Adam Závodský
New work selected through an open call

Launy Grøndahl
Trombone Concerto

Carl Maria von Weber
Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 73

Ralph Vaughan Williams
Tuba Concerto

Jan Polášek – trombone
Kateřina Šandová – tuba
Gabriela Matoušková – clarinet
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Maroš Potokár – conductor

The subscription series Elán mladých (“The Vitality of Youth”) provides a platform not only for the emerging generation of performers, but also for young composers. The opening concert therefore begins with a new work by Adam Závodský, selected through an open call. Závodský is one of the distinctive voices of the young Czech compositional scene, focusing in his music on contemporary orchestral sound, color, and the energy of musical gesture.

Launy Grøndahl’s Trombone Concerto (1924) is among the most frequently performed works in the trombone repertoire. This late-Romantic composition highlights both the lyrical qualities and the technical brilliance of the solo instrument.

Carl Maria von Weber, best known as the composer of the opera Der Freischütz, was also a master of the concerto style. His Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor (1811), written for the clarinet virtuoso Heinrich Baermann, continues to captivate audiences with its melodic invention and dramatic expression.

The evening concludes with Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Tuba Concerto. Composed in 1954, it was the first concerto ever written for this instrument. Despite its relatively late origin, the work surprises with its freshness, lyricism, and engaging musical humor.