Fibich: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1

Zdenek Fibich’s career overlapped those of his countrymen Smetana and Dvorák, but his music remained poised between the twin poles of Czech nationalism and the New German School. His earliest surviving symphony is No 1 in F major, Op 17, completed in Prague in 1883. Whilst it is the most conventional of his three symphonies it is excellently proportioned and reveals the influence of Schumann on his developing art. Impressions from the Countryside, Op 54 is, in effect, a symphonic suite and was highly influential on the younger generation of Czech composers.