Brno to establish a museum dedicated to Leoš Janáček

The city of Brno has approved a property exchange that will pave the way for a museum honoring composer Leoš Janáček. This significant cultural development coincides with the 170th anniversary of Janáček’s birth, an event celebrated by the ongoing international opera festival Janáček Brno.

Leoš Janáček and his works are now an essential part of global musical heritage. While he is often regarded as a “Czech composer,” it was Brno—the metropolis of Moravia and its folk music—that played a key role in shaping his life and work, explains Jiří Zahrádka from the Institute of Musicology at Masaryk University:

Jiří Zahrádka|Photo: Masaryk University Brno

"He was sent to study at the Augustinian Monastery in Brno, where he learned to play the piano, the organ, and to sing and take part in figural masses. So he received a very good musical education, and it was soon evident that this was the path he wanted to follow in life. He received formal musical training in Brno and later studied at the Prague Organ School to become a music teacher. In 1878, he was invited to spend some time in Vienna, where he further improved his skills, and upon his return, he founded and led the Organ School and Conservatory in Brno."

Yet, the city still lacks an independent museum dedicated to Janáček. While Janáček’s villa and archive house valuable documents, including letters and musical scores inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World register, the current storage conditions are far from adequate. The villa is part of the Moravian Museum, which also oversees Janáček’s memorial—a modest house next to the villa where the composer lived and worked.

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Now, the Catholic Diocese and the city of Brno have agreed on a property exchange. One of the buildings involved, the beautiful Chleborád Villa, currently housing a church arts school, will become the property of the city. The plan is to convert it into a brand-new museum dedicated to Janáček.

You may ask: why did a composer of Janáček’s caliber choose to stay in Brno rather than work in Vienna or Prague? Associate Professor Jiří Zahrádka provides insight:

"Janáček found a wife here, lived here, had friends here, and had a lot of work here. He ran his Organ School and was involved in local activities. He was not attracted to Prague for many reasons. First of all, he was number one here, which he wouldn’t have been in Prague.”

Leoš Janáček in 1914|Photo: Moravian Museum Brno

"Moreover, Janáček soon made a lot of enemies in Prague because he was critical of Bedřich Smetana's operatic work, which caused him terrible problems in the future. So he never really considered moving to Prague. In 1904, he was offered the job of director of the conservatory in Warsaw, but he turned that offer down as well."

Janáček thus remains inextricably linked to Brno to this day. Both city officials and museum curators aim to complete the new museum in time for the 100th anniversary of Janáček’s death in 2028.