Music Educators Association of New Jersey
Serving teachers and students since 1927

April 16, 2026, 10AM, Via Zoom and In Person
St Paul’s Episcopal Church 200 Main Street Chatham

After President Rebecca Eng opened the meeting with upcoming program announcements, member Aziza Khasanova-Madaski introduced pianist and Yale University professor Melvin Chen to speak on the life and music of Czech composer Leoš Janáček. He began by sharing his excitement speaking to us about one of his favorite composers, who had a very interesting life and a very interesting conception about music. He planned to first talk about Janáček the composer, then his piano music, then perform one of his major works to finish the presentation.

Janáček’s Life - He was born in the small town of Hukvaldy in the Czech Republic. Growing up impoverished, the family didn’t have money to buy or rent a piano. He received a scholarship at age 11 to study music at an abbey. Musically talented, he eventually became the music director of the associated church, where he began playing the organ. While in Prague attending organ school, he met Dvorak and they became friends.

Janáček made his living teaching at the Music Teacher’s Institute, eventually founding and directing his own organ school. He became involved with the Institute headmaster’s daughter Zdenka Schulzova, writing to her constantly while he was traveling. One letter reads “My dear kind Zdenka, I can only see happiness in the future if I strive to prepare the most beautiful future for you. Please keep this belief strong within you.” They married in 1881 when she was 15 years old, but the marriage quickly turned unhappy and volatile. According to her book, they fought constantly, he gave her barely enough money for the family to survive, and had many affairs. There were tragedies. Their two children died, one age 21 and one age 2. These episodes and tragedies shaped Janáček’s life and his music.

One more influence is evident in his music: Janáček was a passionate collector of Moravian folk music. Its distinctive qualities were a huge influence on his compositions. Dr. Chen stated “in my opinion, his music is both incredibly beautiful, but also doesn't sound like any other composer... he uses music as a way to try to work through his psychological feelings around death and tragedy.”

Janáček’s Music - One of Janáček's contributions to music is what's known as speech melody, which comes directly from his study of folk music. “He believed that, aside from vocabulary, aside from the words that we speak, that the pitch and rhythm of a person's speech is a kind of window into their soul.”
Melvin read a quote from Janáček, “Speech melodies, for me, the music you hear from instruments, from literature, whether it's by Beethoven or whoever, there's not much truth in it.You see, it was rather odd. When someone spoke to me, I might not understand the words, but that tonal cadence, I immediately knew what was inside him. I knew how he felt. He was lying. He was agitated. And if someone were talking to me in a conventional manner, I felt like I heard this person was weeping inside. The tones, the tonal cadence of human speech, of all living creations, contain the most profound truth for me. And you know, that was a great need in my life. I've been collecting speech

melodies since 1889. I have an enormous collection of them, and I'd like to emphasize that they are of great importance for dramatic music.”
The second thing Janáček used in his melodies was a rhythmic motif that he called a sketch; short rhythmic fragments that have different purposes; one is to drive the music forward. Melvin played an example from Janaeck’s piano sonata.

Three major piano works - The first is “Sonata 1X1905”, the title referring to October 1, 1905. Janáček wrote it as a response to an act of political violence (a Czech protester killed by government soldiers). It is a two movement Sonata ( Janáček burned the third movement) that was saved by the woman who premiered the piece, Ludmila Tuckova. Janáček threw the remaining manuscript into the river, but she secretly kept a copy. Melvin played some of the Sonata, pointing out interesting emotional characteristics and absence of a downbeat in certain measures (perhaps representing death, the lack of a heartbeat).

The second major work, in two books, is called “On an Overgrown Path”. Book 1 contains ten little pieces with descriptive titles, Book 2 has five pieces with no titles. Melvin believes the piece is Janáček’s way of working through the death of his daughter. He describes the pieces as intimate, nostalgic, tragic, deeply reflective and touching.

The third major work is the four part piano cycle “In the Mist”. Melvin played the beginnings of three of them, noting his use of speech melody, shifting moods and memories, and at times a kind of improvisational feeling.
One final note on teaching Janáček; Dr. Chen suggests the focus be on the emotion and vulnerability of the feelings in the works, more than the virtuosity.

Performance of a Janáček Work - Melvin finished the presentation by playing all of Book 1 of “On an Overgrown Path”, the 1905 set of 10 pieces.

1. Our Evenings
2. A Blown Away Leaf
3. Come With Us!
4. The Madonna of Frýdek
5. They Chattered Like Swallows 6. Words Fail!
7. Good Night!
8. Unutterable Anguish
9. In Tears

10. The Tawny Owl Has Not Flown Away

The in-person and online audiences responded with enthusiastic applause, noting that today’s presentation was “wonderful!” Rebecca thanked Dr. Chen and expressed gratitude for bringing us an appreciation of Janáček’s compositions and sharing the rawness of his emotions through his fine ‘On an Overgrown Path’ performance.

Lisa Gonzalez, writer

Beverly Shea, editor