Search results for ""author leoš janáček""

Janáček wrote regular articles for the Brno daily paper and in these he expressed his attitude and feelings towards the everyday things in nature and human situations which had commanded his attention. The sounds he heard, especially the human voice, he annotated with musical sketches and these appear in this book in his own words and serve to illuminate the works which this great composer produced. The thirty-odd articles are grouped under Memories of Youth, The Sounds of Music, Travel, Birds, while included under Operatic Studies is a fascinating account of the origins of The Cunning Little Vixen. The book also contains some rare photographs and music examples, many in Janáček's own hand.

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This double volume contains two masterpieces of the Czech composer Leoš Janácek. Jenufa was the opera which finally brought him international recognition – and, with it, fame at home. Based on Ostrovsky’s The Storm, Katya Kabanova contains wonderful music inspired by the composer’s love for a much younger woman. The scores are discussed by Arnold Whittall, and the background sources are variously introduced by social and literary historians. John Tyrell comments on an important letter about the genesis of Katya; Sir Charles Mackerras describes his work as an interpreter and advocate of this brilliantly original and dramatic music. Contents: A National Composer Jaroslav Krejci; Drama into Libretto, Karel Brusak; The Challenge from Within: Janácek’s Musico-dramatic Mastery, Arnold Whittall; Janácek and Czech Realism, Jan Smaczny; Jenufa: Libretto by Leoš Janácek; Jenufa: English translation by Otakar Kraus and Edward Downes; A Russian Heart of Darkness, Alex de Jonge; Janácek’s forgotten commentary on ‘Katya Kabanova’, John Tyrrell; Katya Kabanova: Libretto by Leoš Janácek; Katya Kabanova: English translation by Norman Tucker; Janácek’s Operas – Preparation and Performance, Charles Mackerras

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