Dvorak: String Quartets No. 5, Op. 9 And No. 7, Op. 16

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Cat No: 8553377

Release Date: 12 January 1999

Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 730099437721

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: DVORAK

Description
Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904)String Quartets Vol. 6String Quartet No. 5 in F minor, Op. 9String Quartet No. 7 in A minor, Op. 16 Antonin Dvorak was born in 1841, the son of a butcher andinnkeeper in the village of Nelahozeves, near Kralupy in Bohemia, and someforty miles north of Prague. It was natural that he should at first have been expectedto follow the family trade, as the eldest son. His musical abilities, however,soon became apparent and were encouraged by his father, who in later years abandonedhis original trade, to earn something of a living as a zither player. Afterprimary schooling he was sent to lodge with an uncle in Zlonice and was there ableto acquire the necessary knowledge of German and improve his abilities as amusician, hitherto acquired at home, in the village band and at church. Furtherstudy of German and of music at Kamenice, a town in northern Bohemia, led tohis admission, in 1857, to the Prague Organ School, where he studied for the followingtwo years. On leaving the Organ School, Dvorak earned his living asa viola-player in a band under the direction of Karel Komzak, an ensemble thatwas to form the nucleus of the Czech Provisional Theatre Orchestra, establishedin 1862. Four years later Smetana was appointed conductor at the theatre, wherehis operas The Brandenburgers in Bohemia and The Bartered Bride hadalready been performed. It was not until 1871 that Dvorak resigned from theorchestra, devoting himself more fully to composition, as his music began toattract favourable local attention. In 1873 he married a singer from the chorusof the theatre and in 1874 became organist of the church of St Adalbert. Duringthis period he continued to support himself by private teaching, while busy ona series of compositions that gradually became known to a wider circle. Further recognition came to Dvorak in 1874, when hisapplication for an Austrian government award brought his music to the attentionof Brahms and the critic Eduard Hanslick in Vienna. The granting of this award forfive consecutive years was of material assistance. It was through this contactthat Brahms, impressed by Dvorak's Moravian Duets entered for the awardof 1877, was able to arrange for their publication by Simrock, who commissioneda further work, Slavonic Dances, for piano duet. The success of these publicationsintroduced Dvorak's music to a much wider public, for which it held some exoticappeal. As his reputation grew, there were visits to Germany and to England,where he was always received with greater enthusiasm than might initially havebeen accorded a Czech composer in Vienna. In 1883 Dvorak had rejected a tempting proposal that heshould write a German opera for Vienna. At home he continued to contribute toCzech operatic repertoire, an important element in re-establishing nationalidentity. The invitation to take up a position in New York was another matter.In 1891 he had become professor of composition at Prague Conservatory and in thesummer o
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