Album

Martina Janková, Tomáš Král, Ivo Kahánek

Janáček: Moravian Folk Songs

Catalogue Number: SU 4183-2
Published: 18th September 2015
Genre: Vocal - songs
Format: 1 CD
Leoš Janáček - Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs, Hukvaldy Folk Poetry in Songs

Martina Janková - soprano, Tomáš Král - baritone, Ivo Kahánek - piano

Leoš Janáček is one of the composers who brought fame to Czech music worldwide, and his Glagolitic Mass, Sinfonietta and mature operas are regularly performed on prominent stages around the globe. Yet the composer's folk-based works have remained relatively little known, even though traditional songs pulsate in the very heart of his music, significantly forming his singular idiom, and serving as a source of inspiration without which Janáček's oeuvre simply cannot be imagined. Owing to the artist's collecting passion, today we can enjoy numerous lovely songs which have been preserved in both music scores and period audio recordings. The collections Moravian and Hukvaldy Folk Poetry in Songs contain the most beautiful of them all. Janáček left the songs in their pure form, afforded to them by the landscape and the people living in it, merely - and with the sensitivity of a precious painting restorer - furnishing them with congenial piano accompaniments. The landscape and the language of Janáček's Hukvaldy and Moravia have also been imprinted in the very souls of the artists who have recorded this album, focusing on the purity of folk songs, reflecting simple directness and enchanting poetics. The present recording is the fruit of their joint seeking and endeavour to get in touch with the candid and deeply symbolic world of the songs.

Into the very heart of Janáček's singular musical universe...

Reviews

“Some operatic voices overstate or over-gloss the raw spirit, but soprano Martina Jankova and baritone Tomáš Král have clear, candid voices with a gentle touch from pianist Ivo Kahánek.“
The Guardian, 17th December 2015

Leoš Janáček
Folk Poetry of Hukvaldy in Songs
1. Ondras, Ondras 01:54
2. You Hukvaldy Chapel 00:42
3. My Dear Mama 01:38
4. On Those Meadows of the Reeve 01:24
5. Why Do You Stand So Sad, My Guelder Rose? 02:08
6. The Reeve’s Hanka 00:26
7. She Grazed Cows 01:06
8. What Are Those Shadows? 01:17
9. An Oak Tree in Our Courtyard 01:25
10. When I Walked Through the Black Forest 05:44
11. You Hukvaldy Chapel! 01:40
12. May God Reward You 01:15
13. When I Passed by the Courtyard 00:58
Leoš Janáček
Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs
14. Farewell to my Beloved 01:40
15. All Alone 01:33
16. Kolín Town 01:00
17. Headache 02:49
18. Lover Killer 03:41
19. Brigand’s Burial 02:50
20. Then and Now 00:38
21. Uneasy 00:58
22. Carnation 00:56
23. Love 02:30
24. Love Herbs 01:03
25. Sweet Apple 01:44
26. Desire 00:47
27. Promise 00:32
28. Bailiff’s Daughter 00:54
29. Thyme 01:15
30. Uncertainty 01:17
31. Game Warden 01:10
32. Love Shining 01:05
33. Cuckoo 01:00
34. Calumny 02:01
35. The Bench 02:36
36. Parting 01:13
37. Guelder Rose 02:21
38. Wedded Far Away 03:18
39. Sound Advice 01:16
40. Posy 01:30
41. For Whom The Posy 01:18
42. My Lover’s Horses 01:05
43. Charm 00:57
44. Lover’s Likeness 01:22
45. Apple Tree 02:50
46. Faithfulness 01:20
47. Little Red Apples 02:06
48. Constancy 01:11
49. Musicians 01:16
50. What Sky 00:44
51. Mementos 03:39