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

 

【德沃夏克音乐欣赏】American string quartet, opus 96 in F major
乐乐妈摄影

安东宁·利奥波德·德沃夏克（捷克语：Antonín Leopold Dvo?ák，1841年9月8日－1904年5月1日）生于布拉格（当时属于奥匈帝国，现属于捷克）附近的内拉霍奇夫斯镇伏尔塔瓦河旁的磨房内，卒于布拉格，是捷克民族乐派作曲家。其代表作有第九交响曲《自新大陆交响曲》、《B小调大提琴协奏曲》、《斯拉夫舞曲》。   1892年德沃夏克到纽约国家音乐学院出任院长。年薪15000美元，对德沃夏克的财政状况来说时非常具有吸引力的。但他也要考虑到家庭团聚的问题，他的妻子，女儿Otilie和儿子Antonín陪同前往。其他四个孩子只在1893年夏天来美国。那时一家在艾奥瓦州的捷克移民村斯比维尔欢度美好时光。   聘任建议是由主席Jeanette Thurber提出的，她想把美国从欧洲音乐一统天下的局面中解放出来，并且树立美国自己的艺术偶像。德沃夏克深深认同这一目标，研究种植园黑人工人的灵歌和印第安旋律，他认为这就是美国音乐的根。   德沃夏克在纽约写了很出名的作品：第9交响曲《自新大陆》、《感恩赞》和弦乐四重奏第96篇章，就是《美国弦乐四重奏》。   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