This book looks at two remarkable operas which have been unfairly neglected by the theatre world — Janáček’s Osud and The Excursions of Mr Brouček. The two works were written after the composer had laboured for many years on perhaps his most famous opera, Jenůfa, during which he discovered his own distinctive musical language built on speech melodies to accompany a realistic subject. In his subsequent operas Janáček then looked for new ways in which to develop these compositional principles and use them for diverse themes. The period when he was composing the operas Osud and The Excursions of Mr Brouček is one of the most interesting times in both Janáček’s personal as well as creative life. These compositions are the link between Jenůfa and Janáček’s greatest works from his “grand old age”, when after this long journey the composer was able to perfectly combine words, thoughts and music. This book on the operas Osud and The Excursions of Mr Brouček describes this difficult process using a wealth of different sources revealing the composer’s inspirations, the themes he considered for operas, his often fraught dealings with writers, the encounters with music which opened Janáček’s eyes, but also his coming to terms with the loss of his beloved daughter Olga. It also reveals the emotional outbursts reflected in the creative process. The book is accompanied by a wealth of iconographic material, much of which is being published here for the first time.
