Classical Composer: | Dvořák, Antonín |
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Work: | String Sextet in A Major, Op. 48, B. 80 |
Year Composed: | 1878 |
Instrumentation: | 2vn, 2va, 2vc |
Publishers: |
Boosey & Hawkes Simrock Manuscript |
Duration: | 00:33:00 |
Period: | Romantic |
Work Category: | Chamber Music |
Work Information
Available Recording(s)
The String Sextet in A major, Op. 48 was written between 14 and 27 May 1878 and was given a private performance by the violinist Joseph Joachim and his colleagues on 19 July 1879, allowing the composer to hear the work. The first public performance, again with the Joachim Quartet and two additional players, was given in Berlin on 9 November, winning immediate and wide approval. The work, imbued with the spirit of Bohemia, is scored for two violins, two violas and two cellos. The first movement is in sonata-allegro form, its exposition repeated before the exploration of the thematic material in the central development. The two inner movements are overtly Czech in character and in title, a Dumka ('Elegy'), tinged with the occasional necessary melancholy, and an energetic Furiant. The work ends with a theme and variations, the theme itself announced without the violins, which make their entry in the first variation, marked Poco più mosso. The rapid Scherzando second variation leads to a third, Meno mosso, its melody given to the first cello. A sinuous fourth and a rapidly accompanied fifth lead to an emphatic Stretta and finally to a concluding Presto.
Writer: Keith Anderson
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