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National Radio Series 2024–2025

Czech Brilliance

First Aired Mar 5, 2025
0:58:59
audio Audio / Radio Program
1. Introduction 00:00:50
2. Janáček: Sonata for Violin and Piano 00:20:37
3. Dvořák: Quartet in A-flat major for Strings, Op. 105 00:37:02
4. Closing 00:00:30
⟨ National Radio Series

The country known as Czechia today, has a long history of artistic expression, military occupation, diverse landscapes, and an overall pride in its homeland. The musical compositions that have come out of this region have long honored that history. Composed as war broke out across Europe in 1914, Janáċek’s Sonata for Violin and Piano hints at the apprehension its composer felt dealing with the uncertainty of a Russian invasion with repetitive sharp motifs and anxiety-laden melodies. A mere 20 years earlier, Dvořák returned to his home of Bohemia from New York City and finished his final string quartet, his Quartet in A-flat major. This would also mark his final composition of ‘absolute music’ — instrumental music that is not representational of anything — before focusing on his opera. While only guesses can be made as to whether this was inspired by his time in America, or by the freedom felt upon returning to his homeland, the quartet moves between dark and stormy themes and folk-inspired melodies.

PROGRAM

Leos Janáček

(1854–1928)

Sonata for Violin and Piano (1914–15)

Adam Barnett-Hart, violin; Juho Pohjonen, piano

Antonín Dvořák

(1841–1904)

Quartet in A-flat major for Strings, Op. 105 (1895)

Shanghai Quartet (Weigang Li, Yi-Wen Jiang, violin; Honggang Li, viola; Nicholas Tzavaras, cello)
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Juho Pohjonen

Piano