The Sonáta 'pro klavír' „I. X. 1905, Z ulice“, JW 8/19 (Piano Sonata “1 October 1905, From the Street” in E minor, JW 8/19, 1905) was inspired by the tragic and violent death of a protester during a demonstration calling for the construction of a new Czech university. Janacek drew inspiration from this deeply traumatising event, resulting in his only piano sonata. Although not entirely pianistic, it contains strong elements of drama and originality.
Janácek’s piano cycle 'V mlhách', JW 8/22 (In the Mists, 1912) contains elements of the intimate, personal and emotionally immediate music from the borders of eastern and western Europe, coming from the fiddles and cimbalom (hammered dulcimer) of Moravian folk music, as well as its use of melodic fragments, reiterated and altered in various ways. In the composer’s use of harmonic colour, however, there is more than a hint of Debussy-like impressionism, but the context is purely Czech.
The first five pieces of the two sets 'Po zarostlém chodnícku', JW 8/17 ('On an Overgrown Path', 1901–1908) were composed around 1900, for harmonium. The first set of ten was completed in 1908. The pieces, as Janácek wrote, "contain distant reminiscences. Those reminiscences are so dear to me that I do not think they will ever vanish." Some of these memories are clearly happy, others extremely sad.
Natalia Sokolovskaya is a very refined and elegant young Russian pianist, winner of several international competitions and active as a concertist pianist and organizer.
The recording was made originally @ 176.4 kHz * 24-bits, with a stereo pair mic, with no mastering addition.