Composer: Antonín Dvořák
Performer: Anthony Marwood, Susan Tomes
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Hyperion
Release: 1998
Size: 264 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Sonatina in G major, Op 100 B183
01. I. Allegro risoluto
02. II. Larghetto
03. III. Scherzo and Trio: Molto vivace
04. IV. Finale: Allegro
05. Ballad in D minor, Op 15 No 1
Four Romantic Pieces, Op 75
06. I. Allegro moderato
07. II. Allegro maestoso
08. III. Allegro appassionato
09. IV. Larghetto
Sonata in F major, Op 57
10. I. Allegro, ma non troppo
11. II. Poco sostenuto
12. III. Allegro molto
13. Nocturne in B major for strings, Op.40 (B47)
Dvorák’s music for violin and piano comes from many periods in his career. An early Sonata in A minor of 1873 is lost. Of the works which do survive, several, including the Notturno and Four Romantic Pieces, are skilful arrangements of earlier works (the Notturno is a reworking of the central section of the E minor String Quartet, while the Four Pieces were originally written for viola and piano).
There are two extensive compositions exclusively for violin and piano: the Sonata in F major, interestingly designated by the composer as being for ‘piano and violin’, and the popular Sonatina in G major, composed during his stay in America. Both are models of perfection in this most relaxed of chamber-music genres.
The Ballad in D minor was composed in the autumn of 1884 specifically for publication in the Christmas edition of the London Magazine of Music and is a work with a tragic and passionate tone akin to that of the Seventh Symphony.