TITLE : Dvorák Legends
CATALOGUE NUMBER : 464 647-2
INTERNATIONAL RELEASE DATE : October 2000
 
WORKS
Notturno in B major, op.40
Legends, op.59
Miniatures, op.75a
Prague Waltzes
ARTISTS
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Iván Fischer
COMPOSER
Antonín Dvorák
RECORDING INFORMATION
This recording focuses on several of Dvorák’s smaller works, all of which started out in the form of chamber music.

The Notturno went through several revisions, appearing first as a one-movement string quartet, then as part of a string quintet. Still dissatisfied, Dvorák reworked it again, this time arranging it for string orchestra.

Dvorák wrote the set of Legends as a follow-up to his highly successful Slavonic Dances. Originally composed as piano duets and then arranged for orchestra, they were dedicated to the highly influential critic at the time, Eduard Hanslick. Hanslick played a crucial role in Dvorák’s early career by introducing him to Johannes Brahms, who then set up the younger composer with Brahms’s own publisher.

The Miniatures and Prague Waltzes were also born by request. Dvorák played the viola with two amateur violinists who lived nearby and offered the Miniatures as compositions for their unusual combination of instruments. The Waltzes (a set of five) were written for a high-profile ball held in Prague in 1879.