Dvorák, Antonín

Antonín Dvořák – Romance for Violin and Orchestra, op. 11 (B 39)

(b. Nelahozeves near Prague, 8 September 1841 – d. Prague, 1 May 1904)

(1877)

Preface
In 1873, when Antonín Dvořák wrote his Fifth String Quartet in F minor (B 37), whose slow second movement he would later rework as Romance for Violin and Orchestra (1877), he was still at the onset of his career. He had completed his training at the Prague Organ School with distinction in 1859, after which he played in a dance orchestra. When the orchestra was taken over by Prague’s first Czech theater in 1862, he became its solo viola player. In this way he became familiar with German and Italian operas, and, once Bedřich Smetana was appointed principal conductor (1866), with Slavonic ones as well. On the side he gave piano lessons and composed. In 1871 he left the orchestra and made his public début as a composer with a song from his own pen. His first printed publication followed two years later – the same year that saw the birth of his Fifth String Quartet, and thus the initial version of his Romance.

The Romance is kept throughout in a lyrical mood. The exposition opens with the first theme in the tonic F minor, initially in the violins, then in canon with the other instruments until it is taken up by the solo violin in bar 24. It is distinguished by two identical long notes at the opening, followed by a dotted motif that supports the undulating character of the 6/8 meter. The four-bar theme has an ambitus of a 5th and remains throughout in pianissimo. The accompaniment of even eighth notes occasionally takes up the dotted motif, thereby lending its support to the barcarole pulse. The second theme, in E major, begins in bar 57 following a fermata. It, too, starts with two long notes, but this time separated by a 3rd. It also has a dotted rhythm, but only as a upbeat. Its ambitus is far wider than that of the first theme; the melody climbs beyond the octave, supported by accents and a crescendo, and extends to ten bars, including one bar of introduction. The syncopations in the accompaniment enhance the propulsive character of the music. Thus both themes are interrelated. Moreover, ten bars into the second theme the first theme reappears in the orchestra (mm. 67-70) before the second theme can again spread its wings. Beginning in bar 79 there is a two-bar concluding motif that proceeds downward, pianissimo, in even eighth notes. At this point the solo violin enters in the manner of a virtuoso cadenza, alternating several times with the concluding motif. …

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