Quartet No. 12 In F Major Op. 96 (DVORAK)

Like Dvorák's third and fourth quartets (in D major and E minor respectively), String Quartet #2 in B-flat major was probably composed between 1868 and 1870, when the young and still inexperienced composer was openly responding to stimuli from his musical surroundings and excitedly adopting new compositional techniques. All three quartets were long considered lost - it was even said that Dvorák destroyed them. But copies of the parts resurfaced in the archive of the Prague Conservatory and have served as the principal source for this new publication.This edition presents the musical text from the 'Antonín Dvorák Complete Edition?, together with a new foreword by Hartmut Schick.- Musical text based on the 'Antonín Dvorák Complete Edition?, volume IV/5- New foreword by Hartmut Schick (Ger/Cz/Eng) / Quatuor A Cordes

After a twelve-year interval, Dvo?ák once again turned his attention to the string quartet in summer 1893. He had been musical director in New York since autumn 1892 and spent the summer in Spillville (Iowa) where a group of Czech immigrants had settled, thus making him feel at home. The beautiful natural surroundings led him to write this unconventional string quartet in the tradition of Beethoven's 'Pastoral? - even down to the imitation of birdcalls. Since the first performances, certain rhythmic and melodic characteristics have been traced back to the influences of the folk music of Native Americans and African Americans, which led to the soon popular work being called the 'American Quartet?. For the first time since 1955, the quartet is once again being published in an Urtext edition. / 2 Violons, Alto Et Violoncelle

After working for three years at the NationalConservatory in New York, Dvorak returnedhome in 1895 feeling extraordinarily happy. The fruit of this ecstatic periodare thecomposer's last two string quartets. The Quartet in G major, Op. 106, waswrittenimmediately after his return from America. The melodic freshness of the light,airythemes, alternating folk idioms in a temperate, unobtrusive musical allusion,betraysthe composer's maturity and mastery. The editor of this work, published as partof the first Complete Critical Edition of Works by Antonin Dvorak, is FrantisekBartos.