Leo Janek’s only completed work for cello and piano is the “Fairy Tale” (BA09509). The arrangement of his violin sonata for cello provides cellists with another work by this composer a valuable addition to the concert repertoire for this instrument. The arrangement was made by renowned Czech cellist Ji Brta, who recorded the version for the first time together with pianist Terezie Fialov (label Animal Music, 2024).

Brta approached the arrangement with extraordinary sensitivity to Janek’s original. The violin part remains largely unchanged, adapted only to accommodate the technical possibilities and timbre of the cello; in some passages, the cello even plays in the same register as the violin. for a particularly challenging passage in the fourth movement, the arranger offers an ossia alternative. The piano part is identical to the original, except for an octave transposition.

The musical text is based on the “Complete Critical Edition of the Works of Leo Janek”, E/1-2.