Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in B minor, Op. 22

Croatian composer and pianist, Božidar Kunc (1903 – 1964) studied the piano with S. Stančić and composition with B. Bersa at the Zagreb Academy of Music, graduating in 1925 and 1927 respectively. From 1929 he taught the piano at the Academy and directed the opera studio there from 1941. In 1951 he moved to New York, primarily to assist his sister, the celebrated soprano Zinka Milanov, in her career. Most of Kunc's compositions are for the piano, whether in strict sonata or concerto form, or as poetic programmatic miniatures; his style of writing for the instrument is masterly, employing a full range of texture, and differentiated, colouristic sounds. In later works his rich, post-Impressionistic harmony develops towards free atonality. His inclination for well-defined form and melody bears a certain resemblance to the style of Ravel, while his songs, mostly settings of Croatian and English texts, contain fine examples of flexible melodic and rhythmic writing. In a historical context Kunc cuts a rather isolated figure far removed from the aspirations of Croatian musical nationalism.... (Koraljka Kos)