Antonín Leopold - Dvorák (1841 - 1904) was a Czech
composer. - Dvorák frequently employed rhythms and
other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his
native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist
example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana. -
Dvorák's style has been described as "the fullest
recreation of a national idiom with that of the
symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and
finding effective ways of using them," and he himself
has been described as "arguably the...(+)
Antonín Leopold - Dvorák (1841 - 1904) was a Czech
composer. - Dvorák frequently employed rhythms and
other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his
native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist
example of his predecessor Bedřich Smetana. -
Dvorák's style has been described as "the fullest
recreation of a national idiom with that of the
symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and
finding effective ways of using them," and he himself
has been described as "arguably the most versatile...
composer of his time". He displayed his musical gifts
at an early age, being an apt violin student. The first
public performances of his works were in Prague in 1872
and, with special success, in 1873, when he was 31
years old. Seeking recognition beyond the Prague area,
he submitted scores of symphonies and other works to
German and Austrian competitions. He did not win a
prize until 1874, with Johannes Brahms on the jury of
the Austrian State Competition. In 1877, after his
third win, Brahms recommended - Dvorák to his
publisher, Simrock, who commissioned what became the
Slavonic Dances, Op. 46. The sheet music's high sales
and critical reception led to his international
success. A London performance of - Dvorák's Stabat
Mater in 1883 led to many other performances in the
United Kingdom, the United States, and eventually
Russia in March 1890. The Seventh Symphony was written
for London in 1885.
He composed his cycle of four Romantic Pieces, Op. 75,
B. 150, (Czech: Romantické kusy), for violin and piano
in January 1887. These four pieces are arranged from
his previous composition, a trio for two violins and
viola, known as Miniatures, Op. 75a, B. 149 (Czech:
Drobnosti). The composer's family was living in that
time in Prague 2, at 564 Žitná Street, in the same
house as - Dvorák's mother-in-law. She hired out a
room to a young chemistry student, Josef Kruis. Kruis
was also an amateur violinist who studied the violin
with Jan Pelikán, a member of the orchestra of the
National Theatre in Prague. They often played violin
duets together. - Dvorák, a viola player, heard them
and got the idea to compose a new chamber work for two
violins and viola in order to play with them. The
resulting composition was the Terzetto in C major, Op.
74, B. 148, composed from 7 to 14 January 1887. It was,
however, too difficult for Kruis, and - Dvorák
therefore composed another trio, but considerably
simpler. The second trio, Miniatures, was written in
four movements, which he titled: "Cavatina",
"Capriccio", "Romance" and "Elegy" ("Ballad"). In the
letter dated 18 January 1887 to his German publisher
Simrock, - Dvorák stated: "I am writing little
miniatures – just imagine – for two violins and
viola, and I enjoy the work as much as if I were
writing a large symphony – what do you say to that?
Of course, they are meant rather for amateurs, but
didn't Beethoven and Schumann also express themselves
sometimes with quite simple means – and how?..."
Though he was apparently satisfied with this version of
the trio, he nevertheless immediately began to
rearrange it for violin and piano. He called the new
version Romantic Pieces, Op. 75. The only date appears
at the end of the manuscript – 25 January 1887. -
Dvorák later completely forgot about the existence of
the trio, and years later in 1901 explained to Simrock
that "...what is supposed to be a trio...cannot be the
Romantic Pieces". - Dvorák's original manuscript of
the trio version (and Kruis' copy of individual parts)
was only rediscovered in 1938, and it was proven that
he himself was mistaken.
Originally the set was untitled, but - Dvorák called
it Miniatures in the aforementioned letter to Simrock.
Kruis added the titles to the individual movements,
apparently in agreement with the composer. - Dvorák
completed the cycle of four unrelated short pieces with
different themes, with apparent influence of Robert
Schumann. - Dvorák left the musical content of the
arrangement for violin and piano almost unchanged; he
only slightly altered the harmonic foundations in the
first movement (bars 30–36), and extended the end of
the third movement with an additional four bars. He
also renamed the second and third movements.
1. Cavatina (Moderato), Bâ™ Major, 4/4
2. Capriccio (Poco allegro), D Minor, 2/4
3. Romance (Allegro), Bâ™ Major, 4/4
4. Elegy or Ballad (Larghetto), G Minor, 9/8
Source: Wikipedia
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Pieces_(Dvo%C5%
99%C3%A1k)).
Although originally composed for Violin & Piano, I
created this Arrangement of the Romance from "4
Romantic Pieces" (Op. 75 B. 150 No. 3) in Bâ™
Major for Oboe & Piano.
