The first decade after 1900 was difficult for Janáček. In 1903 his daughter Olga died while studying Russian in St Petersburg. He had written an opera in her memory, called Jenůfa. He tried to sell the opera to several opera houses, but was never successful. He felt a failed, provincial composer that could never reach the height of the great city of Prague. Maybe as a result, he wrote many smaller compositions.
This set starts with the series of short piano pieces called On an overgrown path. I love this series if only for the title. It was composed between 1900 and 1912, and consists of two series of very divergent musical sketches. At first it was written for harmonium (a small organ), but when it was published as a series it was for piano. Later other composers created many different arrangements for it, in different combinations of instruments.
Five records full of piano and chamber music composed by Czech composer Leoš Janáček. There is just too much to talk about it all. Also too much beauty, too many barely discovered gems. Janáček was a master of simple melodies, simple but heartbreakingly beautiful.