Lived 1854 – 1928
Mostly in Brno
Best Known for Sinfonietta, Glagolitic Mass, Jenůfa, Cunning Little Vixen
Similar to Bartók, Haas, Krasa, Novák


“Believe me, I cannot escape from our two walks. Like a heavy. beautiful dream; in which I am bewitched. I know that I’d be consumed in that heat which cannot catch fire. On the paths I’d plant oaks which would endure for centuries; and into their trunks I’d carve the words which I shouted into the air. I don’t want them to be lost, I want them to be known.” 

Leoš Janáček to Kamila Stösslová, April 25, 1927

For Janáček, at the age of 72, his visit to Písek and his ‘two walks’ with Kamila Stösslová were a turning-point. Needing to have the house painted, and knowing her husband would only be in the way, Zdenka Janáčková packed him off for a few days to stay with his friend Mrs Kamila Stösslová. Ten years earlier, Janáček had met Kamila and her husband David Stossel on holiday at the Moravian spa resort of Luhačovice, where he had fallen hopelessly in love with the vivacious Kamila, 37 years his junior.

Leos JanacekLeoš Janáček (1854-1928)

Ten years of...