Bohuslav Martinů composed his Three Czech Dances for Two Pianos as a commission for the piano duo Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson in 1949, when he became a professor of composition at Princeton University. This piece differs from the work of the same title for the solo piano from 1926 by its decreased emphasis on elements of Czech folk music (which is evidently the reason why the individual parts are not designated with titles of folk dances but rather only by tempo markings), and also by its more raw and abstract expression, so it is suprising that the neoclassical Sinfonia Concertante No. 2, H 322, inspired by the expressive world of works by Joseph Haydn, was written in the same year. The instrumental writing in the Three Czech Dances is highly virtuosic and dense, with the rhythmic component clearly dominating. The premiere of Three Czech Dances was given in September 1949 at the famous Edinburgh Festival.
Aleš Březina, Bohuslav Martinů: Selected Masterpieces, © 2001 Supraphon Music a.s