16 / 40
The
String Quintet in E flat major, op.97
is more complex in structure.
Dvo ák set to work on it on 26 June 1893,three days after completing the ‘American’
String Quartet. Following Mozart’s example, Dvo ák uses two violas, thus giving
extra strength to themiddle voices. The lively openingmovement,
Allegro non tanto
,
multiplies both the dynamic impulses and the stylised quotations from American
folkmusic. The expression remains constantly dense, with the two violas invariably
leading.
And there is no respite in the following scherzo,
Allegro vivo
. The delicately crafted
dotted rhythms spin in a giddy whirl of Bohemian-style dances. In the very middle
of the movement, the composer pauses to ‘explain’ his present situation in a
country far from his native land: he expresses himself through the viola, with the
other strings playing pizzicato.
16 DVOŘÁK