Presents
Leos Janacek
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| In Tears (No.9) | |||
| The Virgin of Frydek (No.4) | The Barn Owl Has Not Flown Away (No.10) | ||
| They Chattered Like Swallows (No.5) | Andante (No.11) | ||
| Words Fail (No.6) | Allegretto (No.12) |
On an Overgrown Path--12 Pieces for String Quartet
The cycle On an Overgrown Path is an example of autobiographical works that became increasingly important in Janacek’s music. Some scholars believe the inspiration for these works was Dvorak’s own cycle, Cypresses. On an Overgrown Path refers to the countryside around Hukvaldy, Janáček’s Moravian home town. He later commented that he was “walking along an overgrown path of old memories.” These glimpses of from his past are in the 19th-century tradition of character pieces. The complete collection comprises two volumes. The first group of ten was published in 1911 as Small Compositions for Piano. Poetic titles were added afterward. A second series of five pieces appeared posthumously in 1942 and were not given programmatic titles. Some of these pieces initially appeared in 1901 and 1902 as part of a periodical collection for harmonium called Slavic Melodies. Music for harmonium was fashionable in Moravia at the turn of the 20th century. Not long after this, all sorts of arrangements for different combinations began to appear, including the first one for string quartet in 1925 while the composer was still alive. A number of subsequent arrangements have appeared since then.
The first piece, Our Evenings, captures the atmosphere at dusk in Hukvaldy. The movement’s main theme has irregular phrases; brief twittering passages interrupt to imitate woodland birds, or possibly animals disturbing the underbrush. Persistent accompaniment figures approach ostinato character, perhaps the narrator’s walking tempo. Several of the titles are self explanatory of things he would have seen on walks or in his memories. A Blown Away Leaf was a love song of a long forgotten old flame. They Chattered Like Swallows was evoked by seeing a group of young girls playing together. The Virgin of Frýdecká refers to a church in the town of Frydek in Silesian Moravia along the Polish border Janáček sought to evoke religious processions and the meditations of pilgrims in church. Chorale-like chords suggest the organ and the reverent occasion. The chordal passages alternate with a melody above an oscillating tremolo accompaniment that emulates cimbalom, a hammer dulcimer common to Gypsy and popular Eastern European music. Several of the other pieces—Unutterable Anxiety, Words Fail, and In Tears were all inspired by the death of his daughter.
Leos Janacek (1854-1928) was born in the Moravian town of Hukvaldy. He began his studies in Brunn (Brno) and then at the Prague, Leipzig, and Vienna conservatories. Afterwards he he obtained a teaching post at the Brno College of Music, later serving as its director. As a composer, he primarily concerned himself with works for voice, however he did write two string quartets and a number of sonatas. His music up until around 1900 shows the influence of Smetana and Dvorak, but in his later works, he developed his own highly original style apart from any other composer, including his many students. Though still traditionally tonal and often of a folkoric vein, it expands tonal boundaries and really cannot be categorized..
These lovely pieces can be played individually as encores or in a group of 4 or 5 to make a short program selection or, of course, in their entirety.
Parts: $24.95
Parts & Score: $34.95
