Page 51 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2018. Nova glasba v “novi” Evropi med obema svetovnima vojnama ?? New Music in the “New” Europe Between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 2
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janáček’s maestoso
I find a spark of God. You will not wipe away the crimes from their
brow, but equally you will not extinguish the spark of God.
In From the House of the Dead the direction maestoso seems not so
much an indication of how to play the music as a label to bestow dignity on
his characters, to see in them this “spark of God”. In this opera with a cast
of criminals the indication that originally denoted and dignified Czech he-
roes is now used perhaps to suggest that even the dregs of society, the mur-
derers that have been incarcerated in Siberian prisons, still retain their hu-
manity. Janáček depicts their world and the terrible deeds they have done
unflinchingly but also with huge compassion. And in what would be his fi-
nal opera – almost his final work – he tries to find some sort of peace for
them – forgiveness and a promise of freedom.
Bibliography
Koch, Heinrich Christoph. Musikalisches Lexikon, welches die theoretische
und praktische Tonkunst, encylopädisch bearbeitet, alle alten und neuen
Kunstwörter erklärt, und die alten und neuen Instrumente beschrieben,
enthält. Frankfurt am Main: A. Hermann, 1802.
Simeone, Nigel, Tyrrell, John and Němcová, Alena. Janáček’s Works: A Cata-
logue of the Music and Writings of Leoš Janáček. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1997.
Tyrrell, John. “The Cathartic Slow Waltz and Other Finale Conventions in
Janáček’s Operas.” In Essays on Drama and Music in Honour of Winton
Dean, ed. Nigel Fortune. Cambridge University Press, 1987, 333–352.
Tyrrell, John. Janáček: Years of a Life, i: The Lonely Blackbird. London: Faber
and Faber, 2006; ii: Tsar of the Forests. London: Faber and Faber, 2007.
Walther, Johann Gottfried. Musicalisches Lexicon, oder, Musicalisches Biblio-
thec. Leipzig: W. Deer, 1732.
49
I find a spark of God. You will not wipe away the crimes from their
brow, but equally you will not extinguish the spark of God.
In From the House of the Dead the direction maestoso seems not so
much an indication of how to play the music as a label to bestow dignity on
his characters, to see in them this “spark of God”. In this opera with a cast
of criminals the indication that originally denoted and dignified Czech he-
roes is now used perhaps to suggest that even the dregs of society, the mur-
derers that have been incarcerated in Siberian prisons, still retain their hu-
manity. Janáček depicts their world and the terrible deeds they have done
unflinchingly but also with huge compassion. And in what would be his fi-
nal opera – almost his final work – he tries to find some sort of peace for
them – forgiveness and a promise of freedom.
Bibliography
Koch, Heinrich Christoph. Musikalisches Lexikon, welches die theoretische
und praktische Tonkunst, encylopädisch bearbeitet, alle alten und neuen
Kunstwörter erklärt, und die alten und neuen Instrumente beschrieben,
enthält. Frankfurt am Main: A. Hermann, 1802.
Simeone, Nigel, Tyrrell, John and Němcová, Alena. Janáček’s Works: A Cata-
logue of the Music and Writings of Leoš Janáček. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1997.
Tyrrell, John. “The Cathartic Slow Waltz and Other Finale Conventions in
Janáček’s Operas.” In Essays on Drama and Music in Honour of Winton
Dean, ed. Nigel Fortune. Cambridge University Press, 1987, 333–352.
Tyrrell, John. Janáček: Years of a Life, i: The Lonely Blackbird. London: Faber
and Faber, 2006; ii: Tsar of the Forests. London: Faber and Faber, 2007.
Walther, Johann Gottfried. Musicalisches Lexicon, oder, Musicalisches Biblio-
thec. Leipzig: W. Deer, 1732.
49
