Editing Leoš Janáček (section)

=== 1873–1880: Education and early career ===
Janáček originally intended to study piano and organ but eventually devoted himself to composition. He wrote his first vocal compositions while choirmaster of the ''Svatopluk Artisan's Association'' (1873–1876).{{sfn|Drlíková|2004|p=13}} In 1874, he enrolled at the Prague organ school, under [[František Zdeněk Skuherský|František Skuherský]] and František Blažek.{{sfn|Černušák|Štědroň|Nováček|1963|p=557}} His student days in Prague were impoverished; with no piano in his room, he had to make do with a keyboard drawn on his tabletop.{{sfn|Štědroň|1946|p=32}} His criticism of Skuherský's performance of the Gregorian mass was published in the March 1875 edition of the journal ''Cecilie'' and led to his expulsion from the school, but Skuherský relented, and on 24 July 1875 Janáček graduated with the best results in his class.{{sfn|Štědroň|1946|p=31}}

On his return to Brno he earned a living as a music teacher, and conducted various amateur [[choir]]s. From 1876 he taught music at Brno's Teachers' Institute. Among his pupils there was Zdenka Schulzová, daughter of Emilian Schulz, the Institute director. She was later to be Janáček's wife.{{sfn|Černušák|Štědroň|Nováček|1963|p=557}} In 1876, he also became a piano student of Amálie Wickenhauserová-Nerudová, with whom he co-organized chamber concertos and performed in concerts over the following two years. In February 1876, he was voted Choirmaster of the ''Beseda brněnská'' Philharmonic Society. Apart from an interruption from 1879 to 1881, he remained its choirmaster and conductor until 1888.{{sfn|Drlíková|2004|p=19}}

From October 1879 to February 1880, he studied piano, organ, and composition at the [[Felix Mendelssohn College of Music and Theatre|Leipzig Conservatory]]. While there, he composed ''Thema con variazioni'' for piano in B-flat, subtitled ''Zdenka's Variations''.{{sfn|Drlíková|2004|pp=27, 29}} Dissatisfied with his teachers (among them [[Oscar Paul]] and Leo Grill), and denied a studentship with [[Camille Saint-Saëns]] in Paris, Janáček moved on to the [[University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna|Vienna Conservatory]], where from April to June 1880, he studied composition with [[Franz Krenn]].{{sfn|Firkušný|2005|p=45}} He concealed his opposition to Krenn's neo-romanticism, but he quit [[Josef Dachs]]'s classes and further piano study after he was criticised for his piano style and technique.{{sfn|Štědroň|1946|p=55}} He submitted a violin sonata (now lost) to a Vienna Conservatory competition, but the judges rejected it as being "too academic".{{sfn|Štědroň|1946|p=57}} Janáček left the conservatory in June 1880, disappointed despite Franz Krenn's very complimentary personal report.{{sfn|Firkušný|2005|p=48}} One of his classmates and friend in Vienna was composer and pianist [[Josef Weiss]].<ref name="SO">{{cite journal|url=https://operaslovakia-sk.translate.goog/kosicki-bratia-weiss-a-bereny-v-berline-new-yorku-parizi-a-budapesti/?_x_tr_sl=sk&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc|title=Košickí bratia Weiss a Berény v Berlíne, New Yorku, Paríži a Budapešti|date=25 November 2020|first=Agata|last= Schindler|journal=Opera Slovokia Magazine}}</ref>