Violin Sonatina (Dvořák)

Structure#

The sonatina has four movements: Each movement exhibits a simple and clear, formal structure (hence the diminutive, cf. sonata). They all contain themes, which, like those already found in his other American chamber works (the String Quartet in F and the String Quintet in E), owe their inspiration to Native American music and African American spirituals, which are characterized by pentatonic scales and syncopated rhythm, among other traits. The mood of the composition is fresh and joyful. Only the second movement and part of the last movement are nostalgic; they are inspired by the composer’s longing for his home country. A motive for the slow movement Larghetto was hurriedly noted down on Dvořák’s shirt sleeve while on a visit to Minnehaha Falls, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Simrock sold this movement separately, without the composer’s permission, and Fritz Kreisler often performed it as Indian Lament. It also appeared as Indian Canzonetta; such romantic titles were not the composer’s, but were added subsequently by publishers.

Footnotes#

• Victor 12" record 74387, recorded 3/31/1914
• Antonín Dvořák: Sonatina G-Dur. Op. 100. Violino e piano. Urtext. Prague: Editio Bärenreiter, 2006. H 1364. ISMN M-2601-0389-4

External links#

• • Performance of Sonatina in an arrangement for viola and piano by Dimitri Murrath (viola) and Vincent Planes(piano) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in MP3 format