Leos Janacek and "The Late Style" in Music

Abstract

Czech composer Leos Janácek (1854-1928) represents one of the most remarkable cases of creative energy in advancing years. Indeed, he is remembered primarily for the works that he composed in the last decade of his life. In this paper, Janácek's concept of aging is outlined in three areas: the subject matter of his late operas, the composer's own comments during this period, and the shape of his musical structures. The concept of "the late style" is questioned, and the problems of applying models to artistic creativity and productivity are noted.

Older adults’ participation in artistic activities: a scoping review

“…Fifty-two papers (40.3%) were classified as conceptual articles. These studies included several themes, such as the analysis of older iconic or eminent creators considering aging elements (Beckerman 1990 ; Catbagan and Musser 2019 ; Lindauer 1992 ; Nuessel et al 2001 ; Pritikin 1990 ), the evolution of creativity linked to artistic activity and the development of creative practice in later life (Bruhn 2002 ; Cohen-Shalev 1986 , 1989 ; Greenleigh 1960 ); policies related with arts and aging (Lehikoinen 2017 ); positive aging through arts (Brodsky 2011 ); benefits of artistic activities (Wood et al 2018 ); and personal artistic experiences (LaBorie 2013 ; Slater 2019 ).…”

Über „Successful Aging” hinaus: Rembrandt in seinen Selbstbildnissen

“…Es gibt wenig Literatur zur Prävalenz eines Spätstils bei Künstlern im Allgemeinen, doch scheint es offensichtlich, dass die Entwicklung eines Spätstils nicht auf einige wenige Maler wie Michelangelo, Donatello, Boticelli, Goya, Turner, Monet und Cezanne beschränkt bleibt [5,8,10], noch auf visuelle Künste überhaupt. So liegen einige wenige Arbeiten zum Spätstil in anderen Kunstformen vor wie Literatur [14] und Musik [15], die auf eine generelle Möglichkeit zum Ausdruck eines Spätstils im künstlerischen Schaffen hinweisen.…”

Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier

“…He argued that the swansong phenomenon, a term derived from Adorno's notion Spa¨tstil, denoting the exceptional high-level creative activity in old age, is a manifestation of the coinciding of wisdom and creativity in old age (see also Beckerman, 1990;Dittmann-Kohli, 1993). He argued, like did earlier, that the acquisition of wisdom is by no means guaranteed among the elderly.…”