Download ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Four Romantic Pieces, Op

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK
Four Romantic Pieces, Op. 75
Born: September 8, 1841, in Nelahozeves, Bohemia
Died: May 1, 1904, in Prague
Work composed: 1887
A wave of national fervor spread over Europe throughout the turbulent years of the 19th century.
Antonín Dvořák stands high as a spokesman for benign nationalism in music. He was
emphatically a non-political nationalist, proud of his region’s rich cultural legacy, yet free of any
of the “anti” dogmas that sadly were a corollary of the darker side of this same pride.
Dvořák’s lovely Four Romantic Pieces, Op. 75, began as a work for two violins and viola
designed for two friends, a young student and his teacher, plus the composer (on viola). Deemed
by the student as beyond his capability the kindly composer wrote the simpler work we hear in
tonight’s recital. The set opens with an Allegro moderato of unforced lyricism in which the
violin takes the primary melodic material over a rippling piano accompaniment. An assertive
peasant dance-inspired Allegro maestoso follows, its rustic energy tempered by intervening
lyrical phrases and a more reserved variant on the raucous opening theme characterized by raised
fourth leading to the dominant. Marked Allegro appassionato, the third piece is rather more
sweetly lyrical than the heading might suggest. A rising and rhapsodic melody from the violin
once again brings back a rippling accompaniment. The concluding Larghetto, the longest
movement, suggests heartfelt pathos courtesy of a weeping violin theme over spare arpeggio
chords from the piano.
Program Notes © 2015 Steven Lowe