Janáček (English spelling) Leoš Janáček

Czechoslovakian composer. Born on July 3 in Hukvaldy, Moravia (now Czech Republic). At the age of 11, he left his home and joined the choir of a monastery in Brno, the capital of Moravia, and graduated from the local teacher's school in 1872. He then studied at the Prague Organ School, the Leipzig Conservatory, and the Vienna Conservatory. He founded the Brno Organ School in 1881 and became its principal, and served as the conductor of the Philharmonic Society from 1881 to 1888. In 1919, he taught composition at the Brno branch of the Prague Conservatory, which was newly established, and contributed to the development of musical culture in Moravia. Although he was active from an early age, his fame as a composer only increased after the premiere of his opera Jenőfa in 1904. He finally gained international recognition with the Prague premiere in 1916 and the Vienna premiere two years later. The last ten years of his life were the peak of his creative career, producing one masterpiece after another, including the opera Katya Kabanova (1919-1921) and The Tale of the Wise Little Fox (1921-1923). He died in Ostrava on August 12, 1928.

His style is highly original, as it is based on his research into Moravian folk songs, which he had been interested in since his youth, and in which he combined and developed ethnic elements with the idiom of modern Western music, rather than simply using them as exotic ornamentation. His works cover almost all genres, and he also arranges many folk songs. Of importance are his nine operas, in which he thoroughly studied the intonation of spoken language and created his own style. In addition to the three works mentioned above, From the House of the Dead (1927-1928), which he wrote in his final years, is excellent. Among his religious works, the Glagolitic Mass (1926), based on an ancient Slavic text, is famous. In his instrumental works, he was influenced by Smetana and Dvorak, and in later years he showed a tendency toward impressionism, but his orchestral works Taras Bulba (1915-1918) and Sinfonietta (1926) are the most popular of his works.

[Noriko Masuyama]

"Janaček: The Man and His Works" by I. Horsburg, translated by Dan Wada and Hirokazu Kato (1986, Tairyusha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

チェコスロバキアの作曲家。7月3日モラビア地方（現チェコ）のフクバルディに生まれる。11歳で生家を出てモラビアの中心都市ブルノの修道院の聖歌隊に入り、1872年同地の師範学校を卒業。その後プラハのオルガン学校、ライプツィヒ音楽院、ウィーン音楽院に学ぶ。1881年ブルノにオルガン学校を創設して校長になったのをはじめ、1881～1888年フィルハーモニー協会の指揮者を務め、1919年新設のプラハ音楽院ブルノ分校で作曲を教えるなど、モラビア地方の音楽文化発展に貢献。早くから創作活動を行っていたが、作曲家として名声が高まったのは1904年のオペラ『イエヌーファ』初演以降で、1916年のプラハ初演とその2年後のウィーン初演でようやく国際的に知られるようになった。それからの晩年10年間が創作の最盛期で、オペラ『カーチャ・カバノバー』（1919～1921）、『りこうな女狐(めぎつね)の物語』（1921～1923）など大作を次々に生み出したのち、1928年8月12日オストラバで没した。

　作風としては、若いころから強い関心を抱いていたモラビア民謡の研究成果に基づいて、民族的要素を単に異国趣味的装飾としてではなく、西欧近代音楽の語法と融合し発展させた点で、きわめて独創的なものをもっている。作品はほとんどすべての分野にわたり、民謡編曲も多い。重要なのは九つのオペラで、話しことばの抑揚を本格的に研究して独自の様式をつくりあげており、前記の三作のほか最晩年の『死の家より』（1927～1928）が優れている。宗教作品のなかでは古代スラブ語のテキストによる『グラゴル・ミサ』（1926）が有名。器楽曲ではスメタナやドボルザークの影響に加えて後年印象主義的傾向がみられるが、とくに管弦楽曲『タラス・ブーリバ』（1915～1918）と『シンフォニエッタ』（1926）が全作品中もっとも親しまれている。

［益山典子］

『I・ホースブルグ著、和田旦・加藤弘和訳『ヤナーチェク――人と作品』（1986・泰流社）』

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