Giorgio Koukl was born in 1953 in Prague, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) into a musical family. He studied at the State Music School and Conservatoire in his native city, and later at the conservatories of Zurich and Milan, following his immigration to Switzerland in 1968. His father, Jiri Koukl, was founder in 1964 of the Woodwind Quintet of the National Theatre of Prague, an ensemble with which Giorgio has maintained a close relationship over the years, both as a performing artist and a composer. A crucial event in Koukl's development happened during his student days in Milan in 1974. At the time, he was powerfully under the influence of the new music of the day. Then he heard a beautiful choral work by his hero Krzysztof Penderecki that turned away from the avant-garde and paid homage to the forms and traditions of the past. Surprisingly, it seemed more "modern" than the tortured modernism of the day. That perception led Koukl to re-think his own music, and led him away from an infatuation with avant-gardism for its own sake. Today, he is the most approachable of composers. His music is modern, but with a difference. In his sense of fun, he pays his respects to fondly remembered Czech composers of an earlier generation such as Bohuslav Martinu and Vaclav Trojan. First-time listeners to his music may recall Les Six (Poulenc, Milhaud, Honegger, Auric, Durey, and Tailleferre) and other French composers of the 1920s and 30s such as Francaix and Ibert. A further influence are the Italian composers of the recent past whom he encountered in his studies in Italy and to whom he pays his respects in a recent CD on the Aulia label: Ghedini Longo, Rota, Margola, Dionisi, and Rieti. So much for influences. It would be a mistake to term Giorgio Koukl an "eclectic." Rather, he is in the happy position of being a latter-day European with an historical perspective who can take what he admires in the music of past traditions, and fashion his own highly individual style of composition. His interests are broad and far ranging, at a time when other composers have deliberately restricted their range of vision. As a result, hearing a new work of music by this composer is always an adventure. You never know exactly what sort of musical experience awaits you, only that it will be fresh and engaging. He also has the habit of economy, rare in an upcoming composer: when he has made his point, he stops. Today, Giorgio Koukl is a Swiss citizen who has lived, studied, and performed so long in Italian lands that he speaks the language like a native. He has broadcast for such organizations as RTSI Lugano, SRG Zurich, SSR Geneva, SFB Berlin, SWF Baden-Baden, WDR Koln, RTIIK Hong Kong, CSR Prague, Radio Malta, Radio Vatican, ORF Vienna, and the BBC London. His own instruments are piano and harpsichord, and he is much in demand as soloist and composer in many cities in Europe, Asia, and the United States. His music is published in Europe by Alfieri e Ranieri (Palermo, Italy) and in the USA by Lux Nuova Press (Decatur, Georgia). But enough of the history lesson! Let's take a look at the offerings on the present CD. These pieces reveal the broad span of interests of their creator. If Giorgio Koukl writes many more works of the calibre heard here, he may easily end up in greater demand as a composer than a performer! ~from the original CD liner notes by Phil Muse