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The Cello Concerto in B Minor (Op. 104) by Czech classical composer Antonín Dvořák was written far from his native land – it was composed in the USA in 1894–1895. But it contains no features of the music of Negro or Native American traditions that appeared in other works by Dvořák at this period. Quite the reverse, in the images and the style of this Cello Concerto there are myriad elements of the folk music of Bohemia and intonations of Slavic lands. As Dvořák’s biographers are wont to write, “in this music one can hear the nostalgic voice of a true Czech.” And for over one hundred years now Dvořák’s Concerto has lost none of its dazzle as one of the greatest pieces of music ever written for the cello.
The composer wrote of this work in 1895 to a friend that “This concerto significantly surpasses both my other concerti for the violin and for the piano. Don’t be surprised that I myself say this – you can’t rest on your own laurels – but I can tell you that this work provides me with tremendous pleasure and, I believe, I am not wrong in my appraisal.”
Dvořák, of course, was not wrong: his Cello Concerto stands alongside the other great works in this genre. It was not by chance that Brahms, on hearing it for the first time, was to exclaim “Why on earth didn’t I know that you could write a cello concerto like that? I would have written one long ago!”
By the time Rachmaninoff was composing his Second Symphony he was already widely known as a pianist and composer. Following a dismal performance of his First Symphony he abandoned the genre for twelve years, and it was only in 1906–07 that he wrote the Second Symphony in E Minor. The work is dedicated to Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev, Rachmaninoff’s teacher.
Symphony No 2, which is linked to the traditions of 19th century symphony music of Moscow and St Petersburg, is original both in terms of the general concept and in the particular themes and harmony and orchestral writing. Intonations akin to those of a glorious refrain form the basis of the work’s melody.
The first performance of the Symphony took place on 26 January at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, followed by a second performance on 2 February 1908 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow under the baton of the composer himself. In 1908, one anonymous reviewer for the Russian Musical Gazette wrote of the premiere that “S. Rachmaninoff conducted his new Symphony with the genius and self-control of a true conductor and artist. And it was a celebration for all who love Russian music. The Symphony is a powerful and integral work, one that is rich in detail. The emotion and inspiration is answered by the mature artistic perfection of expression. The first and general impression is that with its poetic mood and artistic splendour it grasps one’s attention from the beginning right up to the very end...”
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