Antonin Dvořák - Three Songs From “Zigundermelodien” (Gipsy Songs) For Euphonium Quartet [$15]
Grade IV
Program Note:
Antonin Dvorak was born in 1841 to Frantisek and Anna Dvorak and was the eldest of eight children, a few of whom were musicians in their own right. Dvorak began studying music when he was six years old and learned to sing and play violin in the village school. He studied in Prague, among other places in Bohemia, where he advanced his studies of violin, along with piano, organ, music theory, and composition. Upon completion of his studies in 1859, Dvorak joined the theatre orchestra of Karel Komzak as a viola player. In this ensemble, Dvorak had the opportunity to play under Smetana, who took the role of conductor starting in 1866, and three concerts of Wagner’s work with the composer conducting. On the side, Dvorak began teaching piano lessons to Anna Cermakova, who later became his wife. He additionally began composing at this point, which resulted in several string quartets, his first two symphonies, and an opera, Alfred. Dvorak began work as the organist for the Church of St. Vojtech, and started composing more. His compositions won him money from the Austrian State Stipendium every year between 1874 and 1878, and he began to have works premiered and published. Beginning to gain traction, Johannes Brahms (who had been on the jury for the Austrian State Stipendium in 1875) wrote his publisher, Fritz Simrock, a glowing letter of recommendation for Dvorak, who was picked up and commissioned to write the Slavonic Dances. Amid growing tensions between the Czechs and the Germans, Dvorak traveled to England to conduct the Philharmonic Society in a performance of his Stabat Mater upon their request. The visit went well and Dvorak returned to England eight more times throughout his career. Dvorak accepted the post of artistic director for the National Conservatory of Music in America in hopes to create a new American National style. His studying of spirituals and plantation songs of the south influenced his works at the time including his Ninth Symphony. He returned to Bohemia, however, in 1895 after financial troubles that resulted in his employer being unable to pay him. Upon his return, he taught at the Prague Conservatory and became the conservatory’s director in 1901. He composed mostly opera in his final years, with his last being Armida. He died in Prague only five weeks after its premiere on May 1, 1904.
Zigundermelodien Op. 55, was composed for and on the request of German tenor Gustav Walter (1834-1910). The text is comprised of German translations to seven poems by Czech poet Adolf Hejduk from his collection Poems, the first part of which was titled Gypsy Songs. The first premiere was by Walter in 1881, where only the first and third song were performed.
Arranged for euphonium quartet here are the first, third, and sixth songs, approximately translated to “My Song Resounds,” “Silent Woods,” and “Garbed in Flowing Linen,” respectively.
