This spring sees the release of a new album by Martin Brunner and Markéta Foukalová titled Zábrana, featuring musical settings of poems by Jan Zábrana (1931–1984). The project represents the first comprehensive musical tribute to this remarkable figure of Czech literature — a poet, translator, and writer. Zábrana’s work is marked by immense emotional power, a masterful command of language, and stands as a vital testimony to life in communist Czechoslovakia.

A selection of eleven poems spanning different periods of his life forms both a personal and historical narrative, touching on themes of love, family, unfreedom, and existential questions. Zábrana’s writing, often perceived as an intimate record of life and its time, becomes a powerful source of musical inspiration. His verses — precise, urgent, and deeply human — remain strikingly relevant today, opening space for a connection between word and music. This is the first time Zábrana’s poetry has been set to music on such a scale and within a cohesive album format.