Janacek: Orchestral Works

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Explore the complete catalog of Orchestral compositions by Janacek. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.

Title Year Actions
6 Lachian Dances, JW VI/17

This is a list of Private Passions episodes from 2010 to 2014. It does not include repeated episodes or compilations.

Idyll for string orchestra, JW VI/3

Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga, JW 4/30 (also translated as the Elegy on the Death of My Daughter Olga; in Czech: Elegie na smrt dcery Olgy) is a cantata for tenor solo, mixed choir and pianoforte, written by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček in 1903. It was written to commemorate the death of composer's daughter, Olga Janáčková. Janáček composed the piece to the text of the Russian teacher Marfa Nikolayevna Veveritsa.

Jealousy, JW VI/10
Jenufa, suite from the opera

Leoš Janáček (Czech: [ˈlɛoʃ ˈjanaːtʃɛk] ; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, music theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic music, including Eastern European folk music, to create an original, modern musical style. Born in Hukvaldy, Janáček demonstrated musical talent at an early age and was educated in Brno, Prague, Leipzig, and Vienna. He then returned to live in Brno, where he married his pupil Zdenka Schulzová and devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research. His earlier musical output was influenced by contemporaries such as Antonín Dvořák, but around the turn of the century he began to incorporate his earlier studies of national folk music, as well as his transcriptions of "speech melodies" of spoken language, to create a modern, highly original synthesis. The death of his daughter Olga in 1903 had a profound effect on his musical output; these notable transformations were first evident in the opera Jenůfa (often called the "Moravian national opera"), which premiered in 1904 in Brno. In the following years, Janáček became frustrated with a lack of recognition from Prague, but this was finally relieved by the success of a revised edition of Jenůfa at the National Theatre in 1916, which gave Janáček access to the world's great opera stages. Janáček's later works are his most celebrated. They include operas such as Káťa Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen, the Sinfonietta, the Glagolitic Mass, the rhapsody Taras Bulba, two string quartets, and other chamber works. Many of Janáček's later works were influenced by Czech and Russian literature, his pan-Slavist sentiments, and his infatuation with Kamila Stösslová. After his death in 1928, Janáček's work was heavily promoted on the world opera stage by the Australian conductor Charles Mackerras, who also restored some of his compositions to their original, unrevised forms. In his homeland he inspired a new generation of Czech composers including several of his students. Today he is considered one of the most important Czech composers, along with Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana.

Káta Kabanová, suite from the opera

Leoš Janáček (Czech: [ˈlɛoʃ ˈjanaːtʃɛk] ; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, music theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic music, including Eastern European folk music, to create an original, modern musical style. Born in Hukvaldy, Janáček demonstrated musical talent at an early age and was educated in Brno, Prague, Leipzig, and Vienna. He then returned to live in Brno, where he married his pupil Zdenka Schulzová and devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research. His earlier musical output was influenced by contemporaries such as Antonín Dvořák, but around the turn of the century he began to incorporate his earlier studies of national folk music, as well as his transcriptions of "speech melodies" of spoken language, to create a modern, highly original synthesis. The death of his daughter Olga in 1903 had a profound effect on his musical output; these notable transformations were first evident in the opera Jenůfa (often called the "Moravian national opera"), which premiered in 1904 in Brno. In the following years, Janáček became frustrated with a lack of recognition from Prague, but this was finally relieved by the success of a revised edition of Jenůfa at the National Theatre in 1916, which gave Janáček access to the world's great opera stages. Janáček's later works are his most celebrated. They include operas such as Káťa Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen, the Sinfonietta, the Glagolitic Mass, the rhapsody Taras Bulba, two string quartets, and other chamber works. Many of Janáček's later works were influenced by Czech and Russian literature, his pan-Slavist sentiments, and his infatuation with Kamila Stösslová. After his death in 1928, Janáček's work was heavily promoted on the world opera stage by the Australian conductor Charles Mackerras, who also restored some of his compositions to their original, unrevised forms. In his homeland he inspired a new generation of Czech composers including several of his students. Today he is considered one of the most important Czech composers, along with Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana.

Moravian dances, JW VI/7
Schluck und Jau, incidental music, JW 9/11

This list of compositions by Leoš Janáček can be sorted by their genre, catalogue number (JW), date composed, Czech title, and English title. Click on the column headings. JW numbers are from Nigel Simeone, John Tyrrell, and Alena Němcová, Janáček's Works: A Catalogue of the Music and Writings of Leoš Janáček (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997). The correct format for JW numbers is Roman numeral (for the genre) before the slash and Arabic numeral (for the work) after the slash. Arabic numerals have been used throughout here for sortability.

Sinfonietta, JW VI/18

This is a list of Private Passions episodes from 2010 to 2014. It does not include repeated episodes or compilations.

Suite for String Orchestra, JW VI/2

This is a list of Private Passions episodes from 2010 to 2014. It does not include repeated episodes or compilations.

Suite, op. 3, JW VI/6

This is a list of Private Passions episodes from 2010 to 2014. It does not include repeated episodes or compilations.

Taras Bulba JW VI/15

Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga, JW 4/30 (also translated as the Elegy on the Death of My Daughter Olga; in Czech: Elegie na smrt dcery Olgy) is a cantata for tenor solo, mixed choir and pianoforte, written by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček in 1903. It was written to commemorate the death of composer's daughter, Olga Janáčková. Janáček composed the piece to the text of the Russian teacher Marfa Nikolayevna Veveritsa.

The Cunning Little Vixen

The Cunning Little Vixen (original title Příhody lišky Bystroušky or Tales of Vixen Sharp-Ears in English) is a three-act Czech-language opera by Leoš Janáček completed in 1923 to a libretto the composer himself adapted from a novella by Rudolf Těsnohlídek.

The Excursions of Mr. Broucek, suite from the opera

The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century (Czech: Výlety páně Broučkovy) is the complete title of Leoš Janáček’s fifth opera, based on two Svatopluk Čech novels, Pravý výlet pana Broučka do Měsíce (1888) (The True Excursion of Mr. Brouček to the Moon) and Nový epochální výlet pana Broučka, tentokráte do XV. století (1889) ('‘The Epoch-making Excursion of Mr. Brouček, this time to the 15th Century'’). The librettists for Part 1 were František Gellner, Viktor Dyk, František Sarafínský Procházka and others, while Part 2 was written by F. S. Procházka. This two-part satirical opera was premiered at the National Theatre in Prague on 23 April 1920, the only Janáček opera not premiered in Brno. Mr. Brouček (translated as "Mr. Beetle" (literally little beetle)) is a Philistine landlord in Prague who experiences a series of fantastic events as he is swept away (due in large part to excessive drinking) first to the Moon and then to 15th-century Prague, during the Hussite uprising against the Holy Roman Empire in 1420 (see Synopsis). In both excursions, Brouček encounters characters who are transformed versions of his earthly acquaintances. Due to the popularity of the original novels by the iconic Czech writer Svatopluk Čech the opera was met with much scrutiny. Janáček experienced a number of setbacks in the creation and rehearsal of the work, especially in dealing with librettists (See Background). The composer's aim in The Excursions of Mr. Brouček was apparently quite specific: "I want us to be disgusted with such people, to stamp on them and strangle them when we meet them," speaking of Brouček. Janáček's campaign, along with Čech's, was against the pettiness of the bourgeoisie, specifically of Czechoslovakia. However, according to Desmond Shawe-Taylor, who saw the opera performed in Czechoslovakia, most observers reacted with cheerful laughter and even felt a bit sorry for the poor fellow Brouček. He became almost lovable rather than despised, as Janáček had originally intended, and his shortcomings, failings, and ordinariness tend to be seen as qualities common to regular citizens of all lands.

The Fiddler's Child, ballad JW VI/14
The Makropulos Case, suite from the opera

Jan Walter Susskind (1 May 1913 – 25 March 1980) was a Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague and travelled to London in March 1939 when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. He worked for substantial periods in Australia, Canada and the United States, as a conductor and teacher.