Piano Quartet in E flat major Op 87 (1889)

Dvorák’s Piano Quartet in E flat major was written in just six weeks in the summer of 1889, at about the same time as the equally unproblem­atical Eighth Symphony in G major. Like the Symphony, it offers no fundamental emotional conflict or contradiction. Dvorák’s inspiration here is his fascination with the medium of piano and string trio which, with great daring, he stretches to its limits. In creating a dynamic structure out of serenity rather than adversity – the latter being much the easier of the two options – it is the equal of the Piano Quintet in A major Op 81, which has always overshadowed it.

What conflicts there are in the Piano Quartet in E flat Dvorák imposes largely for the sake of textural variety. As far as the long-term strategy is concerned, his structural mastery is most apparent in the development sections of the outer movements. That of the opening Allegro con fuoco is particularly effective. It gathers together all the thematic strands of the exposition – including the motifs which had so long delayed the first unequivocal chord of E flat major – and subtly prepares for a recapitulation beginning not with the first but the second subject, which is the finest melodic inspir­ation in the work so far.

The inner movements are remarkable less for thematic development than, in the luxuriantly G flat major Lento, for the breadth of the expressive contrasts in its inexhaustibly abundant melodic inspirations and, in the E flat major Allegro moderato, for the quality of the dance tunes – a kind of slow waltz coloured by the occasional cimbalom sound in the outer sections, a more vigorous step in dotted rhythms in the middle.

In the E flat minor Finale, on the other hand, the development section is of supreme importance. It has the crucial function of per­suading the abundant thematic material (much of it derived from the preceding movements) into E flat major – a key studiously avoided until, after a deceptive E flat minor start to the recapitulation, its definitive entry is joyously celebrated as the work approaches its end.

Dvorak’s Piano Quartet in E flat major was written in just six weeks in the summer of 1889, at about the same time as the equally unproblem­atical Eighth Symphony in G major. Like the Symphony - but unlike Fauré’s Piano Quartet in G minor which, incidentally, was written only three or four years earlier - it offers no fundamental emotional conflict or contradiction. Dvorak’s inspiration here is his fascination with the medium of piano and string trio which, with great daring, he stretches to its limits; what conflicts there are he imposes for the sake of textural variety and structural tension.

Dvorak’s structural mastery, which is less dramatically deployed here but no less impressive than Fauré’s in his G minor masterpiece, is most apparent in the development sections of the outer movements. That of the opening Allegro con fuoco is particularly effective. It gathers together all the thematic strands of the exposition - including the motifs which had so long delayed the first unequivocal chord of E flat major - and subtly prepares for a recapitulation beginning not with the first but the second subject, which is the finest melodic inspir­ation in the work so far.

The inner movements are remarkable less for thematic development than, in the Lento, for the breadth of the expressive contrasts in its several melodic inspirations and, in the Allegro moderato, for the quality of the dance tunes - a kind of slow waltz coloured by the occasional cimbalom simulation in the outer sections, a furiant in the middle. In the Finale, on the other hand, the development section is of supreme importance. It has the crucial function of per­suading the abundant thematic material (much of it derived from the preceding movements) into E flat major - a key studiously avoided since the end of the first movement but, after a deceptive E flat minor start to the recapitulation, joyously celebrated here as the work approaches its end.

Gerald Larner©

Dvorák’s Piano Quartet in E flat was written in just six weeks in the summer of 1889, at about the same time as the equally unproblem­atical Eighth Symphony in G major. Like the Symphony, it offers no fundamental emotional conflict or contradiction. Dvorák’s inspiration here is his fascination with the medium of piano and string trio which, with great daring, he stretches to its limits. Commissioned by his Berlin publisher Simrock, it is vastly superior in the quality of both its scoring and its material to the Piano Quartet in D Op 23, which Simrock had turned down sixteen years earlier (and which had eventually been published by Simrock’s Berlin rival Schlesinger). In creating a dynamic structure out of serenity rather than adversity – the latter being much the easier of the two options – it is the equal of the Piano Quintet in A major Op 81, which has always overshadowed it.

What conflicts there are in the Piano Quartet in E flat Dvorák imposes largely for the sake of textural variety. As far as the long-term strategy is concerned, his structural mastery is most apparent in the development sections of the outer movements. That of the opening Allegro con fuoco is particularly effective. It gathers together all the thematic strands of the exposition – including the motifs which had so long delayed the first unequivocal chord of E flat major – and subtly prepares for a recapitulation beginning not with the first but the second subject, which is the finest melodic inspir­ation in the work so far.

The inner movements are remarkable less for thematic development than, in the luxuriantly G flat major Lento, for the breadth of the expressive contrasts in its inexhaustibly abundant melodic inspirations and, in the E flat major Allegro moderato, for the quality of the dance tunes – a kind of slow waltz coloured by the occasional cimbalom sound in the outer sections, a characteristic furiant in the middle. In the E flat minor Finale, on the other hand, the development section is of supreme importance. It has the crucial function of per­suading the abundant thematic material (much of it derived from the preceding movements) into E flat major – a key studiously avoided since the end of the first movement but, after a deceptive E flat minor start to the recapitulation, joyously celebrated here as the work approaches its end.

The Piano Quartet in E flat was first performed in Prague in November 1889 by Hanus Trneck and a string trio including Hanus Wihan, future dedicatee of the Cello Concerto in B minor.