Ritornel, Op. 25
- Instrumentation
- Cello, Piano
- Composed
- 1940
- Duration
- 4'15''
- Publisher
- Bärenreiter
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About this piece
Kaprálová wrote her Ritornel for cello and piano in Paris in 1940, the last year of her life. It was planned as the first of 'Deux ritournelles pour violoncelle et piano', Op. 25, but only the first was completed; the second survives only as an autograph fragment held in Brno. The Boston Symphony Orchestra's programme for a Tanglewood recital by Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax called it 'brief, energetic' and 'among her last completed works'. It was first performed, under the title Ritornello, by Karel Neumann (cello) and Vilém Tauský (piano) at the Czechoslovak Institute in London on 18 May 1941, almost a year after the composer's death. Recordings include Ivan Měrka with Jaroslav Smykal (Studio Matouš, 1998), Franz Bartolomey with Clemens Zeilinger (Gramola, 2018), Anna Fortová with Kathrin Schmidlin (Claves, 2020) and Štěpán Filípek with Katelyn Bouska (Radioservis, 2023). The score was published in 2003 by Bärenreiter Praha (H 7827, edited by Miloš Štědroň, 10-page score) with support from the Kapralova Society.
Technical overview
A single movement of about 4¼ minutes. It is an energetic, rhythmically driven recital piece in Kaprálová's late Paris idiom, and the cello and piano are equal partners.