Leoš Janáček: Jenufa, her Stepdaughter

Leoš Janáček: Jenufa, her Stepdaughter
- Year of composition:
- 1894-1903/1908
- Subtitle:
- Opera in 3 acts from Moravian peasant life
- Version:
- Brno version, critical edition
- Composer:
- Leoš Janáček
- Editor:
- Sir Charles Mackerras (1996); John Tyrrell (1996)
- Original language:
- Czech
- Translator:
- Vida Harford (21.11.1950); Otakar Kraus (01.12.1956); Max Brod (1917); Edward Downes (01.12.1956)
- Librettist:
- Gabriela Preissová
- Roles:
- Grandmother Buryja, alto Kostelnicka Buryja, soprano Jenufa, soprano Laca Klemen, tenor Steva Buryja, tenor Foreman, baritone The Mayor, bass His Wife, mezzo-soprano Karolka, mezzo-soprano Herdswoman, mezzo-soprano Barena, soprano Jano, soprano Aunt, alto
- Choir:
- SATTBB: Dorfvolk, Rekruten, Musikanten, Gesinde, Dorfmädchen
- Instrumentation:
- 3 3 3 3 - 4 2 3 1 - timp, perc(2), bells, hp, str - stage music: hn(2), toy tpt, xyl, bells, str(1 1 1 1 1)
- Instrumentation details:
-
piccolo (+3rd fl)
1st flute (+picc)
2nd flute (+picc)
1st oboe
2nd oboe
cor anglais
1st clarinet in Bb (+cl(A))
2nd clarinet in Bb (+cl(A))
bass clarinet in Bb
1st bassoon
2nd bassoon
contrabassoon
1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
3rd horn in F
4th horn in F
1st trumpet in F (+tpt(C))
2nd trumpet in F (+tpt(C))
1st trombone
2nd trombone
3rd trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion (2 players: xylophone, glockenspiel, bells, triangle, cymbal (suspended)
also xylophone cont.aind the scene)
harp
violin I
violin II
viola
violoncello
contrabass
stage music: 1st horn in F
2nd horn in F
toy trumpet in C
bells
violin I(1)
violin II(1)
viola(1)
violoncello(1)
contrabass(1)
- Table of contents:
-
Preface
Chronology and sources
Vorwort
Chronologie und Quellen
I. Akt / Act I (Szene / Scene I-VII)
II. Akt / Act II (Szene / Scene I-VIII)
III. Akt / Act III (Szene / Scene I-XII)
- Scenery:
- 2
- Duration:
- 120’
- Dedication:
- im Angedenken an Olga Janácková
Audiosamples
The complete perusal score (PDF-preview)
Work introduction
With his third opera Jenůfa Leoš Janáček succeeded in making his breakthrough as an operatic composer. Since the premiere of this moving story about the fate of the sexton and her stepdaughter Jenůfa at the Brno National Theatre in 1904, it has become one of the composer’s most frequently performed works. Janáček was the first to succeed in transforming everyday speech directly into music. His method of using speech-melodic motives is clearly distinctive. It is known that the composer preserved everyday conversations in the form of little musical sketches: ‘Jotting down genuine speech melody is, as it were, music’s life class,’ he said.
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full score
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study score
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libretto
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piano reduction
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Next performances
Jenufa, her Stepdaughter
Nationaltheater, Prag (CZ)
Jenufa, her Stepdaughter
Nationaltheater, Prag (CZ)
World première
- Location:
- National Theatre, Brno (CZ)
- Date:
- 21.01.1904
- Orchestra:
- Orchestra of the National Theatre of Brno
- Conductor:
- Metodej Hrazdira Cyril