The composition 1.X.1905 generally referred to as a sonata stems from the autumn of 1905 the peak of the riots between the Czech- and German-speaking populations in Janá ek s hometown Brno. Reacting to the violent death of a Czech worker Janá ek wrote a three-part composition for Piano originally bearing the title From the Street on October 1 1905. Dissatisfied with the work however Janá ek is said to have first burned the third movement in his fireplace and then thrown the remaining two movements into the Vltava even before its premiere. A copy of these first two movements on which thepublication of the first edition was later based is also missing today. For this reason the Urtext edition of G. Henle Publishers and Universal Edition is based solely on the first edition from 1924 which Janá ek expert Ji Zahrádka has carefully evaluated and annotated for this volume.
