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\n \n About work:

The Symphony 1945 – national artist by Ján Cikker /born in the year 1911/ is a representative work not only for the composer himself but also for Slovak music which within the course of its short more than 100 year existence has been holding true not only to the national but also to the social-critical tendencies. Slovak music did not want to be a source of emotions only, but also the messenger of the truth and wisdom of life. The composer, the author of numerous symphonic and operatic works, chose for the third time in his more than 40 year composers acitivity the form of symphony. He did so evidently with the feeling of human and artistic responsibility. The work which is a reminiscence of the end of World War II is monumental both in its extent and structure. It reveals us retrospectively not only the characteristic features of Cikker´s compositional nature, but also the strange atmosphere emanating from the memory of milions of the dead, of front, suffering of the people, their heroism but also the peculiar feeling of expectation, insecurity and also the faith into the future. Cikker´s Symphony is manly in its nature, avoiding sentimentality. Its dramatic character testifies about the extensive operatic experience of its author who was many a time inspired by the subjects from nature, lyrism and dancing motives, confrontation of mental tension with the outer world and anti-war approach. All this is reflected also in this work. The first movement of the symphony is a dramatic vision, full of conflicts, materialized in extensive sonata form with transparent and cleancut structure. The traditional sonata form is endowed by topical character through complicated harmonic formations and melodic lines dervied from them, or being of similar nature. The second movement expresses pain. It is a piece of music full of gradated expression in which two ideas take turns in rondo style. The cantabile nature, harmony full of tension and gradated rhythmical pulsation are the typical features of this movement. The third movement is scherzo with trio. Cikker develops here the Slovak folk dance “odzemok“. Naturally the dance is highly stylized, but neither here the composer denies his musical spontaneity and yearning for joy. The low tones of piccolo used in a strange way are part and parcel of the inner tension of the composition but nevertheless, they correspond also with the lyrism of folk music and with the idea of nature. The fourth movement is finale with the contours of sonata form. The main theme is similar and related to the theme of Dvořák´s Symphony in B flat major No. 2 but the composer employs it as a material for variations. The complex flow of music results in a gradation which might be considered to be rather extreme from the psychologic aspect. After a brief, lyrical-meditative intermezzo a sparkling coda ends the work.


\n (Ladislav Burlas, in: commentary to the LP Opus 9110 0412, 1975.)
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\n Movements:
\n\n Con moto\n \n
\n\n Molto moderato. Largo\n \n
\n\n Andante quasi allegretto\n \n
\n\n Con moto\n \n
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First performance in Slovakia

\n \n \n 23.05.1975,\n Reduta,\n Bratislava,\n SK\n\n
Performers: Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak Philharmonic Choir, Peter Hradil (umv.), Zdeněk Košler (dir.), Michail Chomicer (vc)\n
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