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Alyssa Gallagher

MUS 323

Professor Kim

April 27, 2017

Leo Janek

Leo Janek (1854-1928) was among the many composers of the late nineteenth and

early twentieth century who drew inspiration from the traditions of their homeland. He did not

derive his music through brute imitation of these idioms but from a nuanced synthesis of modern

and folk styles. It was due to these forward-thinking yet nationalistic tendencies that he came to

be considered one of the foremost Czech composers.

Janek was born in the village Hukvaldy in Moravia, a historical country in the eastern

region of the Czech Republic. His father Jiri was a schoolteacher but both he and his mother

Amalie were musically inclined. Janek showed his proclivity for music at a young age when

he was eleven he was sent to the Moravian capital Brno to study choral and organ works at the

Abbey of St. Thomas with Pavel Kkovsk. This provided the basis for his musical education.

Through his early 20s, Janek studied at the Organ School in Prague where he excelled despite

his extreme poverty. Since he could not afford a piano, he instead used a chalk drawing of a

keyboard in his room. He was briefly suspended for writing a scathing review of Skuhersks

performance of the Gregorian mass but managed to graduate in 1875 with highest honors. He

studied with various teachers and at different conservatories until he was appointed head of the

Organ School in 1881. By the mid 1880s, his focus shifted from performing music to writing it.

There were three elements that were crucial to Janeks development as a composer:

Moravian folk music, Russian culture, and his writings on musicology and criticism. He began
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studying the music of his native land in the 1880s with Frantiek Barto and was one of the first

to use an Edison phonograph to record the songs of villagers to transcribe them later. Moravian

folk song are distinct in that they are freer in both their rhythmic and harmonic structures.

Rhythm and meter changes irregularly and their already unique modes modulate frequently. He

observed the dances which accompanied these songs which inspired him to compose music for

his ballet Rkos Rkczy. However, his studies of Eastern Czech traditions are most apparent in

his operas while his earliest opera, rka (1887-1888) is highly Romantic in the tradition of

Wagner, Dvorak, and Smetana, Jenfa (1904) and Vc Makropulos (1926) use the inflections of

Moravian speech in coordination with their musical characteristics in order to create a style

which is unmistakably Czech. Jenfa in particular helped to establish Janeks reputation

around the world.

Janek greatly appreciated the music of Russia. He was particularly moved by the

performances of Anton Rubinstein and the music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. His visits inspired

him to found the Brno Russian Circle in 1909 which celebrated and supported performances of

works by Russian composers. While it is difficult to discern any specific elements of Russian

music in his compositions, the work he produced after these visits to Russia had far greater depth

and distinction in style.

From 1877 to 1927 Janek released a multitude of essays and articles on the subject of

music theory and criticism. Many of these were published in his own Hudebn listy journal. This

journal was also a medium for the publication of his folk song transcriptions. He criticized and

promoted Czech operas and developed his ideas in regards to rhythm, or sasovn.

Major Works:

Thema con variazioni: Zdenka Variations (1880)

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This is one of Janeks earliest works for piano and was written as a gift for his 14-year-

old student, Zdenka Schulzova, who he ended up marrying the following year. The piece is not

representative of his developed style but still showcases his Czech influences and melodic

abilities. The piece is comprised of a gentle theme and seven variations of diverse styles. As a

whole it is most reminiscent of early Romantic composers like Schumann and Brahms.

Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 (1905-1906)

Janek composed this two-movement piano sonata in tribute to a carpenter who was

killed by bayonet during a rally in favor of a Czech university in Brno. At one point, Janek

wrote a third movement for the work. However, he was displeased with it and burned the

manuscript. He then threw the original two movements into the Vltava river, an action which he

later regretted. Luckily, Ludmila Tukov, the pianist who premiered the work, found her copy in

1924 and re-premiered the work in Prague that same year. The first two movements are called

Pedtucha (Foreboding or Presentiment) and Smrt (Death). Pedtucha is fast yet halting with

irregular staccato passages propelled by repetitive rhythms. Smrt is lyrical and melodic and is

derived entirely from the thematic material of the opening motif. The third movement was

intended to be a funeral march, but it did not survive Janeks destruction.

On an Overgrown Path (1900-1911)

This piano cycle is divided into two books where Book I contains ten pieces and Book II

contains five. Each is a character piece based on Moravian folk melodies. Book I was published

in 1911 with the title Small Compositions for Piano. Programmatic titles were assigned after the

fact such as Lstek odvanut" ("A Blown-Away Leaf) or "Frdeck panna Maria" ("The

Madonna of Frydek). Book II was published posthumously in 1942 without poetic titles. The

earlier pieces in this set are not entirely idiomatic to the piano; this is due to the fact that they
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were originally written for the harmonium, an organ-like instrument that was fashionable at the

the time in Moravia. The beautiful melodies in On an Overgrown Path are indicative of his

prowess as an operatic and vocal composer while its rhythmic complexity reveal his academic

ventures.

In the Mists (1912)

Janek wrote this during the time after his daughter had died and while his operas were

not yet being recognized. It is the last of his major works for piano. While it is not a very

technically demanding piece, it requires the performer to have a light touch and sensitive

phrasing. This is made apparent in the title of the first three pieces Andante, Molto Adagio,

and Andantino, respectively. The final movement is a rapidly changing Presto. Similarly to the

Moravian folk music he studied, he moves freely between tonal centers and uses highly irregular

meter changes. The piece in general shows a more reflective and introspective side of Janek

and is the pinnacle of his synthesis between modern and folk elements.

Minor Works:

Intimate Sketches (published posthumously in 1994)

This set of 13 minute-long piano pieces was compiled from Janeks manuscripts and

published as a set in 1994.

Nrodn tance na Morav [Folk Dances in Moravia] (1888-9)

This set of pieces was published as a direct result of Janeks musicological studies and

is representative of his formative years.

Na pamtku [In memoriam] (date unknown)

While this is an incredibly short piano piece of only 29 measures, it represents much of

how Janek would develop as a composer. It demonstrates the rhythmic principle which he
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would later refer to in his music theory essays as scasovka

.
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Works Cited

"Compositions By: Janek, Leo." IMSLP. Petrucci Music Library. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica. "Leos Janacek." Encyclopdia Britannica.

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc., 20 July 1998. Web. 24 Apr. 2017.

Guerrieri, Matthew. "Janeks Piano Sonata Evokes an Outrage Poetically." Boston Globe. 07

June 2014. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

Kalhous, David. "Leo Janek and His Works for Piano in Musical, Aesthetic, and Cultural

Context." The College Courant 3.9 (2013). Northwestern University. 2013. Web.

27 Apr. 2017.

Rockwell, John. "Lets Janacek: The Vindication of a Composer." The New York Times. The New

York Times, 19 Mar. 1983. Web. 23 Apr. 2017.

Shulman, Laurie. "The Master Pianists Series: Jonathan Biss, Piano." Chamber Music. The

Muriel Mcbrien Kauffman Master Pianists Series, 2012. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

Tyrrell, John. Janacek: Years of a Life Volume 1 (1854-1914): The Lonely Blackbird. Faber &

Faber, 2011. Print.

Zemanov, Mirka. Janacek: A Composer's Life. Boston: Northeastern UP, 2002. Print.