The Wandering of a Little Soul
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The Wandering of a Little Soul (Putování dušičky) is violin concerto by czech composer Leoš Janáček. The work is also known in English as "Pilgrimage of a Little Soul", "Pilgrimage of a Dear Soul" or simply as "Pilgrimage of the Soul". Nevertheless, the English title of the complete critical edition is "The Wandering of a Little Soul".
Janáček started to write the concerto in 1926, during his visit in England. The work remained unfinished, and today are known three sources, where the torso of that composition has been found. None of them is dated. The sketched material of the concerto is concentrated only in one movement (12-15 min. duration). The score is filled in with few remarks: p. 29 - inscription "in a human being", p. 30 - "the dear soul inborn in every human being", p. 40 - "eagle", p. 49 - "without the soul until the end", p. 64 - "instruments die out". In 1927 Janáček abandoned the idea of concerto and used some of its material in From the House of the Dead opera, particularly in the suite. In 1928 (the year of his death) Janáček also composed incidental music to Schluck und Jau (play by German dramatist Gerhart Hauptmann), which contains violin solos closely related to motives known from the concerto.
Dr. Miloš Štědroň and dr. Leoš Faltus reconstructed the composition in 1988. First performance took place on 29. September 1988 in Janáček Theatre in Brno with Jan Stanovský on violin, Petr Vronský conducted the State Philharmonic of Brno.
Even though the concerto remained unfinished, it counts among the interesting examples of Janáček’s mature style.
[edit] Sources
Putování dušičky. Ricostituzione critica. Partitura. Editio Supraphon 1997. H 7738
[edit] Recordings
- Janáček: Sinfonietta, Violin Concerto... Supraphon 1992. SU 3888-2 (Ivan Ženatý - violin)
- Janáček: Wandering of the Little Soul, Sinfonietta... Supraphon 1989. 11 1965-2 031 (Josef Suk - violin)
