Abstract

What did the musical folklore of his country mean to Leoš Janáček  (1854-1928)? Above all, a source of personal style. We would probably understand much less about him if we ignored his passionate and ardent connection with the Moravian folk music. In the course of his life, his relationship with the folkloric source underwent changes, and so did his work: it « evolved » from the perimeter of a national Romanticism imbued with PanSlavist tendencies and bursts of nonconformism and originality, towards a personal modern style influenced by Naturalism and built around the "Sprechmotives" technique. At the same time, his deliberate immersion in the culture of his native land had a political significance, born of patriotic nationalist convictions that were understandable under the historical circumstances preceding and following World War I. Janáček `s relationship with the Moravian folk music will be succinctly summarized from his own writings and from the comments of some of the analysts of his music. Particular emphasis will be placed on the difference between Janáček`s folklorist Romantic and modernist attitudes, expressed at distinct moments of his life. 

Keywords: modernity, Pan-Slavism, Moravian folk music, Sprechgesang

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