This is the first major set of essays on the Czech composer Leoš Janáček, widely considered one of the most important composers of the early twentieth century. The essays deal with a range of subjects relating to opera, symphonic poem, instrumental music, cultural context, reception, and Janáček as music theorist and analyst. Some topics, such as the sources of his musical expressivity, narrative, and Janáček as musical analyst and realist have hitherto received little attention, while other, more conventional topics, such as "speech melody" and Janáček's ethnographic activities, are reappraised.
