Music

Leos Janacek

3. 7. 1854 Hukvaldy – 12. 8. 1928 Ostrava

a major figure in modern european music

He studied Prague organ school and then in Leipzig and Vienna. After finishing his studies, he settled in Brno. He engaged himself in collecting and was a folklorist. He was inspired by Slavonic dances and composed Lasske tance (Lachian Dances). He was inspired by the language melody and it influenced also his compositions. His the most famous operas are Sarka, Jeji Pastorkyna and Kata Kabanova. The character of Pastorkyna, called abroad as Jenufa, is out of the ordinary.

The successes stimulated him to further compositions. For example: Vylety pana Broucka (Mr. Broucek’s trips), Liska Bystrouska (The Bystrouska fox), Vec Makropulos (The Macropulos case).

Among his modern compositions belong orchestral rhapsody Taras Bulba, Glagolska mse (Glagolitic mass) – composed according to the old Slavonic text celebrating the national Slavonic antiquity. Important are also his choruses composed on poems with social feelings, written by Petr Bezruc: Kantor Halfar (The cantor Halfar) and Marycka Magdonova. We cannot forget to mention his string quartets: the first one, composed in response to a Kreutzercs sonata by Lev Nikolajevic Tolstoj and the second one called Listy duverne (The confidential letters).

In the first year of the new millennium, Janacek’s last opera, based on the theme from the play by Karel Capek, The Makropulos Case, became one of the most frequently performed operas on world opera stages.

Opus

Sinfonietta

It is a masterpiece of his late period, Leos Janacek paid tribute to the city of Brno, his home since early childhood. The piece is famous for its fanfares. The programme of this piece is:

1. Fanfares

2. The castle

3. The Queen’s Cloister

4. The street

5. Town-hall

Rikadla suite

It is a cycle of 18 pieces for 9 voices and chamber ensemble on nursery rhymes words (nursery rhymes). It was inspired by a series of naive drawings which Janacek found in the paper Lidove noviny. The used texts come from Moravia and Ruthenia and each piece has its own list of appropriate instruments and voices.

Po zarostlem chodnicku (On an Overgrown Path)

It is his most popular piano cycle and represents the lyrical miniature style. The most popular parts of the work are for example: Blown-away leaf, The owl (hasn‘t flown away), The Madona of Frydek.

Lasske tance (Lachian Dances)

It represents the variety of derived forms and stylization. The most famous one is Pilky (Saws), inspired by the folk song.