Devour Music

Are you feeling melancholy? Then this selection of the piano pieces from On an Overgrown Path by Leoš Janáček could be just right for you.

Richard Goode (piano) performed it at the Verbier Festival 2017.

• (00:00) Preparing
• (00:07) I. Our evenings (Naše večery)
• (02:55) II. A blown-away leaf (Lístek odvanutý)
• (05:32) III. Come along with us! (Pojďte s námi!)
• (06:44) VII. Good night! (Dobrou noc!)

On an Overgrown Path (Po zarostlém chodníčku) is considered the most important work that Leoš Janáček (1853 - 1928) composed for solo piano.

The two-part piano cycle consists of 15 miniatures. The cycle was composed between 1900 and 1911 and was initially a work in progress for Janáček.

• Under the title On an Overgrown Path, the Czech composer first wrote a few pieces for harmonium, before later rewriting them for piano and adding further pieces.
• It was not until around 1908 that the individual pieces were given their poetic titles.

The second part was not published until 1942, long after Janáček's death. During its composition, the piano cycle increasingly took on an autobiographical character.

Janáček's beloved daughter Olga died in 1903 aged just 20, and the father was devastated.

1. The composer was racked with pain and despair, reportedly tearing at his hair and crying: "My soul, my soul!"
2. The titles of the miniature pieces give an indication of how much Janáček's thoughts and memories revolved around the tragic loss of his daughter even years later.

The pieces are a collection of atmospheric soundscapes full of folkloric melody and melancholy. The selection of 4 pieces, presented here by the American pianist Richard Goode, conveys the essence of the entire piano cycle in concise form.

and also in our playlist solo piano

and in our playlist with piano concertos: