Sinfonietta, ILJ 22

Leo? Jan?cek (1854-1928) wrote a large portion of his most distinctive music late in life, following the success of a revised version of his opera Jenufa in 1916.  His extensive research of the national folklore had a great impact on his work as a composer. Inspired by a military band performance in a park, the Sinfonietta opens with a military-style fanfare for brass and percussion.  It received its commission from a Czech gymnastics association to celebrate the Eighth National Sokol Rally which took place in Prague in the summer of 1926.  The Czech Philharmonic gave the first performance on June 26th of that year under the direction of Vaclav Talich.  The inner movements provide contrasting melodic and rhythmic material, characterized by rhythmic shifts, abrupt mood changes, and fragments of folk dance.  The final movement climbs through a long, intensifying sequence to reprise the opening music, now taken up by the full orchestra. Instrumentation: 4(4dPicc).2+EH.2+PiccCl+BCl.2: 4.12+2BsTpt.4+2Euph.1: Timp.Perc(Cym, Chimes): Hp: Str (9-8-7-6-5 in set). Reprint edition.