The Concertino for

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, two

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

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 o ...

and

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

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 *Czech (surnam ...

composer

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

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 Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

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-Ku ...

, 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: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

: 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) Chamber music by Leoš Janáček Piano compositions by Leoš Janáček Janacek Janacek Compositions for septet 1925 compositions Chamber concertos