Composers Datebook®

Dvořák's "American" Quintet

Composers Datebook for January 12, 2020
DOWNLOAD

Synopsis

Composers and publishers don’t always see eye to eye. Simrock, the German publisher of Dvorak’s music, irritated the patriotic Czech composer by issuing his scores with his first name printed in its Germanic form “Anton” rather than its Czech form “Antonin.” They finally came up with a compromise: Simrock ABBREVIATED Dvorak’s first name, printing it as “A-N-T-period” on the music’s title page: Germans could read that as “Anton” and Czechs as “Antonin.” Everyone was happy.

Simrock would also have liked Dvorak to stick to writing small-scale chamber works — which sold well— rather than large-scale symphonic works — which didn’t.

“You counsel me that I should write small works,” writes Dvorak in 1891, “but this is very difficult . . . At the moment my head is full of LARGE ideas and I will have to do as dear Lord wishes.” A few years later, Dvorak would make Simrock very happy by sending them some large- AND small-scale works that would sell tremendously well, including his “New World” Symphony and “American” Quartet . . . plus this music — an “American” QUINTET published by Simrock as Dvorak’s Op. 97.

Dvorak’s Quintet was composed in Spillville, Iowa, in the summer of 1893 and was first heard at Carnegie Hall in New York on today’s date in 1894.

Music Played in Today's Program

Antonin Dvořák (1841 - 1904) String Quintet in Eb, Op. 97 Smetana Quartet; Josef Suk, vla Denon 72507

On This Day

Births

  • 1715 - French composer Jacques Duphly, in Rouen;

  • 1876 - Italian opera composer Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, in Venice;

  • 1921 - American composer and pianist Leo Smit, in Philadelphia;

  • 1926 - American composer Morton Feldman, in New York City;

  • 1927 - American composer Salvatore Martirano, in Yonkers, N.Y.;

Deaths

  • 1674 - Italian composer Giacomo Carissimi, age 68, in Rome;

  • 1958 - American composer Arthur Shepherd, age 77, in Cleveland;

Premieres

  • 1723 - Handel: opera "Ottone, re di Germania" (Otto, King of the Germans), in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket, with the debut London performance of the Italian soprano Francesca Cuzzoni in a work by Handel (Gregorian date: Jan. 23); It was during a rehearsal of this opera with Cuzzoni in late Dec. of 1722 that the famous incident between Handel and Cuzzoni took place during which the composer supposedly said “Madam, I know you are a veritable devil, but I would have you know that I am Beelzebub, the chief of the devils!”;

  • 1864 - Brahms: "Variations on a Theme by R. Schumann," Op. 23 for piano four-hands, in Vienna;

  • 1883 - Chadwick: “Thalia” Overture, by the Boston Symphony, with the composer conducting;

  • 1885 - Tchaikovsky: Orchestral Suite No. 3, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Jan. 24);

  • 1894 - Dvorák: String Quintet in Eb, Op. 97 (“American”), in New York, by the Kneisel Quartet (and violist M Zach);

  • 1918 - George Templeton Strong, Jr.: tone-poem “Le Roi Arthur” (King Arthur), in Geneva, Switzerland, with Ernest Ansermet conducting the orchestra which would be named the Orchestra of the Suisse Romande ater that same year;

  • 1934 - Bloch: "Sacred Service," in Turin, Italy;

  • 1942 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 22 in Tbilisi;

  • 1964 - Cowell: "Concerto Grosso," for chamber orchestra, in Miami Beach by the Miami Symphony Orchestra, Fabien Sevitzky, conducting;

  • 2002 - Athena Adamopoulos: "Soliloquy" for cello and piano, at a "From the Top" recording session for Public Radio International at Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Christopher O'Riley; Ms. Adamopoulos was 15 years old at the time; Their performance was broadcast nationwide in early February, 2002;

Others

  • 1910 - Radio pioneer Lee De Forest experiments with live broadcasting from the Metropolitan Opera in New York; The signal was relayed from a rooftop transmitter at the Met to wireless installations, then by land lines to telephone receivers, and reportedly reached a few hundred listeners as far away as Newark, New Jersey; These were the first occasions on which a Met performance was heard live by audiences not present at the actual performance; De Forest’s 1910 “broadcasts” included part or all of Acts II and III of the Jan. 12th performance of “Tosca” (with soprano Olive Fremstad in the title role) and the following day’s double-bill of “Cavalleria Rusticana” (with soprano Emmy Destinn as Santuzza) and “Pagliacci”; Riccardo Martin sang the lead tenor roles in “Tosca” and “Cavalleria Rusticana,” Enrico Caruso in the “Pagliacci” performance; The first in the continuing series of complete live radio broadcasts from Met occurred on Christmas Day in 1931, when “Hansel and Gretel” was aired on the NBC network.

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

YourClassical

Henry Brant

Henry Brant (1913-2008): ‘Western Springs’; La Jolla Symphony and Chorus; Henry Brant, et. al. conductor; CRI 827

2:00
Get Composers Datebook in your inbox
YourClassical

Cowell at the Forum

Henry Cowell (1897-1965): String Quartet No. 3 (‘Mosaic Quartet’); Colorado String Quartet; Mode 72/73

2:00
YourClassical

Still's Symphony No. 2

William Grant Still (1875-1978): Symphony No. 2 (‘Song of a New Race’); Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor; Chandos 9226

2:00
YourClassical
YourClassical

Jean Sibelius

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957): Suite for Violin and Orchestra; Dong-Suk Kang, violin; Lahti Symphony; Osmo Vanska; BIS 1125

2:00
YourClassical

Ruggles on the mountaintop

Carl Ruggles (1876-1971): ‘Men and Mountains’; Buffalo Philharmonic; Lukas Foss, conductor; Vox 8155

2:00
YourClassical

Schumann and Prokofiev in private

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Piano Quintet; Menahem Pressler, piano; Emerson String Quartet; DG 445 848 Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): Cello Sonata; David Finckel, cello; Wu Han, piano; Artist Led 19901

2:00
YourClassical

Berlioz gets snuffed?

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): ‘Requiem’; French Radio Chorus and Orchestra; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; Sony 47526

2:00
YourClassical

Bruckner's New York debut

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896): Symphony No. 3; BBC Scottish Symphony; Osmo Vänskä, conductor; Hyperion 67200

2:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Composers Datebook®

Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.

He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.

About Composers Datebook®