Bohuslav Martinů’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 4 (1956) has several special features: the work stands apart from Martinů’s other concertante works by consisting of only two movements, by its title „Incantations“, and by its free form and highly exalted mood, full of fantastic shimmering timbres and eruptive changes. The reviewers’ first response was, however, negative. On one hand, they praised its ingenuity, brilliant instrumentation and imaginative virtuosity; on the other, they dismissed the composition as eclectic and lacking formal homogeneity – their valuation was based on conventional formal and structural criteria.