STAMIC QUARTET

The Stamic Quartet is celebrating an impressive four decades of artistic activity with a special gift for chamber music lovers – the first complete recording of Vítězslav Novák’s string quartets. This achievement crowns the wealth of recordings made by a group that has long been devoted to interpreting Czech music and works from around the world. This unique musical project proves that the Stamic Quartet is not only continuing the legacy of Czech chamber music, but also still surprising listeners with passion, profundity, and mastery that even the youngest ensembles could envy. Supraphon will release the on CD and digitally on 4 July 2025.

Since its founding in 1985, the Stamic Quartet has established itself as one of the most important Czech chamber music ensembles, acclaimed both at home and abroad. In recent years, the ensemble has devoted itself to recording the complete works for string quartet by J. B. Foerster, Sofie Gubaidulina, and Karel Kovařovic. They have now turned their attention to the music of Vítězslav Novák, an important Czech composer whose works reflect turning points in music history.

Novák’s quartets, composed between 1899 and 1938, present the fascinating journey of the composer’s musical development from the inspiration of Romanticism to the influence of Moravian and Slovak folklore, leading to a personal style that weds the church modes, the colours of Impressionism, polyphonic structures, and rhythmic richness. The Stamic Quartet interprets the music with precision, experience, and enthusiasm creating, a unique artistic experience.

“When studying Vítězslav Novák’s string quartets, which are spread across several decades from the Belle Époque to the eve of the Second World War, one cannot ignore the times when the works were written, from bucolic, dreamy Impressionism to the oppressive atmosphere of the late 1930s. Novák’s quartets embody all of that, and I certainly don’t see him merely as an ‘impressionistic folklorist’, as he is often called, unfortunately. Novák worked with resources all his own – and superbly”, says Josef Kekula, a violinist with the Stamic Quartet.

The members of the Stamic Quartet are:

Jindřich Pazdera – 1st violin; Josef Kekula – 2nd violin; Jan Pěruška – viola; Petr Hejný – cello