Josef Bohuslav Foerster - Violin Concerto No. 1 c minor, Op. 88

Josef Bohuslav Foerster

 

 

Josef Bohuslav Foerster (30 December 1859 – 29 May 1951) was a Czech composer of classical music. He is often referred to as J. B. Foerster. The surname is sometimes spelled Förster.

Violin Concerto No. 1 c minor, Op. 88

00:00 Allegro moderato (cadenza Ivan Ženatý)
17:26 Andante sostenuto (quasi Adagio)
21:51 Allegro grazioso

Ivan Ženatý (housle), Symfonický orchestr BBC, Jiří Bělohlávek
Ivan Ženatý (violin), BBC symphonic orchestra, Jiří Bělohlávek

Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859-1951) lived more then ninety years and met various historical epochs. Nevertheless, his composition stays strictly traditional and accurate (No big surprises for the listener, unfortunately). He was also a writer, pedagogue, publicist, even painter. From his 190 opuses is on live repertoire mainly his choir compositions. From his symphonic compositions is well known the symphonic suite from Cyrano de Bergerac, which has its genesis back in the „fin de siecle", when Foerster was open to new ideas.

The First Violin Concerto has much in common with his fourth opera „The Unvanquished" with composer and violinist as main character. The concerto is dedicated to Czech violin virtuoso Jan Kubelík, who prompted Foerster to write it, contributed the solo cadenza in the 1st movement (Jaromír Havlík).