Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): Nursery Rhymes, JW V/7 – for 9 voices and 10 instrumentalists

Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959): The Opening of the Wells, H 354

Cantata for soloists, reciter, female or children´s choir and a chamber ensemble

Hans Krása (1899–1944): Brundibár

Children´s opera in two acts with a libretto by Adolf Hoffmeister

Janáček´s playful Nursery Rhymes from 1925 is one of his few compositions that will also appeal to younger listeners. He found inspiration (as he had many times before) in the Lidové noviny newspaper, where nursery rhymes with cheerful drawings by Josef Lada, Ondřej Sekora and Jan Hála were published. Janáček had a whole collection of them at home. He chose eight of them and composed a cycle of compositions for 3 mezzo-sopranos, clarinet, piano and a children´s drum. The premiere took place in the hall of the Besední dům in Brno on 26^th October 1925, and it was a great success. One year later, the composer extended the Nursery Rhymes to contain ten more items. Moreover, he added other voices and instruments to the score and framed them with a short overture and a finale. It is interesting that Janáček wanted colour images to be projected while the composition was being performed but the technology available at the time was insufficient for the execution of his vision. Josef Lada fulfilled Janáček´s wish much later, in 1948, when he made a cartoon based on the Nursery Rhymes together with the director Eduard Hofman. It was Lada´s first experience with animated films. At the concert, Nursery Rhymes will be accompanied by the original film.

The Opening of the Wells is probably the most famous work by Bohuslav Martinů. This is probably due to the artist´s intimate confession of his loneliness and unfulfilled desire to return home, which was denied to him by the Communist regime. It is not surprising that this native of Vysočina longed so much for his home when his last visit to his homeland had taken place in 1938. Perhaps that is why he responded so positively to the text by Miroslav Bureš, a native of Polička, and in 1955 composed this fragile chamber cantata which conveys the listener back to an ancient ritual for welcoming the spring. In Martinů´s work, this custom is intertwined with the wisdom of old age and an understanding of the fate which has awaited all humans for generations untold.

This edition of the festival will once again commemorate a work intended for children who were deported to the Terezín Ghetto during World War II. This time, it will probably be the most famous piece connected with Terezín, the children´s opera Brundibár composed by Hans Krása with a text by Adolf Hoffmeister. The opera was originally created for a competition organized in 1938 by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Education. Unfortunately, the events of history unfolded differently and the competition was not evaluated. In 1944, the director of the Prague Jewish orphanage, Otto Freudenfeld, decided to perform the opera. However, the composer himself didn´t take part in the production as he had already been deported to Terezín. Subsequently, Freudenfeld also went to Terezín and he managed to smuggle the piano abstract from the opera into the camp. Krása re-instrumented it again and the famous premiere took place on 23^rd September 1943 in the Magdeburg barracks hall. The opera Brundibár, which is about an oppressor who is defeated by the joint forces of children and animals, gave the audience and the child performers from Terezín a chance to forget for just a moment the horrific world that surrounded them. Needless to say, many of the performers didn´t live to see the end of the war, just like the author of the opera himself, Hans Krása, who was murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp in October 1944.

Author: Jiří Zahrádka

For the fourth time, the Faculty of Music of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts will present a programme prepared by its students at the Janáček festival. The intention is to present – in an unconventional manner – interesting and artistic student activities as well as the individual study specialization areas, which the usual concert visitors are unfamiliar with. The audience will have the opportunity to hear performances by young artists and also to walk through and view different parts of the faculty (from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts concert hall to the stage areas used during tuition, and even completely untraditional places, such as the school corridors) while being accompanied everywhere by young artists. The whole event is being prepared by opera direction students, who will present an “interactive music art exhibition” to the concert visitors in collaboration with students of other musical specializations.

Author: Monika Holá

Conductor: Pavel Šnajdr

Piano: Pavel Zemen (Concertino)

Soprano: Gun-Brit Barkmin

Tenor: Jan Hájek (Pulcinella)

Baritone: Josef Škarka (Pulcinella)

Mezzosoprano: Václava Krejčí Housková (Pulcinella)

Soloists: Gun-Brit Barkmin, Jan Hájek, Josef Škarka, Václava Krejčí Housková

Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951): Pierrot lunaire, Op. 21, For a reciter, flute (piccolo), clarinet (bass clarinet), violin (viola), violoncello and piano

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): Pulcinella (ballet), for soprano, tenor, bass and orchestra

Leoš Janáček: Concertino JW VII/11 for piano, two violins, clarinet, horn and bassoon

The concert will feature two representative works from musical history which were created over a period of eight years and form basic polar opposites to the paths which 20^th century music began to follow afterwards.

Arnold Schönberg’s Pierrot lunaire, Op. 21 is intended for a reciter (the voice is not specified in the score but traditionally a soprano is used), flute (piccolo), clarinet (bass clarinet), violin (viola), violoncello and piano, and is an interpretation of 21 poems by Albert Giraud. This 1912 masterpiece by Schönberg is written with tonal and harmonic freedom using classical forms; its dramatic, jubilant and intense character places it among the highest peaks of expressionist music. The composition consists of three groups of seven very short “melodramas” and it is written to be recited in a precise and specific manner. The reciter must conform to exactly defined notation and often oscillates between singing and speaking.

Schönberg works here masterfully not only with forms but also with colour: he combines ensemble instruments in a remarkable manner using every conceivable playing technique. The instruments often need to be played in extreme positions and the work is exceptionally difficult to perform.

The ballet Pulcinella by Igor Stravinsky is the exact opposite of Pierrot lunaire. The author had begun living outside Russia before World War I, mostly in France and Switzerland. In Paris he became close to Sergei Diaghilev, a promoter of Russian art and the organizer of the Russian Ballet, with which leading modern composers (Debussy, Satie, Poulenc, Prokofiev) and artists (Picasso, de Chirico, Braque, Matisse) cooperated. Stravinsky wrote his first ballet scores for Dagilev´s ensemble: The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, works of groundbreaking significance not only within the composer’s oeuvre but in terms of European music in general. The new, expressively aggressive sound of Stravinsky´s music of this period, where the rhythm is placed above melody and harmony, culminates in the ballet The Rite of Spring, whose premiere in 1913 ended in a legendary scandal. The sung ballet Pulcinella from 1919 was also made to order for Diaghilev´s Russian Ballet. However, there was a change in Stravinsky´s work at the end of the 1920s. Instead of unrestrainedly rhythmic “barbaric” scores, works of a more ‘chamber’ nature were born, marking a turn towards neoclassicism. The source for the ballet Pulcinella was the unpublished compositions of an Italian master from the 18^th century, G. B. Pergolesi, which Diaghilev found during his stays in Italy. He had them copied, and presented them to Stravinsky for editing and the subsequent creation of music for the ballet. These were compositions from the archives of the Naples Conservatory: Act 3 of Il fratello inamorat from 1732, and fragments from the opera Il Flaminio. He also added melodic material from Triol sonatas for the violin and continuo, as well as some well-known arias.

Stravinsky was later accused of not treating the great composer with enough reverence and respect. However, according to Stravinsky respect always remains infertile and can never be a productive and creative element. The theme of the ballet was, again, determined by Diaghilev, who found a manuscript of Neapolitan theatre comedies from 1700 when in Naples and chose from among them the comedy Four Identical Pulcinellas, which featured characters from Italian commedie dell´arte. Leonid Mjasin took charge of the ballet’s choreography, and Pablo Picasso was the stage designer. The premiere of the ballet took place at the Paris Opera in 1920 and Stravinsky was extremely pleased with the final form of the performance: “The performance of Pulcinella was one of those – certainly precious – theatre moments where everything is interconnected and the sum of all the parts – the theme, music, choreography and design, creates a continuous, homogeneous whole.” Pulcinella remains one of the most beautiful works of neoclassicism to this day.

Concertino, which Janáček (1854–1928) himself sometimes called a ‘small piano concerto’, is the middle of three chamber compositions produced at the composer´s creative zenith (Youth, Concertino and Capriccio). Janáček was inspired to compose Concertino in 1924 by an excellent performance by the outstanding Czech pianist Jan Heřman, to whom the author subsequently dedicated the work. It was originally supposed to be a suite called Spring. Shortly before finishing the composition, Janáček wrote to his friend Kamila Stösslová from Hukvaldy: “… I’ve composed a piano concerto named “Spring” here. There is a cricket, flies, a roe-deer – a swift creek – and a person…” The title ‘Spring – Suite’ was replaced by the simple ‘Concertino’ in the end. The first performance took place on 16.2.1926 in Brno at a concert of the Moravian Composers´ Club, and the composition was a great success – the whole of it even had to be repeated. Concertino was equally successful at its first performance in Prague in the same year, after which the composition immediately flew almost all around the world. It was performed at (among other places) the festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music in Frankfurt in 1927.

At the request of the German specialized journal Pult und Taktstock, Janáček wrote a guide to the composition programme in 1927. In the first movement, a hedgehog is angry as the door to his den in an old linden tree was closed. The second movement is about a squirrel which used to jump around in the trees and but ended up dancing in a cage for the enjoyment of children. In the third movement, the staring eyes of owls and other critical denizens of the night are gazing at piano strings, and in the fourth movement it looks as if everyone is arguing over a coin – just like in a fairy tale.

Author: Jiří Zahrádka

An integral part of Janáček´s interests was the support and collection of songs that I call sacred, popular or folk spiritual. Janáček chose to collaborate with (among other people) Hynek Bím in his research into folk songs. Bím’s task was to map western Moravia, and it was Bím who got hold of a collection of old church songs during his repeated collections in the village of Vnorovy. He paid a lot of attention to them despite the fact that they were only a small part of the total number of songs he recorded (as evidenced by the sixteen letters of correspondence between him and Janáček in which he deals with this topic). After all, it was in Vnorovy that Janáček found refuge with his uncle Jan Janáček (who worked as a pastor there from 1870-1878) after his father’s untimely death in 1866. He probably got to know the local spiritual songs in person, as he played the organ at the Vnorovy church gallery during his time there.

The focus of the songs is directly linked to the church year. Some of them can be found in the hymn book Slavíček rájský by Jan Josef Božan from 1719, which was the basic comparative material still used at the Vnorovy parish church services at the time of collection in 1911. Bím wrote down (and partially also recorded on a phonograph) songs for Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and the celebration of the saints, as well as songs whose content is related to events in Christian life.

The programme “Church songs from Vnorovy” will, at least partially, reveal this still undiscovered pearl of folk music culture which until now has remained off the radar for folk music lovers. The selection of songs will allow us to look back one hundred years at a repertoire deeply rooted in the musical and pious environment of this village in the Slovácko region. A more intimate environment would be suitable for the programme, preferably a religious one. Selected singing soloists, as well as choirs from Vnorovy and its surroundings, perform with an organ, chamber instrument or a capella accompaniment. It might be worth considering making a recording of this exceptional occasion…

Author: Magdalena Múčková

Claude Debussy: a selection of songs

Joaquín Turina: Poema en forma de canciones

Leoš Janáček: 6 national songs (sung by Gabel Eva)

Alban Berg: a selection of songs

Richard Strauss: Vier letzte Lieder

This recital by one of the most respected contemporary tenors, Pavol Brešlík, features a selection of songs by composers who personified the progressive trends in music at the beginning of the 20th century: Claude Debussy (1862–1918), a prominent representative of musical impressionism; Alban Berg (1885–1935), a member of the Second Viennese School; Richard Strauss (1864–1949), the most fundamental bearer of the tradition of late romanticism; and Leoš Janáček (1854–1928), a ‘lone wolf’ who cannot be assigned to any 20th century musical tendency. There will also be songs by the Spanish composer Joaquín Turina (1882–1949).

Author: Jiří Zahrádka

Jenůfa is one of Janáček´s most famous works, and it marked a major turning point in his oeuvre. It has been on the repertoire of Brno’s opera ensemble almost continuously since its creation in 1904. At the festival, the successful production by Martin Glaser and chief conductor Marko Ivanović will be enhanced by the presence of an exceptional guest. One of the best singers of Janáček´s characters, and a star who has performed on many renowned opera stages around the world, Finnish soprano Karita Mattila will appear at the festival in the role of Kostelnička.

Jenůfa had its beginnings in a realistic drama penned by G. Preissová (1862-1946), which the composer himself adapted into the form of an opera libretto. Even though Janáček shortened the text of the drama significantly, he managed to make the tragic impact of the story from a Moravian village even deeper. The prodigal and unstable Števa, the stern but kind-hearted Laca and above all the relentless Kostelnička, whose efforts to maintain her position and respect in the village community leads her to murder the child of her foster daughter Jenůfa – these are the characters captured by Janáček in a masterful and dramatic portrait that sends chills down one´s spine while simultaneously awakening feelings of compassion and understanding.

The work on Jenůfa took Janáček nearly nine years. He completed the first act of the opera in 1897, while the second and third were created under circumstances that were greatly tragic for Janáček´s family. In 1902 the composer´s daughter Olga became seriously ill during a visit to Janáček´s brother in St. Petersburg. Janáček completed the second act of the opera after Olga´s return and the third shortly before her death in February 1903. He dedicated Jenůfa to her memory. Janáček wanted to entrust the premiere of the opera to the Prague National Theatre but he was refused with the words that the opera was not suitable to be shown on a leading Czech stage. The first performance thus took place in Brno on 21.1.1904 and was unusually successful. It was not until 1915 that the management of the Prague theatre and conductor Karel Kovařovic were finally persuaded to perform Jenůfa. After a very well-received Prague premiere in 1916, a performance followed in Vienna and Janáček finally found success as a composer not only in the Czech Republic but also worldwide.

Autor: Patricie Částková

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): On an Overgrown Path, Sonata for violin and piano

Richard Strauss (1864–1949): Andante for Horn and Piano

Claude Debussy (1862–1918): Première Rhapsodie for clarinet

The Student Concert of the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno presents works by authors who had a significant influence on the future development of music at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th century. The importance of Leoš Janáček’s musical legacy for culture in Brno is immeasurable. The Academy bears his name with pride, and so logically encourages its students to explore the composer’s works. Janáček originally intended the cycle On an Overgrown Path to be played on the harmonium. He started composing it in 1900, but gradually increased the amount of individual parts; the definitive version in two volumes wasn’t completed until 1911. Janáček’s Sonata for Violin and Piano was created just three years later, at the beginning of World War I.

German composer Richard Strauss and the Frenchman Claude Debussy rank among the most distinctive composers from the turn of the 20th century, though the compositional language they employ is relatively different. Whilst Claude Debussy speaks to us through impressionistic descriptive sound paintings, the work of Richard Strauss is often almost too expressive. The presented compositions are not the most typical products of their authors, however, as both of them were created under special circumstances: Strauss composed his Andante for French Horn and Piano to mark his father’s silver wedding anniversary, and Debussy created his Première Rhapsodie for the clarinet as a new piece to be played in the clarinet examinations at the Paris Conservatory.

Author: Monika Holá

Soloists: Jana Hrochová, tenor – Martin Slavík, Jiří Brückler

Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859–1951): Die Weihe der Nacht, Op. 87/I

For female choir and piano

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): Wolf´s Footprints JW IV/39

for soprano and tenor solo, female choir and piano

Josef Bohuslav Foerster (1859–1951): Abendlied, Op. 89/b

for male choir a cappella

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): The Wandering Madman JW IV/43

for soprano, tenor and baritone solo, and male choir a cappella

Vítězslav Novák (1870–1949): Four Poems by Otokar Březina, Op. 47 – selection (3. Magic Midnights, 4. Thus Sang the Burning Stars)

for mixed choir a cappella

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): The Wedding

for solos, mixed choir, four pianos and percussion

The concert offers a cross-section through the essential Czech and Moravian choral works of the first two decades of the 20^th century (with some overlap, of course). During this period, which was a hectic time not only for music, the trio of composers Foerster – Novák – Janáček indicated the future direction of choral art. It is clear that Janáček´s work represented a fundamental shift from the then-current way of composing for choirs. This is also shown in other choral compositions featured in the programme for this concert. The second half will feature one of the foremost choral works of the 20^th century, Stravinsky´s The Wedding.

For Josef Bohuslav Foerster, the pre-war period was an extremely fruitful and happy one. The author, who lived in Vienna at that time, had his works published by Universal Edition, a publishing house that published many of the major musical achievements of Central Europe at that time. The composition for female choir with piano accompaniment Die Weihe der Nacht dates back to 1910. Foerster wrote it based on the text of a poem by Christian Friedrich Hebbel, and originally provided it with an orchestral accompaniment. It is a kind of nocturne in which both the choir and accompaniment deliver some charming moments of onomatopoeia. The male choral work Abendlied (Evening Song) was composed in 1916 based on a poem by Gustav Kellar, and was again distributed by the prestigious Universal Edition publishing house.

Janáček composed for the female choir briefly at the beginning of 1916, when he created four choral pieces for texts by F. S. Procházka, including Wolf´s Footprints, a poem by Jaroslav Vrchlický. It is not a coincidence that he composed for the female choir during the war period. It was due to the fact that his tried-and-tested Moravian Teacher´s Choir had been so decimated by the loss of men going to the front that it could no longer tour, and so choirmaster Ferdinand Vach thus established the Moravian Female Teacher´s Choir. Wolf´s Footprints also had its premiere the same year. Janáček´s female choral works are rarely performed due to their difficulty, and this is also an opportunity for us to admire the composer´s incomparable invention and unmistakable use of female voices.

The work for male choir with a soprano solo The Wandering Madman was created ten years after Janáček’s trio of choral pieces for Bezruč´s texts. In 1921, Janáček attended a lecture by Rabindranath Tagore, where he noted down the melodies of the poet´s speech before later publishing a column on the subject. The world of this thinker was probably close to that of Janáček, and so shortly afterwards, in 1922, he composed a choral work based on Tagore’s work which is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the choral art. Janáček´s manuscript with a part of the composition decorates the composer´s grave at Brno’s Central Cemetery.

At one point in time, Vítězslav Novák was one of the nation’s most respected artists internationally. As with Foerster, his lucky star rose and shone just before the Great War. Otokar Březina´s poems, which Novák set to music in his mixed a capella choral works from 1912, are a certain philosophical meditation in the context of European symbolism. They are the very first pieces for mixed choir that Novák composed. They are difficult works to perform, and due to their almost mystical nature, they weren´t as well-received as Novák´s previous folk-infused choral composition. The four pieces based on the texts of Otokar Březina´s poems rank among Novák´s most remarkable choral works.

By way of creating a contrast to the featured Czech and Moravian music, one of the world’s top choral works of the 20^th century will also be performed – Igor Stravinsky’s The Wedding for solos, mixed choir, four pianos and percussion. The author started working on it in 1913 and finished the score in 1917. He used Russian wedding texts collected by Piotr Kirievsky for his composition. The Wedding was created alongside Stravinsky´s most famous work, The Rite of Spring, and just as it is there, the main motor of The Wedding is the rhythm, harsh and fascinating. The composer dedicated the “Dance scenes with music and voices” (the subtitle) to the Russian Ballet, and it performed this unusual work in 1923 with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska. Even though The Wedding is one of Stravinsky´s most distinctive works, it is performed only exceptionally due to the difficulties involved in performing and staging it.

Author: Jiří Zahrádka