Jugend (Die) Windsextet

Leos Janacek, almost seventy years old, characterised the wind sextet he had just finished as ‘a kind of memory of youth’ in a letter to Kamila Stösslová. The suite Youth was written in the summer of1924, prompted by the composer’s need to take stock on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Janacek also heard the Parisian ensemble Societe moderne des instruments a vent several times in Salzburg and Brno. He expanded the classicquintet scoring by the addition of a bass clarinet.

Janacek referred to an earlier part of his life in this work not only by quoting a theme from March of the Blue Boys, but particularly through his general freshnessofexpression, astute humour and use of form which adhered to the classical style.

The piece was enthusiastically received by both critics and the public and appeared in print as early as 1925 issued by the Prague publisherHudebni matice.

• Wind sextet in the classical style
• Urtext based on the Critical Complete Edition of the Works of Leos Janacek
• New foreword by Jiri Zahradka (Cz/Eng/Ger)