Barenreiter Janacek L. - Works For Violoncello & Piano

Summary of This Score

Janácek, Leos - Works for Violoncello and Piano brings together the two pieces the composer wrote for this ensemble, with a particular focus on "Pohádka (A Tale / Märchen)," the piece that has firmly established itself in the concert repertoire. Long revised, the work underwent a complex development: begun before 1910, it only reached its definitive form after several revisions, finalized in 1923. This edition allows the score to be approached with great clarity of reading, serving the rhythmic flexibility, atmospheric contrasts, and implicit narrative so characteristic of Janacek's writing.

The score also includes Presto, an unfinished composition preserved as a sketch. Janacek himself changed the initial tempo marking from "Allegro" to "Presto," the title under which the work is commonly discussed in recent literature. This presence, even fragmentary, valuable complements the composer's vision for the cello-piano duo.

The Supplementum / Supplement is one of the major assets of this volume: it offers an early version of "A Tale," derived from a copy that belonged to Antonin Vana, one of the first performers of the piece. It reveals a rich musical alternative, notably with a very different ending to the first movement and the original four-movement form. The supplement also includes "Pohádka o caru Berendejovi dle Zukovského" (Introduction, Andante, Con moto, Allegro, Adagio) as well as a critical report dedicated to the supplement. A new detailed preface by Jiri Zahradka (in Czech, English, and German) finally contextualizes the whole, making this edition as useful to performers as to educators and those curious about the text.

Technical specifications

Musical Genre

Classical

Publication

Sheet music

Composer	Leos Janácek	Genre	Classical score (chamber music)
Edition	Urtext (Janacek Complete Edition)	Languages	Czech, English, German
Instrumentation	Cello, piano	Pages	XXII, 64/16