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'''Leoš Janáček''' (1854-1928), [[Czech]] [[composer]], was the third of the great Czech composers after [[Bedrich Smetana|Smetana]] and [[Dvorak]], and like them was to draw musical inspiration from the folk songs and dance melodies of his homeland, in his case, Moravia, a south-eastern region of the modern Czech Republic which he would rarely leave, except for learning, during his lifetime..

'''Leoš Janáček''' (1854–1928), [[Czech]] [[composer]], was the third of the great Czech composers after [[Bedrich Smetana|Smetana]] and [[Dvorak]], and like them was to draw musical inspiration from the folk songs and dance melodies of his homeland, in his case, Moravia, a south-eastern region of the modern Czech Republic which he would rarely leave, except for learning, during his lifetime..

At ten he became a choirboy and, at sixteen the choirmaster, of a monastery in the Moravian capital, Brno, taking over from a strongly nationalist composer/monk whose love of the traditional culture was to profoundly influence Janáček’s music. He studied in [[Prague]] then Liepzig before settling back in Brno.

At ten he became a choirboy and, at sixteen the choirmaster, of a monastery in the Moravian capital, Brno, taking over from a strongly nationalist composer/monk whose love of the traditional culture was to profoundly influence Janáček's music. He studied in [[Prague]] then Liepzig before settling back in Brno.

He first drew attention outside the Slav lands with his instrumental music – he had begun collecting folk tunes in 1888, and these would colour his compositions for the rest of his life, so that it was the tuneful and distinctive orchestral music, the nationalistic and extremely personal piano works (some of which were originally written for [[harmonium]]), especially the two books entitled ''“On the Overgrown Path”''; the two intense string quartets (the later of which, “Intimate letters”, is autobiographical); and the late ''“Sinfonietta”'' for orchestra, perhaps his most striking and popular work in the concert hall.

He first drew attention outside the Slav lands with his instrumental music – he had begun collecting folk tunes in 1888, and these would colour his compositions for the rest of his life, so that it was the tuneful and distinctive orchestral music, the nationalistic and extremely personal piano works (some of which were originally written for [[harmonium]]), especially the two books entitled ''“On the Overgrown Path”''; the two intense string quartets (the later of which, “Intimate letters”, is autobiographical); and the late ''“Sinfonietta”'' for orchestra, perhaps his most striking and popular work in the concert hall.