Leoš Janácek (1854-1928) is recognized to be “one of the most substantial, original and immediately appealing opera composers of the twentieth century” (John Tyrrell). As a composer he is not noted for his piano writing, instead famed primarily for his operatic writing (e.g. Jenufa, 1904 and The Cunning Little Vixen, 1923) as well as his instrumental pieces (e.g. Sinfonietta, 1926). As a result the beautiful piano miniatures that form On An Overgrown Path (1901-8) have been unjustly neglected. Indeed many pianists do not encounter Janácek’s piano music at all (except perhaps his four larger pieces In The Mists, 1912). His piano music is certainly not included in the core repertoire of the nineteenth or early twentieth centuries that is performed in the professional concert hall.

The potent force of a Pavarotti aria; the sentimentality of a rom-com; the dashing Mr Darcy look; the sun setting over a moorland landscape; the distant song of a nightingale. What is the common denominator among these disparate items? We might link them by one adjective–romantic. But what does this word mean?