In 1887 Dvořák took 12 of a cycle of 18 early songs (1865) entitled Cypresses (settings of love poems by Gustav Moravský), and arrange them for string quartet. The composer originally called this quartet sequence The Echo of Songs but the collection was renamed by the composer’s son-in-law, Josef Suk, and given the same title as the original cycle (Cypresses) .
0:00 – I. Já vím, že v sladké naději
(I Know that My Love to Thee)
3:57 – II. V tak mnohém srdci mrtvo jest
(Death Reigns in Many a Human Breast)
6:11 – III. V té sladké moci ocí tvých
(When Thy Sweet Glances Fall on Me)
8:28 – IV. O naši lásce nekvete to vytouzené stestí
(Love Will Never Lead Us to that Happy End)
12:55 – V. Zde hledím na ten drahý list
(The Old Letter in My Book)
15:51 – VI. Ó zlatá ruže, spanilá
(O, Lovely Golden Rose)
18:11 – VII. Kol domu se ted potácím
(I Wander Often Past Yonder House)
20:05 – VIII. Zde v lese u potoka
(In The Deepest Forest Glade I Stand)
23:04 – IX. Ó duše drahá jedinká
(Thou Only, Dear One)
25:40 – X. Tam stojí stará skála
(There Stands an Ancient Rock)
27:31 – XI. Nad krajem vévodi lehký spánek
(Nature Lies Peaceful in Slumber and Dreaming)
29:56 – XII. Ty se ptás, proc moje zpevy
(You Ask Why My Songs)
… and, if you’d like to listen to the original 18 song cycle (note that they’re not in the same order as the quartet arrangements), it can be heard here.
In the same year (1887) that he completed these pieces for string quartet, Dvořák also decided that he would revise another early piece, this time scored for string quartet and piano. The revision, however, apparently didn’t go so well and, in the end, the composer decided to write an entirely new work for the ensemble. The result was one of the most famous of piano quintets:
[0:00] Allegro ma non tanto
[14:50] Dumka – Andante con moto
[29:12] Scherzo. Furiant – Molto vivace
[33:17] Finale – Allegro
for the Pressler/Ebene performance click here.
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