Dvořák: The Chamber Music Survey with Sullivan Quartet
DAHA is engaged in an unprecedented multi-year project to present all of Antonín Dvořák’s chamber works. It was our pleasure to offer another exciting chapter in this ongoing cycle, organized by violinist Laura Jean Goldberg and featuring the Sullivan Quartet.
This year’s concert – part of the Year of Czech Music 2024 – explored Dvořák’s early and revealing String Quartet no.4 in E Minor; a further fascinating compositional rarity in the String Quartet Movement in F Major; plus selections from the exquisite, ever-romantic Cypresses.
Dvořák’s prolific output of chamber works exceeded forty duos, trios, string quartets, quintets and sextets. For a taste of earlier concerts in DAHA’s series, we invite you to visit our YouTube channel.
PROGRAM
Movement for String Quartet in F Major, B120
Allegro vivace
Selections from Cypresses
VI. Ó zlatá růže, spanilá (O my wonderful, golden rose)
(no. VII in the Song Cycle)
IX. Ó, duše drahá, jedinká (Oh, you, my soul's only dear one)
(no. IV in the Song Cycle)
XII. Ty se ptáš, proč moje zpěvy (Why are my songs, you must wonder)
(no. XVIII in the Song Cycle)
Intermission
Quartet no.4 in E Minor, B19
Assai con moto ed energico
Andante religioso
Allegro con brio
Notes
String Quartet Movement in F Major
Written in 1881 to fulfill a commission from the celebrated Hellmesberger Quartet, Dvořák eventually set it aside, composing instead the great C major Quartet Opus 61. In the F Major Quartet Movement, Dvořák returns to Beethoven’s Classical form and mode of expression.
We must bear in mind that, for a nineteenth century composer seeking an international audience, following Beethoven’s example was an act of artistic assertiveness, the artist declaring himself to be worthy to be one of Beethoven’s followers and succesors.
Selections from the Cypresses
In Dvořák's exquisite Cypresses (Cypřiše of 1887), the composer made string quartet arrangements of some of his own early love songs for voice and piano, also titled Cypresses. These romantic pieces are based on poems of the same name by Gustav Pfleger-Moravsky.
String Quartet no.4 in E Minor
Dvořák composed and then discarded this Quartet, possibly due to the radical nature of this work. In the early 20th century the quartet parts, not the score, were discovered in the collection of Antonín Bennewitz, violinist and director of the Prague Conservatoire, an unimpeachable source.
In the boldly innovative Quartet in E minor, taking his cue from German Neo-Romantic composers such as Liszt and Wagner, Dvořák pushes the limits of traditional form and tonality. This work of circa 1870 anticipates many aspects of 20th century modernism including the refusal to establish a clearly defined key center, rhythmic instability, and the expression of deep psychological turmoil that spins towards an unreachable resolution.
The quartet was published in 1968 as part of the complete critical edition of Dvořák's works, and subsequently published by Barenreiter/Supraphon in their Urtext edition. It was recorded by the Prague Quartet in 1976 and received its first public performance in 1990, by the Martinů Quartet in Prague.
The SULLIVAN STRING QUARTET brings together Laura Jean Goldberg, violin I, Anat Malkin, violin II, Liuh-Wen Ting, viola, and Robert La Rue, cello. Each member of the ensemble has a wide ranging and impressive career in the chamber music scene. The Sullivan Quartet has performed recitals at Bohemian National Hall, Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, the Arion Chamber Music Series, Bargemusic in NYC, and at "Music at the Museum" in Bennington, VT. The quartet's inclusive multicultural approach gives a place of honor to repertoire by women composers, African American, Hispanic, and Asian composers, as well as the traditional string quartet repertoire. The Sullivan Quartet is named after trailblazing American architect Louis H. Sullivan, the founder of the "Chicago School" of architecture. Sullivan designed buildings with innovative steel frame construction that incorporated elements of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts style ornamentation.
This multi-year series is organized by DAHA music advisor and violinist Laura Jean Goldberg, with support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.
