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Leoš Janáček (1882)
Your first Janáček?
My friend has no ear for music whatsoever. Every time she attempted to sing, she made everybody smile. Once she told me what happened to her in elementary school. During music lessons, which used to be mandatory for all pupils, she was summoned to the front of the class by her teacher (who had hard time to conceal her dissatisfaction with my friend’s lack of musical talent) with the words “Come up here to sing something for us, you little Janáček”. Some might find the story amusing, some might find it horrifying.
It tells us something about the attitude of most people towards composers like Janáček and classical music in general. Thanks to the occasional attempts to bring music to masses we sometimes grudgingly accept some parts of The Four Seasons, often with arrangements where a chamber ensemble is substituted for electronica, accompanied by a sexy soloist with a plastic violin. In addition, Vivaldi’s music can be heard during hockey games between whistle and face-off.
Similarly, the score from Carmina Burana, the monumental O Fortuna by Carl Orff, is frequently (ab)used to herald on stage the arrival of beauty pageant finalists – or even as background music for TV news reports on fatal car accidents.
Irony or ignorance?
The recording Čierna zem (the Black Soil) is different. If you hear it and if you fail to realize that it is the work of Leoš Janáček, you might say “nice folksy songs“. If you keep listening (more carefully this time), you will see the folk motive become deeper and more interesting and intriguing. If you focus on the lyrics, you will learn about the fate of real people. The great strength and melodiousness of these ballads, along with Janáček’s arrangements and contemporary presentation, are so strong at times that you will remember this experience forever.
I hope you will want to have this experience over and over, and to share it with your friends. Some of the songs might inspire you to read Karel Jaromír Erben’s The Bouquet once again.
What I want most of all, though, is for the beauty of these songs and ballads, collected and arranged by Leoš Janáček, to inspire you to get to know other songs written by this genius. It is a path well worth treading. At the end of it, you will be rewarded by knowing the beauty and satisfaction only music can bring.
Michal Javůrek, publisher, 2008
Order CD Black soil online za doporučenou cenu 300,- Kč.