Cantus Simplicissimus

In “Cantus Simplicissimus” Ľubica Čekovská has written a homage to her native land, eastern Slovakia. The work was commissioned by the Slovak State Philharmonic in Košice, the capital of eastern Slovakia, the region where Humenné, the composer’s birthplace, also lies. “From the beginning of working on this piece a simple melody imposed itself; this has now become the basis of the entire composition, a kind of Cantus Cassovie, as Košice is called in Latin. I wanted to capture the originality, simplicity and beauty of the country, which I then dressed in symphonic colours”, says the composer.

Three fragments from Stabat mater

For the Bavarian Radio Chorus Ľubica Čekovská has composed “Three fragments from Stabat mater”, which will be premiered in a programme including a performance of the original version of Antonín Dvořák’s setting of the Stabat mater for soloists, chorus and piano op. 58. Dvořák composed the seven movements of the “Stabat mater” in spring 1876, reacting to the death of his young daughter Josefa in September 1875 in this work. In 1877, following the death of both his other children, he added to the sacred music the other three numbers in piano sketches, and orchestrated the great work. The three unaccompanied compositions by Ľubica Čekovská complement the seven-movement original version with these verses from the medieval poem of sorrow, and form a kind of late echo to Dvořák’s composition. 

Marie Luise Maintz
(from [t]akte 2/2018 – translation: Elizabeth Robinson)