Our evening, from On an Overgrown Path I, Leoš Janáček
Primarily known
for his operas, the Czech composer Leoš
Janáček (1854-1928)
has also left a body of very powerful and intimate solo piano works and chamber
music. Of his set of miniatures On an Overgrown Path, Janáček
wrote: 'there is distress beyond words', and 'they are so dear to me; I don't
think they will ever end.' The cycle of
fifteen small pieces, composed in two sets (1-10 & 11-15), forms a stream
of reminiscences of his youth, the village of Hukaldy, Moravia, where he was
born, and of his beloved daughter Olga, who died in 1903 at the age of
twenty-one. Originally written for
harmonium, Janáček began work on the first set at the time he was composing his
opera Jenufa around 1901. It was not until 1908 that he finished both
sets.
Janáček's
interest in the folk music of his native Moravia went
beyond mere fascination. He developed a
theory of speech-melody based on the natural rhythms and intonations of the
Czech language and extensively used these melodies in all of his music. He used models of Moravian folk poetry
throughout On an Overgrown Path. Above all, however, it is the incredible
range of emotions and jewel-like moments that Janáček evokes through this music
that is the most striking. Memory and
the emotional context of remembering are truly fundamental to On an Overgrown Path. Ieva
Jokubaviciute
Classical Music | Piano Music
Leoš Janáček
On an Overgrown Path I, Our evening Play
Recorded on 10/24/2006, uploaded on 01/18/2009
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Our evening, from On an Overgrown Path I, Leoš Janáček
Primarily known for his operas, the Czech composer Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) has also left a body of very powerful and intimate solo piano works and chamber music. Of his set of miniatures On an Overgrown Path, Janáček wrote: 'there is distress beyond words', and 'they are so dear to me; I don't think they will ever end.' The cycle of fifteen small pieces, composed in two sets (1-10 & 11-15), forms a stream of reminiscences of his youth, the village of Hukaldy, Moravia, where he was born, and of his beloved daughter Olga, who died in 1903 at the age of twenty-one. Originally written for harmonium, Janáček began work on the first set at the time he was composing his opera Jenufa around 1901. It was not until 1908 that he finished both sets.
Janáček's interest in the folk music of his native Moravia went beyond mere fascination. He developed a theory of speech-melody based on the natural rhythms and intonations of the Czech language and extensively used these melodies in all of his music. He used models of Moravian folk poetry throughout On an Overgrown Path. Above all, however, it is the incredible range of emotions and jewel-like moments that Janáček evokes through this music that is the most striking. Memory and the emotional context of remembering are truly fundamental to On an Overgrown Path. Ieva Jokubaviciute
More music by Leoš Janáček
On an Overgrown Path I, They chattered like swallows
String Quartet No. 2, "Intimate Letters"
In the Mists
Pohadka (Fairy Tale)
Piano Sonata 1.X.1905, From the Street
Piano Sonata 1.X.1905, From the Street
String Quartet No. 1 "Kreutzer Sonata"
Moravian Folk Dances
On an Overgrown Path I, A blown-away leaf
On an Overgrown Path I, Come along with us
Performances by same musician(s)
On an Overgrown Path I, They chattered like swallows
Sonata No. 13 Op. 27, No. 1 in E-flat Major, "Quasi una Fantasia"
Violin sonata No. 2 in A Major, Op. 100
Sonata for Piano and Viola Op. 120, No. 1 in f minor
Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Op. 78 in G Major
On an Overgrown Path I, A blown-away leaf
On an Overgrown Path I, Come along with us
On an Overgrown Path I, The Virgin of Frydek
On an Overgrown Path I, My word stop
Sonata in g minor, Op. 22
Classical Music for the Internet Era™
Courtesy of International Music Foundation.