In the Mists

Most of Czech composer Leoš Janá ek’s music for solo Piano was produced during the relatively short period between 1900 and 1912. This was a period in which Janá ek suffered the death of his second child, and had to come to terms with multiple rejections from the Prague music scene, which denied the composer and his distinctive musical language the opportunity to participate in international musical developments until 1916, when his work finally managed to gain international recognition.

In the Mists was composed during this period of great difficulty and despair in a house in the garden of the Brno Organ School, hidden from the eyes ofthe world, with a broken self confidence and a mind in a state of melancholy.

Influenced by Debussy’s impressionism, In the Mists is one of the most remarkable works in 20th-century Piano literature, said to be 20 years ahead of its time. In the Bärenreiter Urtext edition Janá ek’s cycle is presented in the form that can be found in the Complete Critical Edition of the Works of Leoš Janá ek. A preface by Ji í Zahrádka is also included in Czech, English and German.

Because of the virtuoso nature of Janá ek’s work, it is more challenging and less accessible, but extremely rewarding when mastered.