String Quartet No. 5 (Dvořák)

Antonín Dvořák wrote his String Quartet No. 5 in F minor, Op. 9 (B. 37), in September 1873, the composition was finished on 4 October 1873.

The Bennewitz Quartet incorporated the quartet to their concert cycle, however later refused to play it due to "lack of quartet style".^[1] Dvořák was very upset and tore out the title page of the score (probably with dedication to Bennewitz^[2]). The composition was in 1929 reconstructed by Günther Raphael. The work in that version was premiered by the Kramář Quartet (Jan Buchtele, Ferdinand Karhánek, J. Lupínek and Vaclav Kefurt) on 11 January 1930, at the Prague Corn Exchange.^[3]

Structure

It is composed of four movements:

Moderato — Allegro con brio
Andante con moto quasi allegretto
Tempo di valse
Finale: Allegro molto

Its second movement later served as the basis for Dvořák's Romance in F minor for violin and orchestra, Op. 11.

Selected recordings

Antonín Dvořák: Chamber Works Vol. 4. CD Supraphon (11 1453-2 131). (Panocha Quartet)

Footnotes

^ Sleeve note of Supraphon CD (11 1453-2 131), p. 14
^ Sleeve note of Supraphon CD (11 1453-2 131), p. 5
^ Herbert & Trufitt pp. 20–21)

References

Sleeve note of Supraphon CD (11 1453-2 131)
Herbert and Trufitt, Peter J F and Ian T. Antonin Dvorak complete catalogue of works, (The Dvorak Society occasional publications no. 4), 4th revised edition, 2004. The Dvorak Society for Czech and Slovak Music. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-9532769-4-5.