"Music washes away from the
soul the dust of everyday life."
AUTHOR: Red Auerbach
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"When you listen to music your
troubles often tend to disappear."
NOCTURNE IN B MAJOR
FOR STRING ORCHESTRA, OP. 40
Antal Dorati, Conductor
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The pieces final title, Notturno, fits the
LINKS
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
"When you listen to music your
troubles often tend to disappear."
COMPOSER:
ANTONIN DVORAK
ANTONIN DVORAK
NOCTURNE IN B MAJOR
FOR STRING ORCHESTRA, OP. 40
James McNeill Whistler: Nocturne in Blue and Gold: Valparaiso Bay, 1866 |
NOCTURNE IN B MAJOR
FOR STRING ORCHESTRA, OP. 40
Vincent Van Gogh: Nocturne |
NOCTURNE IN B MAJOR
FOR STRING ORCHESTRA, OP. 40
Antal Dorati, Conductor
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Originally written in or about 1870 as a
slow movement in his String Quartet in
E minor, Op. 9, he withheld the quartet
from publication (reassigning its opus
number to a different Quartet, in F minor)
and it remained hidden from view until
the early 1960's with a new second move-
ment. In 1875 he condensed it as the
"Intermezzo" movement (under its original
heading Andante religioso) as part of his
five-movement G Major String Quintet, Op.
18 which used a double bass as the fifth
instrument. When the Quintet was publish-
ed in 1888, as Op. 77, Dvorak later with-
drew the Andante religioso section due to
concerns that having two slow movements
made the work too lengthy.
Dock to the Moon |
In 1883 he re-arranged it again, orch-
estrating it for a string orchestra (and
also arranged it for a violin and piano
reduction), reverting to the approximate
length of the original quartet version
and adding some concluding rapturous
measures calling the piece his Notturno
Op. 40 (both versions published
by Simrock in 1883).
Maximilien Luce: The Louvre and Pont du Carrousel Night Effect, 1890 |
John Atkinson Grimshaw: Moonlit Lane, 1873 (Lead Away the Children) |
mood of the music well bringing to mind the
dark coloring of a nighttime calm within
a simplistic classic style performed at a
basic slow tempo of Molto adagio.
Finally, after trying this piece out in
different formats Dvorak finally found
the ideal form for this music. Being
quite fond of it he personally conduct-
ed the piece for its London premiere
at the Crystal Palace on March 22, 1885.
Crystal Palace |
Childe Hassam |
Tom Thomson: Nocturne- the Birches, 1916 |
Michael Creese: Blue Nocturne |