Music History Monday: Leoš Janáček: Composer, Patriot, and Patriot Composer!

Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) circa 1925, at the age of 71

We mark the birth on July 3, 1854 – 169 years ago today – of the Moravian (meaning Czech) composer, music theorist, folklorist, and teacher Leoš Janáček. Born in the village of Hukvaldy in what today is the Czech Republic, he died on August 12, 1928 in the city of Ostrava, today the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic.

It’s All in the Name!

Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) was an American writer and lecturer known for his self-help guides to self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. If he were alive today, he’d be on the speaking circuit, doing Ted Talks and, perhaps, making a fortune through a video self-help network. But given the comparatively limited technology of his day, Carnegie made his living writing books, books with such titles as The Art of Public Speaking (first published in 1915); How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948), and The Quick and Easy Way to Effective Speaking (1962). But Dale Carnegie’s most famous and influential tome – one that remains in print today after 87 years! – is How to Win Friends and Influence People, first published in 1936.

Among the thousands of assuredly useful tidbits Carnegie shared with his readers was:

“A person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

Meaning that nothing makes a better, more positive impression than saying someone’s name when speaking to them.

This seems to me to be self-evidently true. If you want someone to feel noticed, valued, and important, well, say their name to their face with a tone that connotes kindness, warmth, and respect.

However, for the purposes of this post we would – with all due – ever so slightly amend Dale Carnegie’s maxim:

“A person’s name – correctly pronounced – is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”

As a public service, then, let us start this homage to Leoš Janáček by learning how to pronounce his name correctly. This is not just an issue of politeness, because while the mature Leoš Janáček might have looked like a snuggly little teddy bear, he was – in fact – an often irascible, highly emotional man, someone who suffered insult easily and angered quickly.

Let us not insult him and thus trigger that anger by mispronouncing his name!

Janáček’s name is notoriously mispronounced by non-Czechs. His first name – Leoš – is easy enough: “LAY-osh.” But his surname is a challenge for those of us who have trouble moving our vowels. We will learn to pronounce it in two steps. Step one: place an accent on the middle syllable: “Ya–NA-check”. Step two: place an accent on the first syllable as well – “YA-NA-check” – and say it quickly: “YA-NA-check”.

Excellent.

Brief Biography Janáček’s birth house; the bottom floor was a schoolhouse supervised by Janáček’s father, a schoolmaster named Jiří Janáček (1815–1866)

He was born 169 years ago today in the village of Hukvaldy in the Moravia-Silesia (that is, the north-eastern) region of today’s Czech Republic. At the time of his birth, Moravia was part of the Austrian Empire and Janáček’s hometown was known by its German name of “Hochwald.”

Young Janáček had a first-rate singing voice. At 11, he received a scholarship to attend the Queen’s Monastery and School in the city of Brno (pronounced Bur-NO), the largest city in Moravia.

The Queen’s Monastery and School had a first-rate music conservatory. Janáček studied singing, organ, and piano, and he did well. After graduating at the age of 15, he attended the Royal Teachers’ Training Institute for three years, after which he was appointed Deputy Choir Master for the city of Brno. He began composing at around the age of 21; his first compositions were simple, folk-influenced choral works for the various amateur choral societies he conducted.…

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