Universal Edition - Leoš Janácek

Leoš Janácek
03.07.1854—12.08.1928

Future Performances

Glagolitic Mass
25.05.2013, Sittard (NL)
Sinfonietta
25.05.2013, Zürich (CH)
Glagolitic Mass
26.05.2013, Venlo (NL)
Katya Kabanova
26.05.2013, Regensburg (D)
The Cunning Little Vixen
26.05.2013, Innsbruck (A)

News

  • © Wiener Festwochen 2007
    Boulez and Chéreau on Janáček’s From the House of the Dead
    Boulez and Chéreau on Janáček’s From the House of the Dead
    It was hailed the “performance of the year” when Pierre Boulez and Patrice Chéreau unveiled the [...]
  • Leos Janacek - From the House of the Dead
    John Tyrell on Janácek's From the House of the Dead
    John Tyrell on Janácek's From the House of the Dead
    Considered the foremost Janáček expert, John Tyrrell found himself confronted with complex issues [...]
  • Leos Janácek
    Mark Audus on the original Brno version of Jenufa
    Mark Audus on the original Brno version of Jenufa
    Janáček’s opera Jenůfa was Janácek’s breakthrough to the international scene. Now the origin [...]
  • Universal Edition
    Max Brod’s obituary of Leoš Janáček
    Max Brod’s obituary of Leoš Janáček
    Read Max Brod's obituary of Leoš Janáček from 1928, which was reprinted in the third issue of our [...]
  • Leos Janacek
    Janáček’s From the House of the Dead in Vienna
    Janáček’s From the House of the Dead in Vienna
    Peter Konwitschny’s controversial production from the Zurich Opera comes to Vienna this December. [...]
  • Jenufa at the Malmö Opera
    Jenufa in Sweden
    Jenufa in Sweden
    From 19 November Janácek’s opera can be seen at the Malmö Opera in a new production by Orpha Phe [...]
  • Leoš Janácek's Jenufa at the Opéra de Rennes
    Jenufa in the reconstructed original version
    Jenufa in the reconstructed original version
    On 4 November Opéra de Rennes shows Leoš Janácek's opera Jenufa in the original version of 1904, [...]
  • Salzburger Festspiele
    Salzburg Festival 2011
    Salzburg Festival 2011
    Gustav Mahler, whose anniversaries have been the centre of attention all this year, is also the high [...]

Audio Excerpts

  • previous
  • play
  • pause
  • next
  • stop
  • min volume
  • max volume
 

Leoš Janácek

The Composer

1854Leoš Janáček is born on 3rd July in Hukvaldy, Moravia.

1869 – Finishes school and begins to attend the Brno Teacher Training Institute.

1872 – Begins teaching, and becomes the choirmaster at the monastery where he was a chorister.

1874 – Becomes a fully qualified teacher and attends the Prague Organ School.

1877 – First piece, Exaudi, choral piece for mixed voices published.

1881 – Marries Zdenka Schulzová and is appointed the founding director of the Brno Organ School.

1882 – Daughter, Olga, born but soon afterwards separates from his wife. Begins teaching at Brno Beseda, and at the Organ School.

1884 – Janácek returns to his wife. Hudební listy is [...]

About the Music

Read Max Brod's obituary of Leoš Janácek.


Born in 1854 in North-Eastern Moravia, Leoš Janáček had an extraordinary life, marked by tragedies in his family, inspired in his late work by his love for a married woman and encouraged by success which did not come his way until his sixties.

He lost both his children: his son Vladimir at the age of two and his daughter Olga at twenty-one. His wife Zdenka tried to kill herself.

At 63, Janácek met Kamila Stösslová, a married woman and mother of two children, several decades younger than himself, and fell in love with her. It was an emotional upheaval which found expression in a range of mature works as well as in 650 letters. In one [...]

10 of 66 Works

1.X.1905 | for orchestra 1906
Adagio | for orchestra 1891
From the House of the Dead | Opera in 3 acts | historical version (contains ori [...] 1928
From the House of the Dead | Opera in 3 acts | critical-practical version (by S [...] 1928
From the House of the Dead | Opera in 3 acts 1928
The Excursion of Mr. Broucek to the Moon | Opera in 2 acts and 1 epoligue 1920
The Excursion of Mr. Broucek to the 15th Century 1917
The Excursions of Mr. Broucek | Opera in 4 acts 1920
Greetings Maria | for soprano or tenor, mixed chorus (ad lib.), violin and pian [...] 1904
Constitues | for male choir and organ 1903