“When David Heyes kindly invited me to compose a suite of pieces for inclusion in his project commemorating the great Czech double bass virtuoso, František Pošta, I turned to the internet for inspiration.

There, I was delighted to discover a wealth of archival recordings illustrating the wonderful lyricism and artistry of Pošta’s playing in a wide range of music. This gave me the idea of writing a set of dances with a Czech flavour.

By way of reminiscence, I fell in love with the infectious nature of Czech dance when, almost seventy years ago, as a member of the bass section of the London Schools’ Symphony Orchestra, I was bowled over by the rhythmic energy of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance in G minor Op. 46 No 8.
The melodies of the six little pieces in ‘Czech Dances’ are all original, but ideas for the rhythmic patterns characteristic of Czech dances have come chiefly from Dvořák and Smetana. [Christopher Field]