Leos Janacek with his wife Zdenka Schulzova the year they married, 1881 Photo: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) was a Czech nationalist who resented the Austrian domination of his homeland. On the date commemorated in this work's title, a Moravian carpenter, František Pavlík, was killed by the Imperial forces during a demonstration.
Janáček was deeply moved and wrote a three-movement work. But on the day of the première, while pianist Ludmila Tučková was playing the work to the composer, he suddenly became despondent, tore out the funeral march last movement and threw it into the fire. The première went ahead with just two movements, after which Janáček tossed the remaining manuscript into the river Vltava.
In 1924, almost 20 years later, Tučková confessed to the 70-year-old composer that she had made a copy of the two movements. Remembering it with excitement, Janáček gave approval for it to be published.
- 1 Předtucha (Premonition)
- 2 Smrt (Death)
Recorded 29 September 2019, at St. Andrew's on The Terrace, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer/sound engineer: Darryl Stack
