Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga

[1] Janáček composed the piece to the text of the Russian teacher Marfa Nikolayevna Veveritsa.

[2] From her childhood, she showed remarkable talent in various arts, though not in music (to the mild disappointment of her father).

"[3] Sadly, her health was poor from an early age, and her physical state brought a lot of anxiety to her parents.

Olga remained the only child of her parents, and also the only bond connecting the members of the family.

After her return, she spent some time in Hukvaldy in order to recuperate; however, her illness reappeared with new and worse complications.

Zdenka later remembered their loneliness and despair in her memories: "We stayed in our dining room alone.

The Elegy was apparently composed directly to the Russian original, and it was translated later by B. Zavadil.