Josef Bohuslav Foerster - Style

Style

Foerster produced numerous compositions. His music is not nationalistic in the sense of employing the idioms of Czech folk music. His work, words and music, is considered very subjective and personal, mystical and idealistic.

Foerster's opera Eva, is another example, like Leoš Janáček's Jenůfa, of a libretto based on a play by Gabriela Preissová, though his treatment differs.

His compositions include five symphonies (No. 1 in D minor; No. 2 in F, Op. 29 (1892-8); No. 3, Op. 36; No. 4 in C minor, Op. 54, "Easter Eve" (1905); and No. 5, Op. 141 (1929) ), other orchestral works including a symphonic poem based on Cyrano de Bergerac, much chamber music (including five string quartets (No. 1 in E, Op. 15; No. 2, Op. 39; No. 3 in C, Op. 61; No. 4 in F, Op. 182 (1943); and the last, written 1950-1, completed by Jan Hanuš ); three piano trios, two violin and two cello sonatas, and a several-times-recorded wind quintet), at least five operas (notably Eva), concertos for cello (Op. 143) and two for violin (No. 1 in C minor, Op. 88 (1911); No. 2 in D minor, Op. 104), liturgical music, among other works, over 170 published opus numbers in all.

Many of his works remember family members: the 2nd Symphony is dedicated to his sister Marie; his brother's death led to the cantata Mortuis fratribus; his son is commemorated in the Piano Trio and the 5th Symphony; and his mother is a theme throughout his oeuvre.