Leos Janácek

Leos Janacek (1854-1928) was a celebrated Czech composer, musicologist, and folklorist who pioneered the adaptation of national and regional folk tunes into modern musical compositions. Janacek took much of his inspiration from Moravian and slavic folk music, and was strongly influenced by Romantic composers including Wagner and Smetana. He was also one of the first opera composers to use prose rather than poetry verse. Janacek's most famous pieces include Jenufa , The Cunning Little Vixen ,...See more

Leos Janacek (1854-1928) was a celebrated Czech composer, musicologist, and folklorist who pioneered the adaptation of national and regional folk tunes into modern musical compositions. Janacek took much of his inspiration from Moravian and slavic folk music, and was strongly influenced by Romantic composers including Wagner and Smetana. He was also one of the first opera composers to use prose rather than poetry verse. Janacek's most famous pieces include Jenufa , The Cunning Little Vixen , and an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's From the House of the Dead . See less