String Quartet No. 13 (Dvořák)

Antonín Dvořák composed the String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106 (B. 192), between November 11 and December 9, 1895. It was first performed by the Bohemian Quartet in Prague on October 9, 1896.

Structure

The string quartet contains four movements and lasts around 35 minutes. The movements are as follows:

1. Allegro moderato in G major and ²
   ₄ time

   The 'playful, fluttering principal theme with which the movement opens' is followed by a seemingly remote second theme and countermelody, all of which becomes subject to some 'masterly' development (Šourek).

2. Adagio ma non troppo in E-flat major and ³
   ₈ time
   Described by Šourek as 'one of the loveliest and most profound slow movements in Dvorak's creation'.
3. Molto vivace in B minor and ³
   ₄ time
   More like a rondo, with episodes in A flat major and D major for trios, than a typical scherzo (as is more often found in this place in a string quartet in the Romantic music era).
4. Finale. Andante sostenuto — Allegro con fuoco
   The brief Andante sostenuto, which is in ⁴
   ₄ "common" time, introduces a vigorous finale in ²
   ₄ time, and interrupts it toward the end of the work. The finale is in the work's main key of G major.

(Dvořák's works have a confusing history of conflicting opus numbers, and so Jarmil Burghauser catalogued them more consistently in his book Antonín Dvořák; thematický katalog, bibliografie, přehled života a díla (Antonín Dvořák: Thematic Catalog, Bibliography, Life and Work), first published in 1960. It is because of this that Antonín Dvořák's compositions have Burghauser numbers used sometimes to identify them, with 192 used for this quartet.)

Sources (Hardcopy)

• Notes to the Chilingirian Quartet recording of the Quartet, made in 1991 (Chandos 8874)
• Dvořák, Antonín. Five Late String Quartets. New York: Dover Publications, 1986. ISBN 0-486-25135-7. Reprint of N. Simrock of Berlin publications - string quartets nos. 10–14 originally published 1879-96.

External links

• List of Dvořák Chamber works with Burghauser numbers
• Recording by the Huberman Quartet (archived on the Wayback Machine on 2006-08-31)
• String Quartet No. 13 (Dvořák): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project