Notes for: August 10, 2010
In 1892, Dvořák, now world famous as a composer, accepted an invitation to become the director of the new National Conservatory of Music in New York. As things turned out, he became acutely homesick, and after three years he resigned and returned home to Prague. At the time of his departure, however, he fully expected to settle permanently in the United States, and he undertook a “farewell” 40-concert tour of Bohemia and Moravia, accompanied by two colleagues from the Prague conservatory, violinist Ferdinand Lachner and cellist Hanus Wihan.
As the centerpiece for the tour, Dvořák chose the work in which he most poignantly expressed his love for his motherland and its musical culture – his “Dumky” Trio. Completed in February, 1891, the work had been premiered at a concert in April, 1891, celebrating Dvořák’s honorary doctorate from Prague’s Charles University. It was then published in 1894 while Dvořák was in the United States, with his friend Brahms taking time out from his own work to read and correct the proofs.
Dumky is the plural of dumka, a Slavonic word with a long etymological history. Originally it meant to meditate or brood. In the Ukraine, the term took on the additional meaning of a “lament” or pensive folk ballad about deeds of heroism in bygone days. Still later, a dumka became a sorrowful instrumental work, often followed by a wildly joyful dance called a furiant. This pairing of two sharply contrasting moods spread throughout central Europe, becoming particularly characteristic of folk music in Poland and Bohemia.
Dvořák used the term dumka for the blending of such contrasting melancholy and joyful elements within one piece, thus providing a vehicle for his emotionally complex temperament. In this sense, he composed a number of dumky, both as short pieces in themselves or as movements in a longer work. Examples include his Slavonic Dance No. 2 and the slow movements of his String Quartet, Op. 51, and Piano Quintet, Op. 81.
In his “Dumky” Trio, Dvořák went further, writing a piece consisting entirely of dumky. There are, in fact, six of them, each in a different key and with its own distinct individuality and tonal coloring. The first, second, third and sixth dumky follow the traditional pattern of a slow, melancholy or pensive section followed by a fast, exuberant one. In the fourth and fifth dumky, the contrasts come between the two movements.
This unique format made it impossible for Dvořák to follow the convention established by Haydn of using traditional sonata form, with its emphasis on thematic development, for at least one movement. The trio as a whole, however, has a structural unity roughly like a conventional four-movement composition.
The first three dumky are linked together without pause, and are thus parallel to a conventional first movement. The fourth dumka is dominated by a slow melancholy melody presented by the cello over a piano ostinato figure, and is like a slow movement. The fifth dumka is more energetic and playful, like a scherzo. The final dumka, after a somber introduction, is alternatively wild and quietly expressive, not unlike a traditional rondo, bringing this remarkable piece to a brilliant whirling close.
Notes for: August 13, 2019
The folk music of Bohemia was part of Dvořák’s life from the time he was a small boy, when he would listen to his father, a butcher and innkeeper, play the zither at weddings and other celebrations in their village. Later young Antonín joined in, playing along on a fiddle. Later still, when he was on his way to becoming a highly regarded, Classically trained composer, he was inspired by the Czech independence movement to return to the music of his youth and incorporate its sounds and rhythms into his own music. He had no interest in a literal transcription of folk tunes; rather, he wrote original melodies and rhythms that perfectly captured the spirit of native Czech music.
One of his favorite folk forms was the dumka (Czech plural dumky), a pensive, often brooding lament, originally Ukrainian, that was popular throughout the Slavic world. Dvořák gave the name to several of his works, including two piano pieces, the second movement of the A Major Piano Quintet, and of course this unconventional trio – unconventional because instead of three or four traditional movements, it is composed of six short dumky. Dvořák told a friend that he was aiming for a lighter, more popular style in a piece that would be “both happy and sad.” In his hands, the dumka becomes a work of sharply contrasting parts, from plaintive melodies to gay dances, and of rapidly changing moods that range from melancholy to jubilant.
While the Trio’s six dumky are linked structurally – each is written with alternating slow and fast sections – and while all shift between major and minor modes, thematically and tonally each has its own character. Dvořák marked the first three “attaca subito,” meaning that they are to be played as a unit, without pause. The first dumka, “Lento maestoso,” establishes the pattern: an impassioned melody, stated first by the cello, is followed by a rollicking dance, then a return to the original mood. The opening mood of the second, “Poco adagio,” is more doleful than the first, while that of the Andante third is lyrical and tranquil. Interestingly, in this third dumka it is the slower opening that is in a major key, with the dance that follows in the minor.
A sense of sadness pervades the somber, Russian-sounding fourth dumka (“Andante moderato quasi tempo di Marcia”), with its melancholy march rhythms. That mood is banished by the capricious, rhythmically driven fifth dumka, the only one marked Allegro. Here, in another reversal of pattern, the outer sections are faster than the middle. With the final dumka, “Lento maestoso,” Dvořák returns to the sentiments of the first, alternating darker passages with vigorous dances before ending with a spirited outburst.