Dvořák's String Quartet in G major, Op. 106, was his first composition after his second return from America, completed with a sense of relief in Prague.
Cultural Impact
New York orchestral players nicknamed Coleridge-Taylor 'the African Mahler' due to his impressive conducting and cultivation of indigenous American melodies.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Coleridge-Taylor, the son of an immigrant from Sierra Leone, was proud of his black heritage and composed several works based on negro spirituals.
Performer Biography
The Takács Quartet, formed in 1975 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, gained international attention in 1977 by winning First Prize at the International String Quartet Competition in Évian, France.
Composer Biography
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, born in London in 1875, was named in homage to the early 19th-century English poet and critic Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Compositional Technique
Dvořák's G major quartet contains only a short passage in the scherzo that reflects his American experiences, using a pentatonic melody inspired by Native American music.
Performer Biography
Richard O'Neill, the violist of the Takács Quartet, won a Grammy Award in 2020 for Best Classical Instrumental Solo and is an Emmy Award-winner.
