Classical Music | Cello Music

Recorded on 01/07/2015, uploaded on 06/04/2015

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Like Bartók, Antonín Dvořák had a deep affinity for his country that he conveyed in his music. Though some of his works incorporate native Czech tunes, Silent Woods is more of a character piece inspired by his native land than an actual folk song. The “woods” to which the title refers is a forest in South Bohemia that Dvořák often visited with friends. Dvořák wrote a four-hand piano cycle in 1883 titled From the Bohemian Forest, of which Silent Woods is the fifth of six movements. He arranged the movement for cello and piano in 1891 and later for cello and orchestra. The piece, which is in ABA form, features a heartfelt, introspective melody in the first section and a more moving, impassioned theme in the second section.      Laura Usiskin

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.