{"id":2434,"date":"2026-02-27T15:49:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T15:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/?p=2434"},"modified":"2026-02-27T15:56:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T15:56:56","slug":"janaceks-sinfonietta-by-nigel-simeone-and-jiri-zahradka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/?p=2434","title":{"rendered":"JAN\u00c1\u010cEK\u2019S SINFONIETTA by Nigel Simeone and Ji\u0159\u00ed Zahr\u00e1dka"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/?attachment_id=2435\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-2435\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2435\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/J-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/J-200x300.jpg 200w, http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/J-683x1024.jpg 683w, http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/J-768x1152.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/J.jpg 907w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><strong><em>Barry Forshaw<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>How many of the aficionados of the rich and characterful music of Jan\u00e1\u010dek were introduced to the composer by a single work? The glorious Sinfonietta, composed in 1927, belongs to the composer\u2019s final period, and for quite some time, the piece \u2013 full of impact as it is \u00a0\u2013 was seldom performed. This was principally due to the prodigious number of wind instruments that the score required. In fact, the outer movements\u2019 supplementary chorus of trumpets (along with the five specified for all the sections) further added to the expense of performance. The identity of the piece is quite unlike that of any other music, even that of Jan\u00e1\u010dek, with undercurrents of a threnody set against its pulse-raising fortissimos. From the Boydell Press, we now have a fascinating study of the piece described as a \u2018musical biography\u2019 of the Sinfonietta, analysing its sources, its critical reception and various iterations on disc. And in a move as canny as one might expect from this enterprising publisher, Britain\u2019s leading authority on Jan\u00e1\u010dek, the much-esteemed musicologist Nigel Simeone, is responsible for this scholarly but utterly readable volume, in the company of Ji\u0159\u00ed Zahr\u00e1dka, director of the Jan\u00e1\u010dek Archive in Brno, who was responsible for critical editions of many of the composer\u2019s works \u2013 including the equally arresting Tara Bulba. It goes without saying that this is a volume which should be on the shelves of anyone with the slightest interest in the composer, the music examined at granular level. But bursting off the pages is an enthusiasm for this matchless music that will send listeners afresh to the score, either on disc or (if they are lucky enough) in a concert performance.<\/p>\n<p><strong>JAN\u00c1\u010cEK\u2019S SINFONIETTA<\/strong> by Nigel Simeone and Ji\u0159\u00ed Zahr\u00e1dka<br \/>\nBoydell Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barry Forshaw How many of the aficionados of the rich and characterful music of Jan\u00e1\u010dek were introduced to the composer by a single work? The glorious Sinfonietta, composed in 1927, belongs to the composer\u2019s final period, and for quite some &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/?p=2434\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2434"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2439,"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions\/2439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.cdchoice.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}