Martinů, son of a bell ringer in the small town of Policka in Bohemia, was doubtless inspired by the view from his church tower! In 1923 he went to Paris for a few weeks which turned into seventeen years, then fled to the United States at the outbreak of war. Roussel had turned him into a master of counterpoint, inventor of the neo-baroque concerto grosso, where innocent chamber music is transformed into a devastatingly powerful hue and cry, which only a handful of musicians have managed to render - namely Munch, Ančerl, Kubelík and Bělohlávek, who introduced the dense, highly inventive repertoire to a wider audience. After the throbbing polytonal violence of 1937, Martinů shifted towards a more luminous lyricism along the lines of the Fantaisies symphoniques he dedicated to Charles Munch. This is a tribute to his early conductors

CD 1
Double Concerto for two string orchestras, piano and timpani H 271
- Jan Panenka (piano), Josef Hejduk (timpani), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Karel Šejna

Tre ricercari, H267
- Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Jiří Bělohlávek

Les Fresques de Piero della Francesca for large orchestra, H352
- Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Rafael Kubelík

Fantaisies symphonique (Symphony no.6), H343
- Boston Symphony Orchestra / Charles Munch

CD 2
Symphony no.4, H305
- Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) / Martin Turnovský

Toccata e due canzoni, H311
- Jaroslav Šaroun (piano), Prague Chamber Philharmonia / Jiří Bělohlávek

The Parables, H367
- Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Karel Ančerl