Main content

Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek: music is a being come alive

How did Janacek, so profoundly rooted in his Czech homeland, produce music so universally appealing, and what was the spur to his final decade of unprecedented creative energy?

How did Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek, a committed Czech nationalist whose intensely personal response to the places, landscapes and traditions of his Moravian homeland, produce music that is not only instantly recognisable but also viscerally connects to audiences all over the world? And how, in the last decade of Jan谩膷ek's life, did a chance encounter with a woman almost 40 years his junior release a surely unparalleled burst of creative energy and a spate of late, great masterpieces?

Tom Service goes in search of Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek, composer and man, in the company of musicologist and conductor Nigel Simeone, and Relate Counsellor Simone Bose.

David Papp (producer)

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 23 Apr 2021 16:30
91热爆 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Perfect Harmony

Next

Tunes for 'Toons

See all episodes from The Listening Service

Music Played

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Glagolitic mass

    Performer: Ale拧 B谩rta. Performer: Hibla Gerzmava. Performer: Jan Martin铆k. Performer: Stuart Neill. Performer: Veronika Hajnova. Performer: Prague Philharmonic Choir. Performer: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Ji艡铆 B臎lohl谩vek.
    • Decca.
    • 483 4080.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Sinfonietta

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • LSO0850.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Sinfonietta

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • LSO0850.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Sedmdesat tisic [The seventy thousand] for male chorus

    Conductor: Lubom铆r M谩tl. Performer: Moravian Teachers' Choir.
    • NAXOS.
    • 8.553623.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    The Makropulos case [Vec Makropulos] - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • DECCA.
    • 475 6872.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Katya Kabanova - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Adolf Tomaschek. Performer: Dalibor Jedli膷ka. Performer: Elisabeth S枚derstr枚m. Performer: Gertrude Jahn. Performer: Heinz Dressel. Performer: Jaroslav Sou膷ek. Performer: Jitka Pavlova. Performer: Lubuse Marova. Performer: Nadezda Kniplova. Performer: Peter Dvorsk媒. Performer: Vladim铆r Krej膷铆k. Performer: Zdenek Svehla. Performer: Vienna State Opera Choir. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Decca 421 8522.
    • Decca 421 8522.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Katya Kabanova - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Gabriela Be艌a膷kov谩. Performer: Peter Straka. Performer: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 3739-2 032.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    The Makropulos case [Vec Makropulos] - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Elisabeth S枚derstr枚m. Performer: Vienna State Opera Choir. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • DECCA.
    • 475 6872.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 18 Apr 2021 17:00
    91热爆 Radio 3
  • Fri 23 Apr 2021 16:30
    91热爆 Radio 3

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).

Six of the world's most extreme voices

From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How did the number 12 revolutionise music?

How Schoenberg opened a new cosmos for composers and listeners to explore.

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Why are we all addicted to bass?

Bass is everywhere, but why do we enjoy it? Join Tom Service on a journey of discovery.

Watch the animations

Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.

When does noise become music?

We like to think we can separate 鈥渘oise鈥� from 鈥渕usic鈥�, but is it that simple?

Podcast