Janáček's mature style is characterized by a 'seductive and shocking originality' stemming from his unique way of understanding and treating spoken language as music.
Composer Biography
Leoš Janáček, a Czech composer, was a significant folklorist who used a phonograph for field research and had a deep interest in dialectology.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Janáček's compositional style was heavily influenced by his observations of speech intonations, which he called the 'melody of speech,' extracting rhythms and colors for his musical innovations.
Composition History
Janáček's two string quartets, including 'The Kreutzer Sonata' and 'Intimate Letters', belong to his last and most prolific creative period, which also produced several major operas and other works.
Performer Biography
The Arcadia Quartet, the performers on this recording, won the Wigmore Hall London International String Quartet Competition in 2012, among other international awards.
Recording & Production
For this recording, the Arcadia Quartet used scores published by Universal Edition, which were supervised and revised by Milan Škampa, a violist and member of the Smetana Quartet.
