H0010

Series C, Volume 4

The collection includes following compositions: Slavnostní sbor, Píseň v jeseni, Kačena divoká, Naše píseň, Už je slúnko z tej hory ven and the cycle of six songs Ukvalské písně. The mixed choruses were composed between 1877 and 1899 as commissioned works, contributions to competitions or free works for a singers? association. Mixed choruses were composed in the course of years when Janáček worked as a choirmaster of two important Brno singing clubs - first in Svatopluk and later in Beseda brněnská. Choir singing belonged to one of his favourites; he continued the tradition of Moravian choir composers of Křižkovský's type.
Janáček-composer firstly presented himself by male choruses designed for performances in the Svatopluk association and by liturgical compositions for mixed choir with the organ accompaniment to be used in churches. The first occasion for the composition of a secular piece for male and female voices occurred in 1877 when the construction of a new building for Teachers' Institute in Old Brno was started. It was on this occasion when Janáček composed Slavnostní sbor (Song of Celebration) - first from the series of mixed choruses presented here as a volume of the critical editions of Janáček's works.