Concertino (Janáček)

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Concertino for piano, two violins, viola, clarinet, french horn and bassoon is a composition by Czech composer Leoš Janáček.

It was written in first months of 1925, but Janáček decided for the inception of the new composition 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"). Concertino was at first intended as piano concerto, but later grew into a small chamber concert. It would be also entitled "Spring"[1]. This title Janáček wrote to the finished manuscript, he also added date (25 April 1925) and program note. Première of that "little concert" 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, František Kudláček played on first violin, Viktor Nopp on the second, the viola played by Josef Trkan, clarinet by Stanislav Krtička, František Janský on the french horn and František Bříza on the bassoon. The work was successful, it was played two times on the première and soon achieved great acclaim in Europe[2].

Contents

[edit] Structure

The composition consists of four movements:

  • 1. Moderato
  • 2. Più mosso
  • 3. Con moto
  • 4. Allegro

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

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Score, p. XI
  2. ^ Score, p. XI

[edit] References

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

[edit] External links

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