601-0445-7
SKU: PA.H07911
ISBN 9790260104457. 31 x 23.5 cm inches.
Lubos Fiser (1935-1999) was one of the most talented Czech composers of his generation. Born in Prague, he studied at the Prague Conservatoire from 1952-1956 and then at the Academy of Music. He was known to the public for his many film scores but it was his other compositions, many of them written under difficult political conditions, which mark him out as a composer of significance.Fiser's eight piano sonatas have a special place in his oeuvre. Fiser subsequently eliminated his second sonata (1956) from his compositional repertoire. From the third sonata onwards (1960), subtitled Fantasia, the composer wrote a two-movement composition, in which he continued to incorporate as his fundamental musical device the confrontation of sharp contrasts in tempo and mood. Beginning with his fourth sonata (1962-1964), Fiser created a single-movement work in an expressive, formally focused composition which betrays a progression towards greater compactness of musical shape in a concise yet effective musical testimony. The fifth sonata was written in 1974, the sixth sonata in 1978. The seventh sonata from 1985 was dedicated to Frantisek Maxian, the eighth sonata was written in 1995.Piano Sonata No.1 was written in 1955. Fiser worked on it during his last year at the Prague Conservatoire under the supervision of Emil Hlobil. The piece is one of Fiser's early works which still respect a traditional compositional approach. Unlike his major and late piano sonatas, this sonata has three movements, each representing the traditional Classical-Romantic form. The sonata was premiered by Fiser's fellow-student and friend Antonin Jemelik in Theatre D34 on 30 January 1956.The new setting for this piece is based on the single edition to date (SNKLHU, 1957); only with regard to a few inconsistencies in the score was it necessary to consult the composer's manuscript (kept at the National Museum - Czech Museum of Music, acquisition number 297/2006).
SKU: PA.H07957
ISBN 9790260104464. 31 x 23.5 cm inches.
Piano Sonata No. 3 was written in 1960 during the composer's studies at HAMU (Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague) under Emil Hlobil. The first half of the 1960s was the period during which Fiser's musical language underwent fundamental change as he rapidly cultivated his own, distinctive style, established in Fifteen Prints after Durer's Apocalypse. This sonata thus also includes several essential traits which shift his compositional development further. The work has two movements, however, its internal structure abandons traditional form. The piece is divided into several short, mutually contrasting sections, whereby the distinctions between the adjacent parts are emphasised by the thematic and chordal treatment. These contrasts are also supported by the chosen dynamics, tempo and other expressional means. The harmony is largely based on traditional chords or their condensed form while, in certain passages, we will nevertheless come across semitone clusters or fourth chords. The melody is still chiefly diatonic; at times Fiser uses chromatic sequences. These new elements in Sonata No. 3 indicate an attempt to simplify his writing and ensure greatest transparency and impact. This endeavour became a basic characteristic of Fiser's compositions from the mid-1960s onwards. The sonata originally bore the postscript Fantasia, which was subsequently taken out by the composer. It was first performed by Ales Bilek in 1961. The new setting for this piece is based on the single edition to date (Panton, 1967); only with regard to a few inconsistencies in the score was it necessary to consult the composer's manuscript (kept at the National Museum - Czech Museum of Music).
SKU: PA.H07988
ISBN 9790260104471. 31 x 23.5 cm inches.
Piano Sonata No. 4 from the years 1962-1964 is dedicated to the memory of Fiser's friend, the pianist Antonin Jemelik, who died tragically. As a tribute to their friendship the composer incorporated into the introduction a quotation from their favourite work, Piano Sonata No. 10, Op. 70, by Alexander Scriabin. The tragedy of the death of the composer's friend pervades the emotionally intense passage of unison octaves which follows the three-bar quotation. From a compositional point of view this work is a masterpiece of the mid-Sixties. Written as one movement, the piece is divided into numerous mutually contrasting segments which themselves are clearly grouped into two sections, exposition and development. The individual themes are introduced in the first section and thematically expanded in the second section. The motif treatment lies almost exclusively in the fragmenting or curtailing of the theme, or in the use of a combination of several themes, for the most part brief and eloquent. This compositional method, together with a clear-cut manner of execution, mainly semitonal melody and sharply contrastive dynamics, lends force and transparency to the piece. Piano Sonata No. 4 was completed in 1964 together with Symphonic Fresco, Concerto da camera for piano and orchestra and Fifteen Prints after Durer's Apocalypse and has earned its rightful place alongside them as masterpieces of Fiser's oeuvre.The work was first performed by Pavel Stepan in Prague's Rudolfinum in 1965. The new setting for this piece is based on the single edition to date (Panton, 1969); only with regard to a few inconsistencies in the score was it necessary to consult the composer's manuscript (kept at the National Museum - Czech Museum of Music).
SKU: HL.49017485
9.25x12.0x0.07 inches.
