This disc collects two sets of songs by Janacek; one is a proper song cycle, the other is a collection of folk melodies for piano and voice.

The Diary of One Who Has Disappeared is just great. Janacek subverts our (my?) idea of what one of these should sound like with abrupt endings and multiple voices. It’s certainly among the cooler song-cycles I’ve heard from the era. It’s really great stuff and is the absolute favourite of everything of Janacek’s I’ve heard to date.

The “15 Moravian Songs” is not quite a traditional set of songs, as we might think of it, as the voice parts are rare. Most of the tunes are extremely brief, and it’s like Janacek is just basically creating a melody on piano once and leaving you with it. It’s a neat approach, which I’ve never really heard before.

“A Recollection” is a vibrant little moody standalone piece. It’s good.

“Na pamatku” (In Memoriam) is the kind of thing the impressionists were about to start writing. It feels a bit ahead of its time, actually.

The “Andante” is a brief little haunting melody. It’s appealing.

“Moderato” is an interesting but brief melody with a grand finale.

There are two excerpts from the “Pieces in the Kamila Stösslová Album” collection, one of which is literally just a cascade of notes for 13 seconds…

“Narodil se Kristus Pan” (aka “Christ the Lord is Born”) is pretty typical impressionism – it is barely there and feels almost totally at odds with its title.

This is a great collection of Janacek’s lieder and piano music and is really worth checking out if you’re into that stuff.

9/10

1. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 1, Andante “Potkal jsem ciganku”
2. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 2, Con moto “Ta cerna ciganka”
3. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 3, Andante “Svatojanské musky
4. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 4, Andante “Uz mladé vlastuvky
5. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 5, Adagio “Tezko sa mi ore”
6. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 6, Allegro “Hajsi, vy sivi volci
7. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 7, Con moto “Ztratil jsem kolicek”
8. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 8, Andante “Nehled’te, volecci, tesklivo k uvratim
9. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 9, Andante “Vita, Janicku”
10. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 10, Un poco più mosso “Boze, dalny, nesmrtelny”
11. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 11, Con moto “Tahne vuna k lesu
12. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 12, Adagio “Tmava olsinka, chladna studanka”
13. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 13, Andante “Intermezzo erotico”
14. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 14, Adagio “Slunecko se zdviha”
15. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 15, Allegro “Moji sivi volci”
16. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 16, Adagio “Co jsem to udelal
17. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 17, Recitativo “Co komu suzeno
18. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 18, Adagio “Nedbam ja vcil o nic
19. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 19, Andante “Leti straka leti
20. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 20, Con moto “Mam ja panenku”
21. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 21, Meno mosso “Muj drahy taticku”
22. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 22, Andante “Sbohem, rodny kraju”
23. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 1, Ty hodiny vivanske
24. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 2, Ked’ si ja zazpivam
25. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 3, Ach, ty Jurko, Jurenko
26. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 4, Marys, moja Marys
27. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 5, Uz sa mne muj mily pryc ubira
28. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 6, Plelo divca, plelo len
29. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 7, Sluboval’s mi
30. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 8, Ci to pachole v noci chodi
31. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 9, Ci je to devce na tom vrsku
32. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 10, Dyz ja budu lezat v cernem lesi
33. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 11, Bezi voda, bezi
34. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 12, Hradcanske honiny z temna bijou
35. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 13, Na cernej hore sedlacek ore
36. 15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 14, Na Javorine”15 Moravian Folksongs for Piano: No. 15, V tem hruseckem cirem poli
37. A Recollection, for Piano, JW VIII/32
38. In Remembrance, for Piano, JW VIII/9
39. Malostransky Palace, for Piano, JW VIII/31
40. Moderato, for Piano, JW VIII/21
41. Album for Kamila Stösslova, JW VIII/33: No. 12, The Golden Ring
42. Album for Kamila Stösslova, JW VIII/33: No. 13, Waiting for You!
43. Christ, the Lord, Is Risen, for Piano, JW VIII/20
44. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 10, Un poco più mosso “Boze, dalny, nesmrtelny”
45. The Diary of One Who Disappeared, JW V/12: No. 14, Adagio “Slunecko se zdvihaM28S”