Leoš Janáček

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Lore & Background

Janáček's path to recognition was rocky. After *Jenůfa* premiered in Brno in 1904, he felt it was only a provincial achievement and aspired to Prague, but the opera was refused there for twelve years. Dejected, he went to Luhačovice spa, where he met Kamila Urválková, whose love story supplied the theme for his next opera, *Osud* (Destiny). In 1905, he attended a demonstration in support of a Czech university in Brno; the violent death of a young joiner, František Pavlík, at the hands of police inspired his piano sonata *1. X. 1905 (From The Street)*. The incident led him to further promote the anti-German ethos of the Russian Circle, which he had co-founded in 1897 and which was officially banned by the Austrian police in 1915. His life in the first decade of the 20th century was complicated by personal and professional difficulties. The breakthrough finally came with a revised edition of *Jenůfa* at the National Theatre in 1916, giving Janáček access to the world's great opera stages. His later works—*Káťa Kabanová*, *The Cunning Little Vixen*, the *Sinfonietta*, the *Glagolitic Mass*, the rhapsody *Taras Bulba*, and two string quartets—are his most celebrated, many influenced by Czech and Russian literature, his pan-Slavist sentiments, and his infatuation with Kamila Stösslová. After his death in 1928, Australian conductor Charles Mackerras heavily promoted his work on world stages and restored some compositions to their original, unrevised forms.

Reader's Guide

Janáček's significance lies in his original synthesis of Moravian and other Slavic folk music with his transcriptions of "speech melodies" from spoken language. His opera *Jenůfa*, premiered in Brno in 1904, marked a turning point after the death of his daughter Olga, to whom he dedicated the work. It eventually brought international recognition after its 1916 Prague revival. His later works—including *Káťa Kabanová*, *The Cunning Little Vixen*, the *Sinfonietta*, the *Glagolitic Mass*, *Taras Bulba*, and two string quartets—are his most celebrated. Conductor Charles Mackerras championed his music and restored unrevised versions of his compositions. In his homeland, Janáček inspired a new generation of Czech composers including several of his students, and today he is considered one of the most important Czech composers, along with Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana.

Did You Know?

• Janáček's daughter Olga died in February 1903; he dedicated his opera *Jenůfa* to her memory.
• He co-founded the Russian Circle in 1897, which was officially banned by the Austrian police in 1915.
• The violent death of František Pavlík at a 1905 demonstration inspired Janáček's piano sonata *1. X. 1905 (From The Street)*.
• Janáček's opera *Jenůfa* was refused by the Prague National Theatre for twelve years before its successful 1916 revival.
• After his death, Australian conductor Charles Mackerras restored some of Janáček's compositions to their original, unrevised forms.