Dvořák began sketching his Slavonic Rhapsodies after recognizing a strong international market demand for music labeled 'Moravian', 'Czech', or 'Slavonic'.
Composition History
For the theme of his Symphonic Variations, Dvořák used a melody he had composed earlier for a choral setting of a quasi-Slovak folk poem titled 'I'm a poor fiddler'.
Compositional Technique
Dvořák modeled his Symphonic Variations on Beethoven's 'Eroica' Variations for Piano, Op. 35, including the use of a closing fugue.
Composer Biography
Dvořák's Symphonic Variations and Slavonic Rhapsodies were written during a period when he emerged as a composer of global renown, after years of being ignored and making a meager living as a violist.
Critical Reception
The Symphonic Variations were well received at their 1877 premiere in Prague but were then forgotten for almost a decade until Dvořák, by then an international celebrity, revived them.
Compositional Technique
Unlike Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies, which used existing folk melodies, Dvořák invented his own melodies for the Slavonic Rhapsodies, developing them into coherent wholes.
Performer Biography
Jakub Hrůša, the conductor on this album, was Music Director and Chief Conductor of the PKF-Prague Philharmonia from 2009 to 2015 and is described by Gramophone as 'on the verge of greatness'.
