Jancek studies - Paul Wingfield

This book is the first major publication devoted to the music of Jancek, now widely regarded as one of the most important composers of the early twentieth century. The essays, all by leading scholars, deal with a broad range of subjects relating to opera, symphonic poem, instrumental music, cultural context and reception. Some topics, such as the sources of Jancek's musical expressivity, questions of narrative, Jancek as musical analyst and Jancek as realist, are considered seriously for the first time, whilst other more conventional topics, such as 'speech melody' and Jancek's ethnographic activities, are reappraised. A transcription of Jancek's analytical study of 'Jeux de vagues' from Debussy's La mer is published for the first time, and this document is considered in the light of Jancek's theory of music as a whole and of the reception of La mer.