Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Old World - New World
CD 1
String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major Op. 51, B. 92 (1878/9) [32:03]
String Quartet No. 11 in C major, Op. 61, B. 121 (1881) [39:06]
CD 2
String Quintet No. 3 in E flat major ‘American’ Op. 97, B. 180 (1893) [32:37]
12 Cypresses arranged for string quartet, B. 152 (arr. 1887) [32:42]
CD 3
String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106, B. 192 (1895) [37:06]
String Quartet No. 14 in A flat major, Op. 105, B. 193 (1895) [31:48]
Emerson String Quartet (Eugene Drucker (violin I) (Opp. 51, 97, Cypresses
7-12) and violin II); Philip Setzer (violin I) (Opp. 61, 105, 106, Cypresses
1-6) and violin II); Lawrence Dutton (viola); David Finckel (cello); Paul
Neubauer (viola) (Quintet, Op. 97))
rec. December 2008, 2, 4, 6, 9-10 December 2009, American Academy of Arts
and Letters, NYC, USA. DDD
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8765 [3 CDs: 71:18 + 65:28 + 69:03]
Dvořák composed some of these scores during his exile in the USA and
others in his home city of Prague; hence the set title. We are told in the
booklet notes that the Emerson have never recorded any of these works before.
With such a theme it feels like an oversight not to have included the popular
String Quartet No. 12, Op. 96, B. 179 (1893) known as the ‘American’
as it would have sat perfectly within this collection. The Emerson have in
fact already recorded the score.
Few composers can match the Bohemia-born Dvořák’s emphasis on melodic
invention and sparkling lyricism. This is coupled with a rich and individual
coloration often deeply rooted in his native Slavic folk music.
The first disc opens with the earliest completed work here the String Quartet
No. 10 from 1878/9. Brahms had by then become a staunch champion of Dvořák.
Earlier in 1876 the great German composer had written a letter of recommendation
to the publisher Simrock. The E flat major Quartet, B. 92 was composed
in response to a commission for a “Slavonic” work from Jean
Becker the founder and leader of the Florentine Quartet. For this reason the
score is sometimes called the ‘Slavonic’. Only a short time later,
in 1881, Dvořák wrote his String Quartet No. 11 for the Viennese
Quartet led by its founder Josef Hellmesberger Sr.
Disc two commences with one of Dvořák’s best known chamber works the
String Quintet No. 3 in E flat major ‘American’. This specifies
an extra viola and was written in 1893 during his three year stay in the United
States working at the New York National Music Conservatory. Dvořák holidayed
at the Bohemian colony at Spillville, Iowa and there his writing became inspired
both by African-American spirituals and by ritual music of the Native Americans.
Sister works to the ‘American’ Quintet that were also composed
during his stay in the USA include the String Quartet No. 12 ‘American’
and the Symphony No. 9 ‘New World’.
The 12 Cypresses for string quartet, B. 152 originate from 1865 when
as a young man Dvořák composed a set of love songs based on the work
of the Moravian poet Gustav Pfleger-Moravský. He arranged twelve of the songs
in 1887 as string quartet movements; the title Cypresses was conferred
at the time of their publication in 1921. Unfortunately in the booklet the
titles are not given.
The third disc of the set has Dvořák’s two final quartets both completed
in 1895 after returning to work at the Prague Conservatory. The String
Quartet No. 13 took Dvořák only a few weeks to write. A frequently
overlooked masterwork of the genre the String Quartet No. 14 had been
started in New York and was completed in Prague. Overshadowed by the enduring
popularity of the ‘American’ Quartet it is a shame that these
two quartets are not played as often as their quality deserves.
Formed in 1976 the award-winning New York City-based Emerson Quartet use traditional
modern strung instruments. It seems a pointless exercise to go through the
performances of each quartet movement individually as the Emerson maintain
throughout an impressive and consistent standard of playing in a way that
few other quartets could achieve. With fine musicianship the players handle
the challenges of the varying emotional depth and meter of the scores with
accomplishment. I noted that they eschew any temptation unnecessarily to exaggerate
dynamics. In the ‘American’ Quintet violist Paul Neubauer fits
in seamlessly with the group. I never felt any lack of emotional attachment;
an unfair criticism sometimes levelled at this elite group. Their technical
command and precision is legendary and their tone has been closely recorded
to great advantage by the DG engineers. It would be hard to imagine these
scores played better.
Michael Cookson