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{{Short description|Czech housewife}}
{{More sources needed|date=December 2015}}
[[Image:Kamila Stösslová in 1917.jpg|thumb|upright|250px|Kamila Stösslová with her son Otto in 1917]]
'''Kamila Stösslová''' ([[née]] Neumannová; 1891–1935) holdswas an unusual place ina musicCzech historywoman. The [[composer]] [[Leoš Janáček]], upon meeting her in 1917 in the Moravian resort town of [[Luhačovice]], fell deeply in love with her, despite the fact that both beingof them were married, and the factthat he was almost forty years older than hershe was. She washad a profound influence on the composer in his last decade.
 
Kamila was at the time living in Luhačovice with her husband, David Stössel, and their two sons, Rudolf (born 1913) and Otto (born 1916).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Simeone |first=Nigel |date=1995 |title=Review of Intimate Letters: Leoš Janáček to Kamila Stösslová |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/737785 |journal=Music & Letters |volume=76 |issue=1 |pages=117–119 |issn=0027-4224}}</ref> David was in the army and assisted Janáček in obtaining vital food supplies in wartime. Probably David Stössel's army service may have meant he could be at Luhačovice only on some days, thus giving Janáček opportunities to walk and converse with Kamila.{{cn|date=October during that first week.2024}} Janáček arrived in the resort on 3 July 1917 (he preferred Luhačovice over other spas due to its proximity to his house in [[Brno]]). By 8 July he had jotted down a fragment of her speech in his diary. His correspondence with Kamila had begun with a brief note by 24 July 1917.
 
Despite her ambivalence about his feelings for her, Janáček was inspired by her to create the lead characters of two of his [[opera]]s: Káťa in ''[[Káťa Kabanová|Katya Kabanová]]'' and Emilia Marty in ''[[The Makropulos Affair (opera)|The Makropulos Affair]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Padilla |first=Alysse G |date=2013 |title=Offstage and Backstage:Janáček's Re-Voicing of Kamila Stösslová |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/31284991/JANACEK-HARMONIA-FINAL-libre.pdf?1392359458=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DReconsidering_the_Importance_of_Brno_s_C.pdf&Expires=1727955010&Signature=AH39SU60b70ox5jUjvFILeKVmvtUivY2iVxDIN-WAy02W-JT5nfoIfHWkWjVt1q2Z9WObRaPkKiOkhBNGGljvB~7K5A6sFYZqKRTaZ-DX2LEpfvB1jr5bLL47vITTapp2EzyPm7NFy9Js9AJnPD3DuKSpbAIqS0Gh3MdynvyqaYgiVRDc3WJj-qd7tAnNDJMquVpfkly7m4DBL7iEjw3IcUT56VBJJC2~M6NhWldQHA~mPma62iNhql8t7NlYNbNEw2qvrIIZvvghNa-87-LTGhwrBi5UYW8B-sgjdLK1web0Yw28RimiTbDoTut6~fEkObiiawBvojmiRgphbuH9w__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA#page=83 |journal=Leoš Janáček: Life, Work, and Contribution. Special Issue of Harmonia. |volume=May |pages=79}}</ref> He acknolwedged her as the inspiration for the former opera, telling her in a letter that "''I saw for the first time how a woman can love her husband… that was the reason why I took up Kát’a Kabanová and composed it''".<ref name=":0" /> Likewise, during rehearsals for The Makropulos Affair, Janáček wrote to her that "''Mrs. Kerová, who is taking [the role of Emilia Marty], has movements like you… that lady seems just like you in her gait and her whole appearance''”<ref name=":0" />
Despite her ambivalence to his feelings for her, Janáček was inspired by her to create the lead characters of three of his [[opera]]s; Káťa in ''[[Káťa Kabanová|Katya Kabanová]]'', the vixen in ''[[The Cunning Little Vixen]]'' and Emilia Marty in ''[[The Makropulos Affair (opera)|The Makropulos Affair]]''.{{Citation needed|date=August 2008}} Other works that were inspired by his passion include ''[[The Diary of One Who Disappeared]]'', the ''[[Glagolitic Mass]]'', his ''[[Sinfonietta (Janáček)|Sinfonietta]]'' and the ''[[String Quartet No. 2 (Janáček)|String Quartet No. 2]]'' (subtitled ''Intimate Letters'').
 
Another work inspired by was ''[[The Diary of One Who Disappeared]]'' <ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Tutter |first=Adele |date=2015 |title=Text As Muse, Muse As Text: Janáček, Kamila, and the Role of Fantasy in Musical Creativity |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26305130 |journal=American Imago |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=407–450 |issn=0065-860X}}</ref> about which the composer wrote to her "''That black Gypsy girl in my Diary was especially you… That's why there's so much emotional hea''t.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Christensen |first=Allan C. |date=2012 |title=Creating/Vanishing: The Gypsy Muse in Works by Arnold, Kalda, Janáček, and Vaughan Williams |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44030701 |journal=Mosaic: An Interdisciplinary Critical Journal |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=165–183 |issn=0027-1276}}</ref> Other works she inspired include the ''[[Glagolitic Mass]]'', the ''[[Sinfonietta (Janáček)|Sinfonietta]]'' and in particular the ''[[String Quartet No. 2 (Janáček)|String Quartet No. 2]]'' (subtitled ''Intimate Letters''). Not only is this last work dedicated to Stösslová, but the composer added a codicil to his will stipulating that she receive all of the royalties.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Josephson |first=Nors S. |date=2009 |title=Janáček's Intimate Letters (Listy důvěrné): Erotic Biography and Creative Genesis |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27764446 |journal=Archiv für Musikwissenschaft |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=155–184 |issn=0003-9292}}</ref>
While many of these works reveal a realization that the composer's love for her was unrequited, she was nonetheless the subject of intense correspondence. There are over 700 letters (and the aforementioned [[string quartet]] which was inspired by them) that bear witness to his intense obsession with this young woman. Although she always remained emotionally aloof, she was with him when he died in 1928. During the final year of his life, he wrote to Kamila almost every day.
 
While many of these works reveal a realization thatby the composer's that his love for her was unrequited, she was nonetheless the subject of intense correspondence. There are over 700 letters (andthat thebear aforementionedwitness [[stringto quartet]]his whichintense wasobsession inspiredwith byKamila. them)During thatthe bearfinal witnessyear toof his intenselife, obsessionhe withwrote thisto youngKamila womanalmost every day. Although she always remained emotionally aloof, she was with him when he died in 1928. During the final year of his life, he wrote to Kamila almost every day.
 
In the award-winning TV film ''[[In Search of Janáček]]'', written and directed by [[Petr Kaňka]], her character was performed by [[Zuzana Vejvodová]].
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}
 
==Further reading==
* John Tyrrell, ''Intimate Letters: Leoš Janáček to Kamila Stösslová'', Faber and Faber, (2005), {{ISBN |978-0-571-22510-1}}.
 
{{Leoš Janáček}}
{{Authority control}}
 
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Stosslova, Kamila
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Czech housewife
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1891
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Putim
| DATE OF DEATH = 1935
| PLACE OF DEATH = Písek
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stosslova, Kamila}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:Czech women]]
 
 
{{czechRepublic-bio-stub}}