Dvorák: Quintet in E-flat major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, Op. 97, “The American”

SOMETHING TO KNOW:

Dvořák wrote this piece while on an extended trip to Spillville, Iowa, a small town of Czech settlers that helped to sooth his nostalgia for his home country.

SOMETHING TO LISTEN FOR:

In the second variation of the theme-and-variation third movement, the four upper strings play a sustained melody while the cello creates a distinctive shimmering texture underneath. Two variations later, this texture is inverted with the upper voices shimmering above an extended cello solo.

Recorded live in Alice Tully Hall on July 16, 2017.
Video produced by Ibis Productions.