THE COMPOSER — Antonín Dvořák’s artistic life in the middle years of the 1860s provided inspiration both personal and professional. His post as a violist with the Provisional Theater was a wellspring. It offered exposure to important operas from around Europe and encouraged experimentation with his own growing catalogue of works. He also fell in love with an actor from the Theater called Josefina Čermák. Dvořák did his best to woo Josefina and even wrote the song cycle Cypresses in her honor. Sadly, it was not meant to be. Josefina married a count instead, but Dvořák remained close to the family ever after. Close enough, in fact, that he married Josefina’s younger sister Anna in 1873. That was the same year as his first big Czech success as a composer, Hymn “The Heirs of the White Mountain.”
THE HISTORY — The gorgeously lyrical Romance for Violin and Orchestra was based on music Dvořák rescued from an 1873 string quartet he had chosen to disown. It was certainly not the only time this composer would re-purpose worthy moments from abandoned projects. In this case, it was the slow movement he selected for new life as a concert work. It seems the process took a few years to complete and, in the end, the resurrection included much more original music than not. It is lucky that the poor history surrounding the quartet—its single, unsuccessful performance and its universally agreed-upon status as a disappointing misfire—did not bury forever the uniquely personal charms of its Andante. Dvořák’s publisher had no argument with the fate of the quartet, it simply didn’t work, but agreed with Dvořák that there was something special in the main theme of the second movement. The publisher’s ability to convince his composer to use the nearly orphaned music in this new way continues to be a benefit to violinists everywhere. But it also served as early proof that Dvořák had matured beyond his “Wagnerian” phase and was perhaps already looking towards the fully Czech sound that would define his career. Dvořák made two versions of the Romance, one for orchestra and one for piano. Other piano reductions were published in the years following the premiere, but Dvořák’s own was not made available until 2015. We aren’t exactly sure when Dvořák composed (re-composed) the Romance in either form, but the orchestral iteration was premiered by the Provisional Theater Orchestra in 1877 on a program in Prague. He was a professional string player himself, we must not forget, so the solo part effortlessly soared that night and has ever since.
THE WORLD — Elsewhere in 1877, Oglala Lakota leader Crazy Horse was killed by a soldier while in confinement in Nebraska, the first Championships at Wimbledon were held, and the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos were discovered.
THE CONNECTION — Dvořák’s Romance was most recently performed by Sarasota Orchestra in 2019 by Concertmaster Daniel Jordan, with Music Director Anu Tali conducting.
Program notes by © Jeff Counts 2024