The Polish pianist and composer Czeslaw Marek (1891-1985) was born in Lemberg. He studied piano with Theodor Leschetizky and composition with Karl Weigl and Hans Pfitzner (the latter, incidentally, being Busoni’s self-appointed enemy). Marek fled to Zurich in January 1915 when he feared that he might be called up to fight in the Austrian army. He first met Busoni in early 1916, and thereafter visited him on a regular basis, receiving much healthy advice as both a pianist and as a composer. As in the case of Busoni, almost all of Marek’s works are today available on CD. We therefore include here the first recordings of two miniatures that were written some time after Marek’s regular visits to Busoni, but which nevertheless are stylistically typical for his music of that period.
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