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In Encore this week we look at an excellent CD of music from Prague during the Baroque period, and we also enjoy the rich sound of the cathedral organ in the beautiful Moravian town of Kromeriz.

Few people over the last half century have made an impact on Czech classical music that comes anywhere close to that of the composer Viktor Kalabis, who died on 28th September at the age of 83. His work emerges from a great musical tradition that includes Stravinsky and Martinu, and his compositions are typically characterized by a sense of drama combined with a strong feel for inner musical logic. Viktor Kalabis was also a brilliant organizer. The legacy of his twenty years as Music Director at Czechoslovak Radio that ended in 1972 is felt to

In this edition of Encore we hear from a Czech master of the fugue and we feature a recording of a fascinating early orchestral piece by Janacek, sounding very different from the composer as most people know him.

Today we look at Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen, recently featured at the Proms in London, and we feature a brand new recording - the first ever CD featuring both the piano concertos of one of the leading Czech composers of the early 19th century. We also discuss a Supraphon re-release of cello concertos by a composer whose playing was admired by Mozarts father.

Today we enjoy a CD of works by Jaroslav Jezek. He was a Czech composer of the inter-war period who made a huge impression on Czech musical culture, and this recording features his own piano, still in place in Jezek's famous "Blue Room". We also engage in some "Philosophical Dialogues" with contemporary composer, Oldrich Korte, whose works confront some of the basic questions of our existence.

In Encore we look at two recordings said to be inspired by church towers. It is well known that Bohuslav Martinu grew up in a room at the top of the bell tower in the little town of Policka, but we will also be looking at a living composer, who has found an "oasis of peace" at the top of a Baroque spire in Prague.

In this edition of Encore we look at a new recording featuring 18th century composer Frantisek Benda, who found his way from a Czech village to the court of Frederick the Great. And we look at some exquisite piano pieces that Bedrich Smetana composed despite the onset of deafness.

In this edition of Encore we look at a new and fascinating CD of yodeling songs from Silesia, we hear a new release of Martinu concertos recorded back in the 1970s, and we enjoy an engaging new recording of music by the lesser known 18th century Czech composer, Pavel Vranicky.

In a special Easter programme from Radio Prague we bring you some Czech Easter oratorios from the eighteenth century, and also something we don't often hear on the programme - traditional Easter bells from the famous Manousek bell foundry near Prague.

In this programme we look at a new set of CDs of Dvorak's choral work, we find out a bit more about the Czech-born composer whose work was played at Mozart's memorial service in Prague and we enjoy a new CD of Bohemian church music.