Václav Trojan

Fairy-Tales

The renowned Czech composer Václav Trojan (1907-1983) is best known for his music for puppet and feature films as well as his scenic music for dozens of theatre and radio plays. His collaboration with the world-famous Czech visual artist, puppet maker, screenwriter and film director Jirí Trnka was congenial; their joint films ("Bajaja", "The Emperor's Nightingale", "The Good Soldier Schwejk", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", etc.) won numerous awards in their home country and abroad.

Trojan's film music also lives on in the form of various concert suites. One of them is "Fairy Tales for Accordion and Orchestra" (1959). This seven-part suite was created by reworking the original music for accordion and orchestra for the puppet scenes in the film "Kutasek and Kutilka at the Fair" (1954, directed by Jirí Trnka). The composer worked closely with the leading Czech accordionist Milan Bláha on the accordion part, who also became the first performer of this composition.

The "Fairy Tales for Accordion and Orchestra" masterfully describe extra-musical subjects from the world of fairy tales, to which Trojan was very close. The music is expressive, full of melodic ingenuity, humour, convincing lyricism and captivates with its instrumental wit. The soloist can show off not only his musicality but also his virtuoso skills in the suite. The work is considered one of the most remarkable compositions in the accordion concerto literature.

This piano reduction (2024) is a reprint of the original edition by Karel Šolec.
The score and the complete performance material are available on hire.