In 1892 Josef Suk (1874-1935) a mere 18 years of age contributed his piece Melody to a collection of simple works for Violin (for two three or four Violins and for Violin with Piano accompaniment) called The Young Violinist published by the Prague-based firm Jos. R. Vilimek (several books issued per year).This short charming and technically undemanding piece for young violinists which is possibly more familiar to Czech audiences in arrangements for other combinations of instruments (Violin and Piano or solo Piano) was published once again in its original version for two Violins to mark the 70th anniversary of Suk's death(2005).The whereabouts of the autograph of this work is unknown; the editor of the new edition Zdenek Nouza based his revisions on the original carefully prepared edition from 1892. The bowings are Suk's own (he was an excellent violinist) but no fingerings have been added since the piece can be played by violinists of varying technical proficiency; first position alone would suffice however a fuller richer sound would be gained with greater mastery of the instrument.

Klezmer Miniatures has been compiled for young musicians who, by playing an instrument, would like to become acquainted with the musically varied world of Klezmer. The series comprises two duos, four trios and two quartets, which can be performed with different combinations of instruments - violin, clarinet, flute, cello, double bass, bass guitar and trumpet. The composer, Ferenc Jávori, is a major figure of world music in Europe and is a prolific composer, orchestrator and performer. He is the founder and leader of the Budapest Klezmer Band. Jávori was born into a Hungarian-Jewish community in Munkács (Mukacheve, Ukraine), where the years before the Second World War witnessed a golden age of Klezmer, the traditional, instrumental folk music of Yiddish-speaking Jewish communities. He has collected and compiled numerous melodies and songs from the last representatives of this formerly vibrant musical culture. Each of the Klezmer Miniatures reflects a different traditional genre of Klezmer. In these pieces Jávori has used certain motifs from Moisei Beregosky's folk music collection. / 2 Violons

Composer's Description:Whether a student or a great artist the desire to make a beautiful sound is a constant in the life of any musician. Sound is the musician's voice the means of communicating an artistic vision to the audience and it should be the aim for children of any age or standard to be engaged in good tone production.The inspiration for writing these pieces came to me from the wish to give the young children I teach music which would develop their ear for both good intonation and beautiful tone production. All the pieces have a strongly implied harmonic structure allowing them to be played without accompaniment. The purpose of the second violinpart is therefore to enable the teacher to underline the harmony as well as to influence the student's tone production and intonation through his own sound as much can be taught by good example.Finally I think that children enjoy the challenge of expressing different moods and emotions musically and I hope that the range of ideas implied by the keys and the titles of these pieces will fire their imagination.