Selected and reviewed by ANDREW EALES
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Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) lived a life of music, but it was in his mature phase that he created the most enduring of his masterpieces.
Works such as The Cunning Little Vixen, the orchestral Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba, the Glagolitic Mass, and two popular string quartets have ensured that Janáček’s reputation is now immortalised as one of the greatest ever Czech composers, and a leading figure in the narrative of European music in the early twentieth century.
Janáček composed for the piano throughout his career, from his younger days as a student in Leipzig through to Vzpomínka [Reminiscence], composed in his final year. However, his major published works date from between 1900-1912:
- On an Overgrown Path (1900, 1908, 1911)
- Sonata I. X. 1905 (1905) and
- In the Mists (1912).
In this survey I will take a look at each of these works, followed by a recent compilation of Janáček’s less well-known solo piano music.
In all cases, I will be turning to the benchmark editions from Bärenreiter, which can be regarded as the authoritative performing versions.
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