Beethoven / Bella / Dvořák
Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet in F minor is a unique title in the set of works by the genius composer. Beethoven did not perform it publicly during his lifetime. He was aware that in it he had unexpectedly and boldly embarked on a path of experimentation that would not have been accepted by contemporary audiences. Ján Levoslav Bella is generally known as the author of the opera The Blacksmith Wieland and the Lisztian symphonic poem Fate and the Ideal. Recently, however, lesser-known corners of his work have been revealed. Among the revitalized works are four masterful string quartets. Antonín Dvořák fought for a long time for his reputation as a composer, but in the end he prevailed through tenacity, and his travels eventually took him across the Atlantic. The lucid and expressively light-hearted String Quartet in F major is liberally interspersed with 'exotic' North American musical idioms.
