Dvořák described the melodies in this quartet as 'simply flowing towards him'.
Vesa-Matti Leppänen, Andrew Thomson, Diedre Irons, Andrew Joyce Photo: WCMT
Dvořák’s Piano Quartet in E flat is a real crowd-pleaser and a neglected masterpiece.
The piano part is much more assured than his previous Piano Quartet in D, written some 15 years earlier.
In this work Dvořák makes more use of the piano’s percussive capabilities and rich sonorities. Dvořák’s favourite instrument was the viola and he gave it a particularly prominent part in this piece.
The music is expansive, lyrical and folkloristic, with the piano evoking (in its high register) the sound of the cimbalom or hammered dulcimer, an instrument commonly used in rustic Czech bands.
Recorded 19 August 2018 in St. Andrew's on The Terrace, Wellington by RNZ
Engineer: Darryl Stack
