Quintet in A minor op.1 (Dvořák)

The Quintet in A minor for two violins, two violas and cello op.1 wrote Antonin Dvorak in the summer of 1861 (started on June 6, completion date unclear). It is very closely based on the models Mozart and Beethoven .

The work was first played on December 15, 1921 as part of a Dvořák evening at the Prague Conservatory . The extended “Bohemian Quartet” (Karel Hoffman, Josef Suk , Jiří Herold, Ladislav Zelenka and Rudolf Reissig) performed it publicly for the first time on February 10, 1930 in a concert by the Czech Chamber Music Association in Prague .

It was published in 1934 by the Hudební matice Umělecké besedy publishing house in Prague.

A performance of the work usually takes about 28 minutes.

Sentence descriptions

1st movement: Adagio - Allegro ma non troppo

3/4 time or 4/4 time, key: A minor

The first set is from a slow, 14 opened-bar introduction, which after an initial unison and some powerful chords already a detailed thought anticipates. Then the actual part begins in the form of a sonata with the slightly melancholy main theme . Its prolonged spinning ends with the appearance of a transitional thought which, with an organ point in the first viola, increases the uneasy touch from the beginning. A brightening of mood experienced by the set on entry of the quiet by-thread in which Unisonos of violin and viola with scarce Nachsätzen the cello are linked. This topic also experiences a broad spin-off until everything flows into the final topic, which emerges from the reversal of the final element from the previous topic. In the implementation, apart from the introductory thought already mentioned, only the main topic is used. The recapitulation is “normal”, but in places it is wider and more dynamic than the exposition . The ensuing coda surprises with a sudden calm. The voices, which are far apart in pitch, are performed chromatically, which results in a mystical and cloudy sound. The sentence closes with quotations from the beginning of the main topic .

2nd movement: Lento

3/4 time, key: F major

The second movement follows a symmetrical three-part rondo form. The main theme , exposed from the first viola to the ostinata accompaniment of the second viola and violoncello , is instantly repeated in unison by both violins . It ends in a restrained transition, which is followed by the melodically far-reaching secondary theme . After excited continuation, the main theme returns, this time particularly intimately in A major . After some modulations with echoes of the secondary theme , the conclusion follows, which appears as a tonally enriched variant of the introductory section and dies away quietly with allusions to the secondary theme .

3rd movement: Allegro con brio

4/4 time, key: A minor

The main theme of the third movement consists of a strong-willed antecedent and a calm, dialogically answering subsequent clause . The peculiarity of the secondary theme results from the sole support of the dominant seventh chord of the parallel key of C major , which is reinforced by the rhythmically increasing organ point in the cello . Only after repeated three times that opens the topic in the actual C major, but only to just above forward to closing theme which the bouncing rhythm of eighth - and sixteenth notes with triplets connects. In the broad-based implementation, all three topics are dealt with. The recapitulation differs from the usual scheme in that the secondary theme is spun out in F major (instead of in A major ) and by the addition of a thematically modified thought from the second movement. Only through the closing theme does the movement return to the basic key of A minor . Energetic quotes from the main topic conclude .