Juilliard Chamber Music: Dvořák

One of the final performances in this season's Wednesdays at One series at Alice Tully Hall was the occasion for the world premieres of two chamber works that had recently won prestigious awards.  The first was Str1ng Quart3t in More than 2 parts.by Joshua A. Getman that was the winner of the 2016 Gena Raps String Quartet Prize; it was performed by the Argus Quartet consisting of Clara Kim and Jason Issokson, violins, Dana Kelley, viola, and Joann Whang, cello.  The second work was Variations Between the Creases for Piano Quartet by Theo Chandler that was the winner of the 2017 Gena Raps Piano Chamber Music Prize; it was performed by an ensemble consisting of Amelia Dietrich, violin, Lauren Siess, viola, Shangwen Jeff Liao, cello, and Rachel Breen, piano.  Both works were very accomplished; the piano quartet in particular was well structured and contained a wealth of musical ideas. 

The third and final work was the Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90 (1891), nicknamed the "Dumky" for the Slavic musical form that appears throughout the work.  It was performed by the Noree Piano Trio consisting of Lukas Stepp, violin, Yi Qun Xu, cello, and Jeong Yoon Lee, piano.  If in the No. 3 Dvořák had appeared to vacillate between the Bohemian music that had inspired his earliest efforts and the Classical Romanticism of Brahms, he had by the time the No. 4 came to be composed some eight years later managed to reconcile the two.  In the No. 4, Dvořák can be seen returning to his roots with this unapologetic celebration of the dumka and by extension the entire Slavic folk tradition.  The dumka itself is characterized by wild swings between despair and exuberance, and Dvořák made full use of its bipolar nature in all six movements of the trio.  As the composer phrased it:

"It will be both happy and sad. In some places it will be like a melancholic song, elsewhere like a merry dance; but, all told, the style will be lighter or, if I might put it another way, more popular, in short, so that it will appeal to both higher and lower echelons."

And Dvořák certainly did succeed in creating here one of his most popular works.  Its general character is lighthearted and it seems as if a weight had been lifted from the composer's shoulders as he prepared to embark on his journey to New York.  More importantly, in this final piano trio he reaffirmed his belief in the value of folk sources, an interest he would pursue further in the music he wrote in America.