The Sonatina in G major for violin and piano ( cz, Sonatina G dur pro housle a klavír), Op. 100, B. 183, was written by Antonín Dvořák between November 19 and December 3,

1893 Events January–March * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * Mark Twain started writing Puddn'head Wilson. * January 6 – Th ...

, in

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. It was the last

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composition he wrote during his sojourn in the

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. Dvořák catered the sonatina to the gradually developing musical abilities of his children, especially those of his 15-year-old daughter Otilie and 10-year-old son Toník, who played piano and violin respectively. In a letter to

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 ...

on January 2, 1894, Dvořák conceived the piece in the following terms: ''"It is intended for youths (dedicated to my two children), but even grown-ups, adults, should be able to converse with it..."'' The sonatina was published by Simrock in

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in 1894. It also exists in a version for cello and piano.

Structure

The four short

movements Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

of the sonatina each exhibit a simple and clear, formal structure (hence the diminutive, cf. sonata). They all contain themes, which, like those already found in his other American chamber works (the String Quartet in F and the String Quintet in E), owe their inspiration to Indian melodies and

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, which are characterized by

pentatonic scale A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave, in contrast to the heptatonic scale, which has seven notes per octave (such as the major scale and minor scale). Pentatonic scales were developed independently by many an ...

s and syncopated

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

, among other traits. The mood of the composition is fresh and joyful. Only the second movement and part of the last movement are nostalgic; they are inspired by the composer's longing for his home country.Score, p. V A motive for the slow movement ''Larghetto'' was hurriedly noted down on Dvořák's shirt sleeve while on a visit to

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, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.midori-violin.com
/ref> Simrock sold this movement separately, without the composer's permission, and

Fritz Kreisler Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born American violinist and composer. One of the most noted violin masters of his day, and regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time, he was known ...

often performed it as ''Indian Lament''. It also appeared as ''Indian Canzonetta''; such romantic titles were not the composer's, but were added subsequently by publishers.

Footnotes

* Victor 12" record 74387, recorded 3/31/1914 * Antonín Dvořák: ''Sonatina G-Dur. Op. 100. Violino e piano. Urtext.'' Prague: Editio Bärenreiter, 2006. H 1364. ISMN M-2601-0389-4

References

External links

*
Performance of Sonatina in an arrangement for viola and piano
by Dimitri Murrath (viola) and Vincent Planes(piano) from the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...

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format Chamber music by Antonín Dvořák Dvorak 1893 compositions Compositions in G major {{chamber-composition-stub