Listeners disagree on the flavor of the A-flat Quartet, composed on both sides of the Atlantic; some claim to hear persistent American strains in it, some hear an affirmation of the composer’s Slavic roots, some just hear an expat yearning for home.
Program Note
Listeners disagree on the flavor of the A-flat Quartet, composed on both sides of the Atlantic; some claim to hear persistent American strains in it, some hear an affirmation of the composer’s Slavic roots, some just hear an expat yearning for home.
Program Note
Dvorak’s E-flat Quartet, opus 51, is arguably the earliest of his quartets to be truly well-known and and to occupy a place in the standard repertoire, along with the C major, A-flat major, and “American” quartets. The E-flat Quartet is called the “Slavic Quartet” because of its genesis – Jean Becker of the Florentine Quartet commissioned the work, requesting a quartet “in the Slavic style”.