Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

´s String Sextet in

A major A major (or the key of A) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The key of A major is the only k ...

, Op. 48, (B. 80) for two

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s, two

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

s and two

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

s was composed for the most part in May 1878. It was Dvořák's first work to be premiered outside

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

. The period 1875-1879 was very important in Dvořák's life. The composer received government grants in that time, which enabled him to concentrate solely on composing. A sense of responsibility led him to hard and prolific work, and one of the results of his activity was the String Sextet. Dvořák's

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

publisher

Simrock Simrock may refer to the German sheet music publisher N. Simrock, or one of the following members of the Simrock family engaged in that business: * Nikolaus Simrock, (1751–1832), founder of N. Simrock * Karl Joseph Simrock (1802–1876), son of N ...

offered the work to his friend and collaborator Joseph Joachim (famous violinist and leader of a string quartet), and he together with other artists performed the work privately on 19 July 1879. The composer was present and was enchanted by the performance. The next day he wrote to his friend Alois Göbl: ''"...Joachim waited with eagerness for my arrival and even organized a soirée for my sake. During the celebration they played my new quartet and sextet. They played with great understanding and enthusiasm..."'' Joachim and colleagues gave the public premiere of the work in Berlin on 9 November 1879. A few months later they also performed it in London. The composition was published by

Fritz Simrock Friedrich August Simrock, better known as Fritz Simrock (January 2, 1837 in Bonn – August 20, 1901 in Ouchy) was a German music publisher who inherited a publishing firm from his grandfather Nikolaus Simrock. Simrock is most noted for publishing ...

in 1879; the critical edition of the work was printed in 1957.

Structure

The composition consists of four movements: The work was composed at the same time as the Slavonic Rhapsodies (Op. 45) and Slavonic Dances (Op. 46). Written in similar style, it can also be called "Slavonic".sleeve note of the Supraphon recording (11 1461-2 131) Two inner movements are partly stylisations of the

dumka Dumka ( Santali: ᱫᱩᱢᱠᱟᱹ), the headquarters of the Dumka district and Santhal Pargana region, is a city in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region, which was carved out of the Bha ...

and partly of the folk

furiant A furiant is a rapid and fiery Bohemian dance in alternating 2/4 and 3/4 time, with frequently shifting accents; or, in "art music", in 3/4 time "with strong accents forming pairs of beats". The stylised form of the dance was often used by Czech ...

. The first movement is written in the

sonata Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...

form, and the last part is composed in the form of variations, in a soft, meditative mood.

Selected recordings

*''String Quintet No. 2, String Sextet''. Supraphon 1992. (11 1461-2 131

(Panocha Quartet)

Footnotes

References

*Jarmil Burghauser: ''Antonín Dvořák''. Prague: Koniasch Latin Press, 2006.

External links

Info on a comprehensive Dvorak sitePerformance of String Sextet by the Musicians from Marlboro
from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format
English info
* Chamber music by Antonín Dvořák Dvorak 1878 compositions Compositions in A major {{chamber-composition-stub