Classical Music | Music for Quartet

Recorded on 05/28/2014, uploaded on 10/15/2014

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

I.     Allegro ma non troppo
II.    Lento
III.   Molto vivace
IV.    Finale: Vivace ma non troppo

This piece was written during Dvořák’s residency in the United States. Although he quotes no actual American melodies, in his "American" Quartet Dvořák captured the spirit of American music in his work’s melodic flow and harmonic construction.

Dvořák, who was then serving as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City, wrote the American Quartet in Spillville, Iowa, where he spent a summer holiday. The vibrant Czech community of immigrants there provided a place where he could speak his native language and feel somewhat at home. Dvořák began the piece in June 1893, only three days after his arrival, and finished it before the month was out.

The sonata-form first movement opens with violin trills and a lyrical viola solo, which soon reappears in the violin. At one time or another, each member of the ensemble is granted time in the spotlight. The two main melodies draw on pentatonic scales which are often found in American folk music.

The poignant second movement offers a tearful central theme, first heard in the first violin, though soon reappearing in the cello. The movement’s central section is more impassioned than its opening, though it closes gently, much as it had begun.  For the third movement scherzo, Dvořák opted for light and danceable dotted rhythms. Here the usual contrasting theme of the central section is instead a slower, more-reflective treatment of the first scherzo theme

Dvořák’s final movement is lively and exuberant, especially for the first violin. For contrast, there is an almost hymnlike tune that appears midway through the movement. However, Dvořák brings the movement full circle with a resumption of the exuberant theme from its opening section, and the work concludes with energy.    Notes by Betsy Schwarm

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.