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  1. Blog
    I. Allegro con fuoco II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace III. Poco andante IV. Allegro assai The Quintet in G that Dvorák completed in 1875, and called Op.18, was composed for a chamber music competition sponsored by the Prague-based Artistic Circle. It won the competition (and prize money)...
  2. Blog
    Whilst in Spillville, Dvořák began writing compositions influenced by all the music around him, first with his 12th "American" Quartet and then, 'inspired' by the music of the Kickapoo tribe, the op.97 Quintet. Dvorak wrote the whole quintet in five weeks in 1893, Both the American Quartet and...
  3. Classical Music Discussion
    Antonin Dvorak is truly remembered for his symphonies, especially the Ninth, but something that should be studied more about him was the four fairy-tale tone poems he did towards the end of his life. These works are..."The Water Goblin", "The Noonday Witch", "The Wild Dove" and, my personal...
  4. Blog
    Dvorak's 1887 Cypresses, the collection of string quartet miniatures that often fill out discs of the composer's better-known chamber works, had their origins as an early song-cycle written in 1865 when the 24-year-old composer was still finding his style. The cycle's dedicatee criticised the...
  5. Blog
    I know I've been dismissive of some of Dvorak's early quartets but the 1st doesn't fall into this category for me as its bursting with vitality and a better set of tunes. Its really worth hearing for the charming last movement which the Vlach Prague Quartet rather bugger up due to inordinately...
  6. Blog
    This one is, again, going to short and sweet as, like the 3rd quartet, it is certainly not a favourite (to put it mildly) and overstays its welcome by a good 20 minutes. At around three-quarters of an hour it's Dvorak's second longest quartet and lacks focus and direction to these ears. Tbh...
  7. Blog
    Dvorak composed his 4th String Quartet some time between 1869 and 1870. Like the first 3 quartet scores Dvořák believed he had destroyed the score of the 4th but (like the first three) copies of the individual instrumental parts in his own script were discovered at the beginning of the 20th...
  8. Blog
    At (usually) over an hour, Dvorak's 3rd is by far his longest and, for many, his most unappealing quartet, often feeling like more of an endurance test than an enjoyable listen. It's not 'bad', per se , and contains some pleasant material but it's a piece that seems to go nowhere slowly and is a...
  9. Blog
    Dvorak wrote his 5th String Quartet between September and October 1873. The Bennewitz Quartet had originally put it in their concert repertoire but later refused to play it due to "lack of quartet style". Not surprisingly, Dvořák was a bit miffed and tore out the title page of the score with...
  10. Blog
    Dvorak composed his 6th Quartet between November and December 1873 but was dissatisfied with it and revised it (probably the year later) but he left the work incomplete. It was reconstructed in 1977 by Jarmil Burghauser with a few small additions. The first recording of the piece was made by...
  11. Blog
    Dvorak's 7th string quartet was composed very quickly in September 1874 and it received its first private performance in June 1875 by the Circle of Young Musicians in Prague and first public performance 3 years later by the Bennewitz Quartet. Interestingly Dvorak chose the same key as his 6th...
  12. Blog
    Dvorak wrote his 9th Quartet in December 1877 and it was premiered in December 1881 by the Quartetto Heller. He dedicated to Brahms who loved it but also recommended that Dvorak take another look at it and remove some inaccuracies. Dvorak took his advice and revised it in 1879. It's a...
  13. Blog
    Dvorak's 11th SQ is probably my least favourite of his late quartets (the others have all the best choons) but its a Dvorak SQ so you know its still gonna be highly enjoyable. For once, not too many recordings. Yay! Here's a 'live' amateur recording from YouTube. Recommended Stamitz...
  14. Blog
    In 1878 Dvorak was commissioned by the Florentine Quartet for a new string quartet "in the Slavic style." The work was dedicated to Jean Becker (the quartet leader) and was first performed in Berlin on 29 July 1879 at a private soiree held in the composer’s honour at Joseph Joachim's house. The...
  15. Blog
    To start things of here's a nice live account of this quartet Thoroughly enjoyed reacquainting myself with this glorious quartet. As usual here's my thoughts. Recommended (all excellent recordings) Cypress Alban Berg Guarneri Wihan Panocha (2008 Camerata) Cecilia Emerson Stamitz Vlach...
  16. Blog
    Again, there were plenty of interesting performances to consume and I've tried to sum my favourites up below. Shame I never got to hear the Hagen recording. I was looking forward to that one. Anyway, here goes. I hope you folks have found a recording you didn't know previously, too. Below is a...
  17. Classical Music Discussion
    I am by no means an expert. I am a simple man who appreciates musical genius in any genre. I have not yet intentionally set out to compare these two pieces, but while listening today I was struck by obvious similarities. Am I a fool? Or has someone got caught with their hand in the cookie jar?
  18. Solo & Chamber Music
    Just realized that Dvorák wrote 14 string quartets! :o (I particularly love his String Quintet in G, op.77) Does anyone have good recommendations to start? Top 5 Dvorak String Quartets, for example. :D
  19. Identifying Classical Music
    Greeting Dear Fellow Members, I hope you all are well, recently i came across this video where i heard this marvelous string piece. the link to the video is: the music starts at 03:40 mark. Any help that you can offer me in identifying this piece shall be greatly appreciated.
  20. Classical Music Discussion
    As a follow up to my Brahms Hungarian Dances set I'd like to throw this out to you. It's another little listening project to take up some more of this rather dull self-isolation. Like last time, here is a complete set of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances for you to listen to and comment on as you wish...
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