The Diary of One Who Disappeared

Even though Janacek’s dramatic song cycle „The Diary of One Who Disappeared” is scored for chamber ensemble, the composer’s operatic experience is clearly detectable. This work appears in the series “Complete Critical Works of Leos Janáček” (vol. B/6), edited by Jiří Zahrádka. The volume includes an expanded preface (compared with the performing edition, BA09575) and a separate edition of the song texts.

The beautiful engraving matches that of the performing edition. During recent years the poet has been identified as Josef Kalda, and we know that the muse of all of Janacek’s late works was Kamila Stösslová. “That’s why there is so much ardent feeling in this work” (letter of 24 July 1924). “… With this work I constantly thought of you! You were this Žofka to me!“ (letter of 24 December 1927). The renowned editor’s research uncovered several new findings.