Janacek and His World.

edited by Michael Beckerman. Princeton University Press (41 William St., Princeton, NJ 08540), 2003. 316pp. $22.95.

This excellent volume is a varied collection of essays pertaining to the great Czech composer Leos Janacek (1854-1928) and translations of several articles by the composer. The collection is edited by the distinguished Janacek scholar Michael Beckerman, professor of music at New York University and author of several works on Czech music, including Janacek as Theorist and Janacek and Czech Music. The work is not intended to be an introduction to Janacek's life and music, but to add new insights to what already has been written.

Leon Botstein's "Cultural Politics of Language and Music: Max Brod and Leos Janacek" discusses in-depth the critic who had much to do with introducing Janacek to the world. It is a penetrating analysis and one of the most challenging to the reader of all the essays. Appended to it are translations of reviews including Brod's critique of a Prague performance of Jenufa. It is extremely significant in that it helped launch the international recognition of the composer, and it is fascinating to see how passionately Brod wrote about the opera. John Tyrrell, the dean of English-language Janacek scholars, contributes "How Janacek Composed Operas." While unquestionably scholarly in nature, this essay is written in language that is straightforward and easily comprehensible. Two essays dealing with the composer's "muse" Kamila Stosslova by Diane Paige and Geoffrey Chew present surprisingly different takes on the subject of Janacek's well-known but enigmatic affair. An essay by Derek Katz discusses the unique opera The Excursions of Mr. Broucek. Paul Wingfields's very interesting essay about Zdenka Janackova's memoirs provides a defense of the composer and an enlightening psychological analysis of his wife Zdenka. Beckerman contributes the final essay, an almost tongue-in-cheek, delightful bit of whimsy about a business card of Janacek's, but imbedded in the humor is a commentary on the difficulty of writing truthfully about the past.

Part II of the book consists of articles by Janacek previously unavailable in English. Some are published feuilletons, and the last two are unfinished. The latter are difficult to follow, being in a sort of stream-of-consciousness style. Notable especially in these feuilletons are the numerous speech motives, little fragments of speech Janacek collected everywhere and notated as musical motives. Such motives form the basis for his musical compositions, especially the operas. This volume is an outstanding addition to the burgeoning Janacek oeuvre. Reviewed by Jane Ann Wilson, Lubbock, Texas.