The Concertino for

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

, two

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

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, clarinet,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

and bassoon is a composition by the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

composer

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, baptised Leo Eugen Janáček; 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic musics, including Eastern European f ...

Background

The composition was written in first months of 1925, but Janáček decided on its inception in the end of 1924. He was impressed by the skills of pianist Jan Heřman, and therefore he dedicated the composition to him. (The first printing by ''Hudební matice'' from 1926 bears the dedication: "To Jan Heřman"). The concertino was at first intended to be a piano concerto, but later grew into a small chamber concerto. It was first entitled "Spring".Score, p. XI This title Janáček wrote into the finished manuscript; he also added a date (25 April 1925) and a program note. The première of this 'small concerto' took place on 16 February 1926 in Brno at the third concert of the ''Moravian Composer's Club''. The piano part was performed by

Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová (19 November 1899 in Lviv – 25 September 1975 in Prague) was a Czechoslovak concert pianist and piano teacher, a professor at the Prague Academy of Arts. Her students included Ivan Moravec. Ilona Štěpánová-Kurz ...

, František Kudláček played first violin, Viktor Nopp the second, the viola was played by Josef Trkan, the clarinet by Stanislav Krtička, František Janský played French horn and František Bříza the bassoon. The work was successful: it was played twice at its premiere and soon received great acclaim in Europe.

Structure

The composition consists of four

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

: In 1927 Janáček added a commentary to the definitive program. The theme from the first movement is compared to a "grumpy hedgehog", the clarinet in the second movement to a "fidgety squirrel", the atmosphere of the third part is compared to a "night owl and other night animals", and the last movement is considered by the composer as the "scene from a fairy-tale, where everybody is arguing". The first movement contains only horn and piano, the second only clarinet and piano; other instruments join in during the third and fourth movements.

Notes

References

Janáček, Leoš: ''Concertino per pianoforte e insieme da camera''. Score. Brno: Editio Janáček, 2001. H 0001. ISMN M 66051-175-6

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Concertino (Janacek) Janacek Compositions by Leoš Janáček 1925 compositions Compositions for piano Compositions for septet