Czech masterpieces, but with an American tinge
Julian Haylock introduces string quartets by Dvořák and Janáček, performed by the Pavel Haas Quartet
This month’s cover disc features three of the finest string quartets from the Czecho-slovak tradition. Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) was one of the distinguished group of nationalist composers who rose to fame during the second half of the 19th century – others included Grieg (Norway), Musorgsky (Russia), Nielsen (Denmark) and Sibelius (Finland). The great conductor Hans von Bülow hit the nail on the head when he described Dvořák as ‘the peasant in a frock-coat’, for despite becoming one of the most popular figures in classical music, he was at his happiest enjoying a few beers at a local tavern with his chums and indulging his passion for steam locomotives.
During the early 1890s, Dvořák spent three years based in the United States at the invitation of millionairess Jeannette Thurber, who wanted him to help establish a definitive American school of composers at the National Conservatory she had recently founded (see ‘When
Harry met Antonín’, right). He received a small fortune in compensation, but felt dreadfully homesick at times. This can be sensed in the three most famous scores he produced at this time: the ‘New World’ Symphony, Cello Concerto, and ‘American’ String Quartet (No. 12), which opens our cover disc. Here, Dvořák ingeniously employs modal and pentatonic (five-note folk style) melodies to suggest an outdoor, folksong quality that manages to sound indelibly Czecho-slovak and popularamerican at the same time.
Returning to the homeland in May
1895, Dvořák hit a period of writer’s block, although according to a letter to his close friend Alois Gobl he was thoroughly enjoying taking some time out. ‘I am basking in God’s nature and am contentedly idle,’ he reported. ‘I am not doing anything, which will probably surprise you, but it is true, it really is. I’m just lazing around and haven’t touched my pen.’ Having recalibrated his creative energies, Dvořák celebrated in style with his G major String Quartet (No. 13), a blazing masterpiece that celebrates the medium’s sonic and expressive potential.
Late flourish
Like Dvořák, Leoš Janáček (1854-1928) struggled initially to make his voice heard over the clamour of established Western European classical celebrities. He came to know Dvořák well enough to go on a walking holiday with him during the summer of 1877, and it was at this time that some of his freshest inspiration can be heard in the unashamedly tuneful and Dvořákian Suite and Idyll, both for string
orchestra. It was only after discovering the indigenous folk music of his Moravian homeland during the 1880s that Janáček’s distinctive style began to emerge, most notably in the groundbreaking ‘speechmelody’ of his opera Jenůfa, premiered in Brno in 1904.
By 1923, when Janáček composed the first of his two string quartets, inspired by Tolstoy’s 1889 novella The Kreutzer Sonata (in response to a request from the Bohemian Quartet), he was at the height of his powers. In full creative flow, he completed the work in just over a fortnight, yet his marital life was distinctly strained. On the one hand, he continued sharing a house with his estranged wife, and on the other he was idealistically in love, writing over 700 letters to Kamila Stösslová, a married woman little more than half his age whom he first met in 1917 while on holiday at the spa resort of Luhačovice.
Janáček’s love went unrequited, but the mesmerising effect Kamila had on the composer inspired a flurry of late music, of which the ‘Kreutzer Sonata’ Quartet was the first major outcome.