Background
Janáček composed all his most important works for solo piano from 1900 to 1912. He probably began preparing his first series of Moravian folk melodies in 1900. At this time, the cycle had only six pieces intended for harmonium: Our evenings, A blown-away leaf, The Frýdek Madonna, Good night!, The barn owl has not flown away! and a Piu mosso published after Janáček’s death. These melodies provided the basis for the first volume of "On an Overgrown Path." Three of these compositions were first published in 1901 with the fifth volume of harmonium pieces Slavic melodies under the title On an overgrown path - three short compositions. The cycle had grown to nine pieces in 1908, and was intended for piano instead of harmonium at that time. The definitive version of the first book was published in 1911. On September 30, 1911, Janáček published the first piece of the second series in the Lidové noviny newspapers. The new series was created in its entirety around 1911. The complete second book was printed by the Hudební matice in 1942. The première of the work took place on January 6, 1905 at the Besední dům Hall in Brno.
Read more about this topic: On An Overgrown Path
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