Dvorak, Ballad Op.15 & Nocturne Op.40 for Violin & Piano (Masters)

Dvorak, Ballad Op.15 and Nocturne Op.40 for Violin & Piano

Edited by Frantisek Bartos

The Ballade was written late in 1884 shortly after he completed his Seventh Symphony.  It was written for a Christmas edition of the London Magazine of Music.  It is an example of Dvořák’s genius in producing small scale works of great emotional depth.  The Ballad has a tragic and passionate tone similar to his Seventh Symphony; the reflective opening motif, played by the violin, seems to look forward to the style of Janácek.

The Nocturne is actually Dvorak's transcription of the Intermezzo third movement of Dvorák's String Quintet in G major, Op 77, and was originally part of the single-movement String Quartet in E minor, B19, probably composed in the late 1860s.