Antonin Dvorˇák, Sextet for Piano & Winds in A Major, Op. 81 (arr. David Jolley) Antonin Dvorˇák’s Piano Quintet, Op. 81 began as a revision of an earlier quintet, also in A Major. Although the earlier piece was well received, Dvorˇák grew dissatisfied with it, and in the end, rather than revising, he decided instead to create a new work altogether. This is the result, and it is one of the most performed works in the piano quintet literature. That literature expanded a great deal in the nineteenth century, as many composers found that the combination of two formidable elements with their own traditions — string quartet and piano — created an opportunity for chamber music of great scale and depth. After meeting his fellow Czech composer Bedrˇich Smetana, Dvorˇák began to draw on musical materials he learned in childhood and youth, setting what is usually described as a “nationalistic” tone in his music. This was appealing to both audiences and publishers, and he made his European reputation (thanks partly to support from Brahms) with a set of Slavonic dances. This piece’s Czech character is especially pronounced in the second and third movements, which are based on two specific forms. The second movement, titled Dumka, is based on a folk song form in which slow and fast tempos alternative. The third movement, Scherzo, has “furiant” as a parenthetical title, and anyone who knows Dvorˇák’s Slavonic Dances has heard his take on the furiant, defined as “a rapid Bohemian dance of decided yet frequently-changing rhythms.” Given this marking, however, the movement is rhythmically fairly straightforward. The finale moves rapidly among major and minor keys, and Dvorˇák’s skill in counterpoint is displayed in a fugal section that contrasts with the movement’s dance and folk song elements. Made by the hornist David Jolley, this remarkably faithful and successful arrangement alters the sound, but not the spirit or nuances of the original. One review of this arrangement said, “transcribing this much-loved music was a gamble that happens to pay off beautifully.” The familiar themes are made new without losing their emotional impact, or their sheer beauty; this is apparent from the first statement of the primary theme in the first movement, originally for cello, played here by the horn. Gramophone magazine said of this version that “the music flows in all its emotional generosity and vigor.”
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