In celebration of the United States semiquincentennial, a concert of Antonin Dvorak’s renowned chamber works written while visiting Spillville, Iowa, in the summer of 1893 – the Op. 96 “American” Quartet and the Op. 97 String Quintet.
Performed by the esteemed Sullivan Quartet – Laura Jean Goldberg (violin I) Anat Malkin (violin II), Liuh-Wen Ting (viola), Robert La Rue (cello), with guest artist Louise Schulman (viola) – and featuring a pre-concert talk by musicologist David Catchpole, the concert is part of Dvorak: The Chamber Music Survey, a multi-year survey of Dvorak’s chamber works that explores his development as a composer for small ensemble, organized by the Dvorak American Heritage Association’s music advisor and violinist Laura Jean Goldberg.
The concert and talk will introduce audiences to elements of Dvorak’s American style and his engagement with the aural landscape of the United States. Replete with sonic invocations of American countryside, rail travel, and other musical impressions, Dvorak’s Op. 96 and Op. 97 evocatively express his ideas of musical Americanism as coalesced during his remarkably productive 100 days in Spillville.
PROGRAM
Antonin Dvorak, String Quartet in F Major, Opus 96, the "American," c. 1893
Antonin Dvorak, String Quintet in E-flat Major, Opus 97, the "American," c. 1893
For more information, visit dvoraknyc.org.
General admission: $30 for seniors, $ 20 for students. Tickets may be purchased online through Eventbrite or at the door at the time of the event (cash only).
ABOUT
The SULLIVAN STRING QUARTET brings together Laura Jean Goldberg, violin I, Anat Malkin, violin II, Liuh-Wen Ting, viola, and Robert La Rue, cello. Each member of the ensemble has a wide-ranging and impressive career in the chamber music scene. The Sullivan Quartet has performed recitals at Bohemian National Hall, Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, the Arion Chamber Music Series, Bargemusic in NYC, and at "Music at the Museum" in Bennington, VT. The quartet's inclusive multicultural approach gives a place of honor to repertoire by women composers, African American, Hispanic, and Asian composers, as well as the traditional string quartet repertoire. The Sullivan Quartet is named after trailblazing American architect Louis H. Sullivan, the founder of the "Chicago School" of architecture. Sullivan designed buildings with innovative steel-frame construction that incorporated elements of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts style ornamentation.
DAVID CATCHPOLE is a lecturer in Musicology at Texas State University and a Trustee on the board of the Dvořák American Heritage Association. David’s current research focuses on the role of symphonic radio broadcasts in shaping ideas of citizenship and belonging in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. He has written program notes for the BBC Proms and Austin Cantorum and presented his work at conferences across the United States and internationally, including the American Musicological Society, Society for American Music, and German Studies Association annual meetings. The topics he works on encompass a range of areas, including radio, music and identity formation, twentieth-century opera, Habsburg culture and music around the fin-de-siècle, and Czech-American musical culture in the early twentieth century. His research has been supported by a travel subvention from the American Musicological Society and a Margery Lowens Dissertation Research Fellowship from the Society for American Music.
This event is organized by the Dvorak American Heritage Association with the support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association. The program is supported by a grant from the Coalition of Music Organizations, a voluntary association that provides access to funding and mutual aid. The Coalition is an initiative of the American Musicological Society, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing our understanding of music.