Janáček and his world / edited by Michael Beckerman.

Other author Beckerman, Michael Brim, 1951-
Format Book
Publication InfoPrinceton, N.J. ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2003.
Descriptionx, 316 pages : illustrations, music, genealogical table ; 24 cm.
Subjects
Janáček, Leoš, 1854-1928--Criticism and interpretation.
Music--19th century. --History and criticism.
Music--20th century. --History and criticism.

SeriesBard music festival
Bard Music Festival series. ^A368770
Contents Introduction. Janáček and our world / Michael Beckerman -- Part 1. Essays. The cultural politics of language and music: Max Brod and Leoš Janáček / Leon Botstein -- How Janáček composed operas / John Tyrrell -- Janáček and the captured muse / Diane M. Paige -- Reinterpreting Janáček and Kamila: Dangerous liaisons in Czech fin-de-siècle music and literature / Geoffrey Chew -- A Turk and a Moravian in Prague: Janáček's Brouček and the perils of musical patriotism / Derek Katz -- Zdenka Janáčková's memoirs and the fallacy of music as autobiography / Paul Wingfield -- Janáček's vizitka / Michael Beckerman -- Part 2. Janáček's writings / translated by Véronique Firkušný-Callegari and Tatiana Firkušný ; introduced, and with commentary, by Michael Beckerman. Introduction: Janáček--Writer / Michael Beckerman -- Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner (1884-1885) ; My Luhačovice (1903) ; Last year and this year (1905) ; An example from Podskalí (1909) ; Whitsunday 1910 in Prague (1910) ; Stage direction (1918) ; Janáček on naturalism (1924-1925) / Leoš Janáček.
Abstract Once thought to be a provincial composer of only passing interest to eccentrics, Leos Janáček (1854-1928) is now widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful and original creative figures of his time. Banned for all purposes from the Prague stage until the age of 62, and unable to make it even out of the provincial capital of Brno, his operas are now performed in dynamic productions throughout the globe. This volume brings together some of the world's foremost Janáček scholars to look closely at a broad range of issues surrounding his life and work. Representing the latest in Janáček scholarship, the essays are accompanied by newly translated writings by the composer himself. The collection opens with an essay by Leon Botstein who clarifies and amplifies how Max Brod contributed to Janáček's international success by serving as "point man" between Czechs and Germans, Jews and non-Jews. John Tyrrell, the dean of Janáček scholars, distills more than thirty years of research in "How Janáček Composed Operas," while Diane Paige considers Janáček's liaison with a married woman and the question of the artist's muse. Geoffrey Chew places the idea of the adulterous muse in the larger context of Czech fin de siècle decadence in his thoroughgoing consideration of Janáček's problematic opera Osud. Derek Katz examines the problems encountered by Janáček's satirically patriotic "Excursions of Mr. Broucek" in the post-World War I era of Czechoslovak nationalism, while Paul Wingfield mounts a defense of Janáček against allegations of cruelty in his wife's memoirs. In the final essay, Michael Beckerman asks how much true history can be culled from one of Janáček's business cards. The book then turns to writings by Janáček previously unpublished in English. These not only include fascinating essays on Naturalism, opera direction, and Tristan and Isolde, but four impressionistic chronicles of the "speech melodies" of daily life. They provide insight into Janáček's revolutionary method of composition, and give us the closest thing we will ever have to the "heard" record of a Czech pre-war past-or any past, for that matter.
General noteThe Bard Music Festival Princeton Paperbacks.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
LCCN 2003105438
ISBN069111675X (cloth)
ISBN0691116768 (paperback)

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Music Stacks ML410.J18 J353 2003 ✔ Available Place Hold