Although there's nothing here to rival the scintillating brilliance of the Op. 8 Triptyque (the highlight of the first volume in Koch's ongoing Marek Edition, 11/99), enthusiasts will still find plenty to savour, not least the pianism of Marie-Catherine Girod, who once again proves herself a advocate of this underrated figure's output.
The four-movement Suite, Op. 40, which opens the survey, is actually a transcription of its Op. 25 orchestral namesake (Koch, 12/96), minus the concluding Presto which the composer had already reworked and extended into a hugely invigorating Toccata (comprising one half of his 1926 diptych entitled Sarabande and Toccata, itself expertly surveyed by Girod on the companion volume). Dating from 1958 and as yet unpublished, it would seem to have been Marek's last major achievement and strikes me (as it also does annotator Calum MacDonald) as a quite masterly piece of work, the music sounding for all the world as if it could not possibly have been conceived for any other medium.
Unfortunately, none of the remaining items approaches this exalted level, though another suite, the Op. 9 Echos de la Jeunesse, does contain its fair share of felicitous invention. The bulk of this appealing six-movement work, with its echoes of Schumann, Chopin and Tchaikovsky, was composed during 1913, the exception being 'Chant de Nouvel An' (or 'New Year's Song'), which was composed on New Year's Eve, 1934, and which bears a dedication to Marek's close friend, Gustav Bergmann. The Chant varie dates from September 1935 and is a free revision of the first of Liszt's Chants polonais d'apres Chopin. Its pellucid grace and elegance serve as a timely reminder of Marek's own considerable keyboard prowess (he had at one time been a private pupil of Theodore Leschetizky). Jazz was an increasingly important preoccupation in Marek's later works. Composed under the pseudonym 'Mark Mat' yet never actually published, the Three Jazz-Caprices (1926-8), Two Foxtrots (1938-9) and Three Dances (1939-41) serve up an at times dazzlingly inventive and always highly sophisticated cocktail, bringing reminders of Gershwin, Grainger and even Billy Mayerl.
Enjoyable rather than essential listening, perhaps, save for Marek acolytes. As before, Chris Craker's sound and balance are first-rate.'