The Sonatina in G major for violin and piano (), Op. 100, B. 183, was written by

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 ...

between November 19 and December 3,

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

, in

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. It was the last chamber composition he wrote during his sojourn in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Dvořák catered the

sonatina A sonatina (French: “sonatine”, German: “Sonatine") is a small sonata. As a musical term, ''sonatina'' has no single strict definition; it is rather a title applied by the composer to a piece that is in basic sonata form, but is shorter and ...

to the gradually developing musical abilities of his children, especially those of his 15-year-old daughter 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 publishi ...

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

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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

Structure

The four short

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

of the sonatina each exhibit a simple and clear, formal structure (hence the diminutive, cf.

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

). 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

Negro spirituals Spirituals (also known as Negro spirituals, African American spirituals, Black spirituals, or spiritual music) is a genre of Christian music that is associated with African Americans, which merged varied African cultural influences with the exp ...

, which are characterized by

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

s and

syncopated In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...

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 r ...

, 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 Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

.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, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing, with marked por ...

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 ...

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...

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