Ke genezi Janáčkova smyčcového kvartetu "Listy důvěrné"

• Published in: Musicologica Brunensia Vol. 47; no. 2
• Main Author: Jiří Zahrádka
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Czech
• Published: Masaryk University, Faculty of Arts 01.12.2012
• ISSN: 1212-0391; 2336-436X

Although Leoš Janáček managed to complete the second string quartet Listy důvěrné, there still remain several ambiguities concerning the origin of the quartet. The composer wrote the quartet as an autograph, had it be copied and attended rehearsals for the first performance, which he did not live to see and was not given a chance to make a print release. A shadow of a doubt does not thus concern the question of a considerable difference between the autograph and copies but copy adaptations made by the members of the Moravian Quartet who participated in print release preparations. Leoš Janáček composed the quartet between 29th January and 19th February 1928 and revised the composition on 3rd March and 8th March 1928. Immediately after the revision the quartet was copied by copyists Václav Sedláček who finished copying voices on 13th March 1928 and Jaroslav Kulhánek who copied a score. Unfortunately, it is not known whether any other score copy was made. The rehearsal with the Moravian Quartet took place on 18th May 1928 when the first and third phrases were performed. Already at this rehearsal viola d'amour was not embodied. The next rehearsal was scheduled a week later, on 25th May, when the second and fourth phrases were performed. The whole composition was to be performed on 11th June 1928 in Leoš Janáček Memorial in the presence of Emil Hertzka, the director of the publishing house Universal Edition. Since Mr. Hertzka sent his apologies for not coming and there exists no evidence of this performance, it was supposedly cancelled. Leoš Janáček witnessed the performance of the whole quartet on 27th June 1928 at a rehearsal. After this rehearsal and after the last corrections had been implemented the score was copied again by Jaroslav Kulhánek and completed on 13th July 1928. Also the Czech Quartet was in a hurry to obtain the quartet as Karel Hoffmann, a primarius, paid Janáček a visit on 29th June 1928. Leoš Janáček lived to see neither the first performance nor the publication. He died unexpectedly on 12th August 1928. The composition was first performed by the Moravian Quartet for experts and reporters on 7th September 1928 in Brno in a hlaholna hall of the Besední dům. Not until 1938 was the score released in print by the Universal Edition and adapted by the Moravian Quartet. The important question is what the extent of changes made by the Moravian Quartet outside the co-operation with Leoš Janáček was and what the composer's last version is. Doubts already arise due to a considerable difference among the autograph, the subsequent voice copy made by Václav Sedláček and first score copy by Jaroslav Kulhánek and mainly due to numerous variations in both these copies made by the Moravian Quartet members. Let's try to answer some of the questions. Above all it is quite usual that Janáček's manuscript differs substantially from its copy. The reason is Leoš Janáček's way of working – the composer took an active part in his composition copies and the copyist noted down various changes directly from the composer's input. The copy itself is adapted by Leoš Janaček during the production or print preparations. In this particular case sources (copies) were preserved in which the composer's handwriting is disputable and also extremely sporadic. Leoš Janáček could however write down the corrections coordinated with the Moravian Quartet members during the collective rehearsals on 18th and 25th May and 27th June 1928 into a nowadays unknown second copy of the score presumably made by Vaclav Sedláček (mostly Leoš Janáček had two copies made). Leoš Janáček might have lent this copy to primarius Karel Hoffmann who came to collect it in Brno on 28th June 1928 and due to Janáček's death the copy stayed in the possession of the Czech Quartet. However, it is also possible that such a copy has never existed and the Czech Quartet was later sent Kulhánek's second copy made presumably from his first copy with implemented adaptations from the rehearsals with the Moravian Quartet. On one of these copies Vaclav Kaprál's later analysis published in the periodical Hudební rozhledy was likely based. It is still to be answered how significant the changes made during mere three rehearsals could be. Most importantly the Quartet members replaced, after an agreement with Leoš Janáček, viola d'amour with present-day quinte viola. Nevertheless, we cannot unambiguously determine whether the composer wished for the final replacement. The same is valid for other adaptations. Thanks to Václav Kaprál's analysis published shortly after Janáček's death it is known that tempo changes in parts and the score were already included. They probably originated at the rehearsals in May and June in 1928. Other variations are recorded only implicitly via a description of missing Kulhánek's second score copy completed on 13th July 1928. This score truly appears as the most relevant proof of an authorized version. The first printed release of the composition thus reflected the changes made in co-operation with the composer, during many years of the work's interpretation (before Listy důvěrné was published in print in 1938 the Moravian Quartet had performed it 26 times all in) or by Otakar Nebuška's editorial revisions. The composer's last version is supposedly written down in Kulhánek's second score copy from 13th July 1928, without anyone else's eventual changes. However, this copy previously stored in the archive of the publishing house Hudební matice of the Umělecká beseda is missing nowadays. Its form might be implicitly reconstructed from Otakar Šourek's editorial notes found in the second release of the work in 1949. Another such source indicating an authorized version could be the material used by the Czech Quartet. However, this work is presently also missing.