{"product_id":"reiner-sonata-for-double-bass-and-piano","title":"Karel Reiner: Sonata for double bass \u0026 piano","description":"\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Sonata\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eKarel Reiner (1910-1979) was a prolific composer and was the only Czech composer to survive the Terezín Concentration Camp during the Second World War. This three-movement sonata, dating from the late 1950s, is standard repertoire in Central Europe and has been out of print for a number of years. The style is modern, adventurous, lyrical, acerbic, dramatic, rhythmic and advanced, with musical and technical challenges for both performers. This is a worthy addition to the serious solo repertoire and has been recorded a number of times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p1\"\u003eKarel Reiner's Sonata for double bass and piano was composed in 1958 and published by Panton a year later. The three-movement work is dedicated to professor František Hertl and is both a lyrical and melodic work within a modern and contemporary idiom. It uses much of the range of the solo double bass and exploits the cantabile qualities of the instrument, set against an accompaniment of expressive tone colours and a rich harmonic palette. This is an important mid-20th century work which should find its place into the standard repertoire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eThe first movement has a heroic and triumphal character, contrasted by the more funereal and soulful lament of the second movement. The finale is in the form of a scherzo, and recalls the Czech mateník (an old Czech dance in variable time), and is full of humour, rhythm and energy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eReiner’s Sonata had been out of print for a number of years and we are pleased to have created a new digital edition. We are also grateful for the help and support of the composer's widow, Mrs Hana Reinerova, with our 2003 printed edition of the Sonata.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReviews\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e“…While the piece is largely tonal, this tonality is constantly threatened by pungent semitones that populate its thematic material. Indeed, the strong presence of tonic and dominant relationships throws these contrasting dissonances into sharp relief. Those who know the Expressionist music of Alban Berg will find themselves on familiar ground here: this piece was written by a Holocaust survivor and the work’s ominous, dark atmosphere - full of shrill yet lyrical writing, dissonance and tonal ambiguity - seem to speak of the pain and anguish of the human condition rather than its triumphs. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eTechnically, this is a very comfortable piece to play because most of the melodic material is based on thirds (particularly minor) and semitones, with few large leaps. The three movements vary significantly from one another: in the mournful second movement, marked Poco grave, the accompaniment explores various keys, which are constantly undermined and resisted by the double bass as it meanders around a semitone melody. Amid the tension created by this conflict, major and minor triads emerge dramatically. According to the notes accompanying the music, the third movement, Allegro vivo, is based on a Czech dance. While the harmonic language does not particularly lend itself to creating the sound of a joyful dance, this movement nevertheless has a spirited energy and concludes on the chord of B major. This is an interesting addition to the double bass repertoire; whether modern audiences will appreciate its brash and unremitting dissonance is open to debate.” \u003c\/i\u003e[Double Bassist magazine]\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Composer\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eKarel Reiner\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003ewas born on 27 June 1910 in the small town of Žatec (Bohemia) into a middle-class Jewish family. He studied composition at Prague Conservatoire with Josef Suk, alongside theory and quarter-tone composition with Alois Haba - a pioneer of new musical trends. Reiner was much sought after to play Haba’s specially built quarter-tone piano and performed his final examination piece (Piano Sonata No. 1) at the Vienna Contemporary Music Festival in 1932. He continued to compose, including music for the influential avant-garde theatre in Prague. Still, after the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938, he could not perform or publish any of his music. However, his works were played at many “underground” concerts, and the compositions continued to be written.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eFrom the middle of 1943 to September 1944, Reiner was a prisoner in Terezín (Theresienstadt) concentration camp close to Prague. He was allowed to give concerts, played much contemporary music, and also gave many music lessons, alongside writing theatre music for children and adults. In September 1944, he was sent from Terezín to the Osvětimi death camp and then to Dachau, surviving a deadly typhus epidemic in Dachau. He was the only Jewish composer to survive the atrocities of the Second World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eReiner returned to Prague and believed that his music should now communicate and be available to everyone. Between 1950 - 1954 his work slowly changed and evolved, and he successfully combined traditional composition with contemporary musical expression. After the end of the war, Reiner joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and composed a number of political songs, which didn’t meet the Party’s expectations. Doris Grozdanovičová, a fellow Terezín inmate, remembers:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003e\u003ci\u003eHe met increasing resistance from the authorities: his style was too individualistic, too “formalist,” it didn’t conform with socialist prescriptions… And so he fell into a kind of isolation that had considerable consequences for his music… I think that the tragedy which explains why Reiner has remained unknown has to do above all with the fact that political developments meant that he couldn’t be played in public any more. His musical language was largely rejected by the authorities and so there were only a very few performances… In the aftermath of the “Prague Spring,” he left the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1970 and had to renounce all his official positions and performances of his music were banned. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"p2\"\u003eKarel Reiner was a prolific composer, was liked by the musicians he worked with and wrote in almost every genre, and his music is certainly worthy of revival in the 21st-century. He died in Prague on 17 February 1979.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"David Heyes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45698799370284,"sku":null,"price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0585\/0559\/2876\/files\/Reiner-SonataFRONTCOVERJPEG.jpg?v=1782240127","url":"https:\/\/shop.doublebasshq.com\/products\/reiner-sonata-for-double-bass-and-piano","provider":"Double Bass Sheet Music","version":"1.0","type":"link"}