The Zemlinsky Quartet, the performers on this album, won both the 3rd prize and Audience Prize in the London International String Quartet Competition in 2006.
Composer Biography
Antonín Dvořák, the composer, wrote no less than 15 string quartets, including one that was left unfinished.
Composition History
Dvořák composed his String Quartet No. 9 in D minor in a record eleven days, despite being deeply affected by the recent deaths of his two young children.
Instruments
František Souček, the primarius of the Zemlinsky Quartet, plays an Italian instrument attributed to Nicolaus Gagliano from 1776, which is part of the Czech State Collection.
Composition History
Dvořák dedicated his String Quartet No. 9 in D minor to Johannes Brahms, who, out of generosity, recommended the score to his own publisher, Simrock of Berlin.
Compositional Technique
The Scherzo of Dvořák's String Quartet No. 9 is an "Alla polka" movement, reconstructing a real polka with accents in the style of a sousedská, a Bohemian 'neighbour's dance'.
Composition History
Dvořák's last two quartets, including the String Quartet No. 13 in G major, were written simultaneously in 1895 and express his feelings about leaving America and returning to his homeland.
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