Sinfonietta (Janáček)

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The Sinfonietta op. 60 (in the original title Symfonietta ) by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček (1854–1928) is a five-movement orchestral work from 1926. The instrumentation is characterized by a greatly expanded brass apparatus.

Emergence

The trigger for the creation of the Sinfonietta was an order from the Czech sports club Sokol ("The Falcon") to Janáček to compose festive fanfare music for its 8th Congress. After the composition, Janáček decided to have four more movements follow, which he wrote down within three weeks in March 1926. The Sokol represented an essential element of the Czechoslovak national movement, whose patriotism also guided Janáček - a member of the Sokol from his youth - when he wanted to express the free Czech people of today in the work and, first of all, the Czechoslovak armed power dedicated, with the initial title Military Sinfonietta . At the same time he paid homage to his hometown Brno by titling the five movements in the draft program for the premiere with Fanfares , Castle , The Queen's Monastery , Street and City Hall . The title of the movement was dropped when it went to press, however, and Janáček dedicated the Sinfonietta to Rosa Newmarch , an English music writer, on whose initiative Janáček had visited England in 1926.

occupation

The cast is characterized by an over the conventional orchestra greatly expanded Brass Apparatus: 4 flutes (4 flute and piccolo ), 2 oboe (2. oboe and English horn ), 2 clarinets in B, clarinet in Es, bass clarinet , 2 Fagotte , 4 horns , 9 trumpets in C, 3 trumpets in F, 2 bass trumpets in Bb, 4 trombones ; 2 tenor tubas in Bb, bass tuba , timpani , tubular bells , cymbals , harp and strings .

music

Janáček's autograph on the Sinfonietta's fanfares
Opening bars of Janáček's Sinfonietta

The playing time of the five-movement Sinfonietta is between 22 and 25 minutes.

Characteristic of all five movements are short, rhythmic-melodic themes that are often reminiscent of folk dance styles. Symphonic processing, for example in the sense of the traditional sonata form , can at best be made out, but Janáček uses a germ cell technique of the varied enrichment of motifs. The tonal language, which was also immediately accessible (Janáček was critical of the tendencies of the New Vienna School ), was intentional; Shortly after the premiere, the composer wrote that in this work he had succeeded best in snuggling up as close as possible to the mind of the simple man.

Each movement has its own individual instrumentation: the first consists of only 11 trumpets, 2 tubas and 2 timpani, in the second woodwinds are dominant, in the third movement the strings, in the fourth solo trumpet and strings, only in the fifth movement does the entire orchestra sound.

Sentence sequence:

I. Allegretto: About ostinato fifths of the tubes and Terzmotiven of timpani and bass trumpets developed a fanfare motif of trumpets, which in part polyphonic stretto all short Intrada determined -like set.

II. Andante: A dance melody reminiscent of Moravian folklore is decisive for frequently changing meters . Later, sustained trumpet fanfares appear in a motif reminiscent of the first movement.

III. Moderato: An initially lyrical theme of the strings is gradually heightened to the point of excitement (emphasized mainly by the tall wood), with the trombones also joining in; the movement closes again in a lyrical mood.

IV. Allegretto: The scherzo character of the music is in turn characterized by a motif reminiscent of Moravian folk dances, voiced by the trumpets, which runs through the movement in almost permanent repetition.

V. Andante con moto: After opening with a lyrical theme in the flutes, there are first rapid string figures before, after thematic processing of the 1st theme, the fanfares of the 1st movement return and lead the work to an effective conclusion, played around by the rest of the orchestra.

World premiere and reception

The Sinfonietta was premiered on June 26, 1926 in Prague by the Czech Philharmonic under Václav Talich and was published by Universal Edition in Vienna . The composition soon caught on internationally, the German premiere in Wiesbaden on December 9, 1926 and the American in New York City on March 4, 1927 both directed by Otto Klemperer . To facilitate execution, versions with a reduced wind instrumentation were also created, for example by Erwin Stein in 1927 (only 1st / 5th movement) or Joseph Keilberth (published in 1977).

The Sinfonietta is one of Janáček's most frequently performed instrumental works today and has been recorded in numerous ways.

Discography (selection)

Trivia

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b quot. n. Jaroslav Vogel: Leoš Janáček , Prague 1958, p. 436
  2. ↑ cit. n. Kurt Honolka: Leoš Janáček . Belser, Stuttgart and Zurich, 1982, ISBN 3-7630-9027-4 , p. 244
  3. ^ Kurt Honolka: Leoš Janáček . Belser, Stuttgart and Zurich, 1982, ISBN 3-7630-9027-4 , p. 247

literature

  • Kurt Honolka: Leoš Janáček . Belser, Stuttgart and Zurich, 1982, ISBN 3-7630-9027-4 , pp. 242-249.
  • Wulf Konold (Ed.): Lexicon Orchestermusik Romantik. IR . Piper / Schott, Mainz, 1989, ISBN 3-7957-8227-9 , pp. 343-346.
  • Hansjürgen Schaefer: Concert book orchestral music. GO. VEB Dt. Publisher f. Musik, Leipzig 1973, pp. 263–264.

Web links