“And why should the toilsome tread of a beetle not awaken at least a compositional smile, or butterfly kisses at least a tonal longing?” – Leoš Janáček[1]
Leos Janáček in 1882
Leoš Janáček was born on July 3, 1854, in the village of Hukvaldy, situated in northern Moravia near the Polish border. He was the ninth of teacher Jiří Janáček and his wife Amálie’s fourteen children. In recollections of his childhood, Janáček was fascinated by nature and music, including memories of his father’s beehives, the Babí hora hill and the church gallery where he sang at ceremonial Masses. This picturesque, secluded locale was inhabited by peasants who spoke Lachian, a language combining elements of Czech and Polish. “The silence falls from each tree to the ground,” Janáček wrote of Hukvaldy fondly.
