Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...
composed String Quartet No. 4 in E minor,
B. 19 at some stage in the years 1869 and 1870.
[ It was one of three (together with the quartets numbers 2, and 3) which Dvořák later believed he had destroyed after he had disposed of the scores.
]
Background
Despite Dvořák's efforts to destroy the work, copies of the individual instrumental parts in his own script were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, allowing its reconstruction.[ The quartet was printed in 1968 as part of the complete critical edition of Dvořák's works,][Parts published by Barenreiter/Supraphon Urtext edition/ Kriticke Vydani (H4592) dating from 1968] and subsequently published by Barenreiter/Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.
History
The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. Th ...
Barenreiter/Supraphon in their Urtext edition. It received its first performance by the Prague Quartet The Prague Quartet (; ) was a string quartet based in Prague that existed from 1920 to 1955. Along with the Ševčík Quartet and Bohemian Quartet, it was one of the foremost chamber ensembles of the interwar years.Černušák (1963), p. 360.
Hi ...
, for Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
, Jan/Feb 1976,[
]
Structure
The quartet is in one continuous movement, but with three distinct sections.[
A typical performance lasts approximately 33 minutes.][
]
Related works
The music of the second section, marked ''Andante religioso'', was later used as the basis for a movement of the String Quintet No. 2 in G major, B. 49, which in turn was arranged for the Nocturne for Strings in B major, Op. 40 (B. 47) (also published in the composer's own arrangements for Violin and Piano, B. 48a and as a Piano Duet, B. 48b).
Notes
References
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External links
English language version of a page about Dvořák's String Quartet No 4 at a Czech site
Dvorak 04
Compositions in E minor
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