American string quartet, Op. 96 in F major - by 塵埃

 

【德沃夏克音樂欣賞】American string quartet, opus 96 in F major
樂樂媽攝影

安東寧·利奧波德·德沃夏克（捷克語：Antonín Leopold Dvo?ák，1841年9月8日－1904年5月1日）生於布拉格（當時屬於奧匈帝國，現屬於捷克）附近的內拉霍奇夫斯鎮伏爾塔瓦河旁的磨房內，卒於布拉格，是捷克民族樂派作曲家。其代表作有第九交響曲《自新大陸交響曲》、《B小調大提琴協奏曲》、《斯拉夫舞曲》。   1892年德沃夏克到紐約國家音樂學院出任院長。年薪15000美元，對德沃夏克的財政狀況來說時非常具有吸引力的。但他也要考慮到家庭團聚的問題，他的妻子，女兒Otilie和兒子Antonín陪同前往。其他四個孩子隻在1893年夏天來美國。那時一家在艾奧瓦州的捷克移民村斯比維爾歡度美好時光。   聘任建議是由主席Jeanette Thurber提出的，她想把美國從歐洲音樂一統天下的局麵中解放出來，並且樹立美國自己的藝術偶像。德沃夏克深深認同這一目標，研究種植園黑人工人的靈歌和印第安旋律，他認為這就是美國音樂的根。   德沃夏克在紐約寫了很出名的作品：第9交響曲《自新大陸》、《感恩讚》和弦樂四重奏第96篇章，就是《美國弦樂四重奏》。   The American string quartet, opus 96 in F major, is the 12th string quartet composed by Antonín Dvo?ák. It was written in 1893, during Dvo?ák's visit to the United States. Dvo?ák wrote that the quartet - one of the most popular in the chamber music repertoire - is influenced by American folk music. Some analysts have tried to identify specifically American folk motifs in the quartet, though many consider these attempts as mere speculation. Whatever the influence of American music on the quartet, the quartet itself has served as a model for later American composers.   He composed the quartet shortly after the New World Symphony, completing the manuscript in only three days. "As for my new Symphony, the F major String Quartet and the Quintet (composed here in Spillville) – I should never have written these works 'just so' if I hadn't seen America," wrote Dvo?ák in a letter in 1893. In his description of the New World symphony, Dvo?ák was more specific: "As to my opinion, I think that the influence of this country (it means the folk songs that are Negro, Indian, Irish, etc.) is to be seen, and that this [the symphony] and all other works written in America differ very much from my earlier works, as much in colour as in character...".   Listeners have tried to identify specific American motifs in the quartet. Some have claimed that the theme of the second movement is based on a Negro spiritual, or perhaps on a Kickapoo Indian tune, which Dvo?ák heard during his sojourn at Spillville. Others have heard suggestions of a locomotive in the last movement, recalling Dvo?ák's love of railroads. The association with Negro spiritual music led to the quartet's original nickname, the "Nigger" Quartet.   Most analysts, however, fail to see specific American influences in the quartet. "In fact the only American thing about the work is that it was written there," writes Paul Griffiths. "The specific American qualities of the so-called "American" Quartet are not easily identifiable," writes Lucy Miller. "...Better to look upon the subtitle as simply one assigned to the work because of its composition during Dvo?ák's American tour."   The one confirmed musical reference in the quartet is to the song of the scarlet tanager. Dvo?ák was annoyed by this bird's insistent chattering, and transcribed its song in his notebook. The song appears as a high, interrupting strain in the first violin part in the third movement.-wiki