In closest proximity to the first violin sonata, both chronologically and stylistically, are the Five Short Pieces for violin and piano. Here, too, jazz elements are still quite pronounced, although by now Martinů uses them in a somewhat less showy manner, and they have become rather simply one of the component aspects of his musical language. Each of these five character pieces grows from one rhythmic idea, which it then exploits to the full. Martinů dedicated the set to his friend Miloš Šafránek, cultural attaché at the Czechoslovak embassy in Paris.
Aleš Březina, Martinů: Works for Violin and Piano, © 1999 Supraphon Music a.s