パヴェル・ハース・カルテット

ボフスラフ・マルティヌー（1890－1959）：弦楽四重奏 第2番、H150

レオシュ・ヤナーチェク（1854－1928）：L.N.トルストイの作品から生まれたカルテット「クロイツェル・ソナタ」　JW VII/8

アントニーン・ドヴォジャーク（1841－1904）：弦楽四重奏　番号3　変ホ長調　作品97

Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959): String Quartet No. 2, H 150

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): Quartet inspired by L. N. Tolstoy´s “Kreutzer Sonata”, JW VII/8

Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904): String Quintet No. 3. in E flat major, Op. 97

Bohuslav Martinů´s first undisputed masterpiece in the field of chamber music is the String Quartet No. 2 from 1925. The composer created it at a time when he was already being influenced by his stay in Paris amidst its musical culture. The quartet, which Martinů composed and subsequently revised in Polička in the summer of the same year, seems on the one hand to be in balance with romantic and impressionist traditions. However, it was also something new in the context of the composer´s chamber work. With this quartet Martinů did not to strive to convey “a big idea” or message – the work attempts to be factually objective and impersonal, an approach which he picked up in Paris from some works by Stravinsky.

In the summer of 1925, when the quartet was completed, a string quartet was formed by a group of musicians around Stanislav Novák, a friend of Bohuslav Martinů’s, and it was this new ensemble that performed the composition for the first time. It was of great importance to the young author that his String Quartet No. 2 was published by the prestigious Universal Edition publishing house.

The Quartet inspired by L. N. Tolstoy´s “Kreutzer Sonata” dates from 1923. However, the beginnings of the composition date back to 1908, when Janáček composed the now missing Piano trio, inspired by Tolstoy´s novel. Janáček used the musical material from the trio later during the composition of the first string quartet. He dedicated it to the famous Czech Quartet, which performed its premiere on 17^th October 1924. The seventy-year-old author attained great success with this work. For example, in 1925 it was performed at the International Festival of the Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) in Venice.

The String Quintet No. 3 in E flat major is one of the most highly regarded chamber compositions by the world famous Antonín Dvořák. He composed it in 1893 during his stay in America. The piece was created in the immediate vicinity of the String Quartet in F major during his holiday stay in Spillville. It is a work of immense originality inspired by his time in America, and it is characterized by the use of pentatonic, syncopated rhythms and a hint of Indian folklore. At the same time, the composition is very dense and expressive thanks to the extended instrumental composition. The String Quartet had its premiere on 12^th January 1894 in New York, performed by the Kneisl Quartet with Max Zach playing the second viola. The work was first played live in Prague on 10^th October 1894 by the Czech Quartet with Ferdinand Lachner.

Author: Jiří Zahrádka