Hukvaldy Sketches

2016.   oboe, clarinet, viola, marimba.      Duration: 11 minutes

The Czech mountain village of Hukvaldy was the summer home of the great 20th-century Moravian composer Leoš Janáček. I visited there many years ago when studying Janáček’s music and composing a ballet, PTACI, which was premiered in Brno in 1993. Janáček loved nature walks and studied bird songs. HUKVALDY SKETCHES is a set of modern musical impressions of old Moravia, in the ancient heart of Eastern Europe.

Premiere performance February 6, 2018, at Texas State University Performing Arts Center:

I. Hrad – morning climb to the castle ruins

II. Ptáci – watching Leoš’s birds

III.    Vody – forest streams and shadows

IV. Bystroušky – mouflons and other mountain wildlife

V. Podzim – autumn sunset

Ian Davidson (oboe), Vanguel Tangarov (clarinet), Ames Asbell (viola), Kari Klier (marimba)

To request performance materials and permission, email BMI-affiliated composer Thomas Clark, tc24@txstate.edu