Like Mozart in his time (and some other composer that escapes me), the Czech composer Antonin Dvorak fell in love with a beautiful girl but ended up marrying her sister, the younger one, for the sake of coincidence. The union with Anna Cermakova was a happy one (so was Mozart, with Constanze). The couple had nine children, although three of them died in infancy.
Organist at St. Adalbert
The composer had met the Cermakova girls while he was teaching piano lessons. But after his marriage (Antonin was 31, Anna 19) he abandoned the lessons because his former organ teacher got him a permanent position as organist at St. Adalbert's Church in Prague. There he remained from 1874 to 1877. The salary was miserable but it had the advantage of arriving punctually every month. For the young couple it was an invaluable help.
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| Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904) |
Despite the circumstances, Dvorak managed to write a number of important works around this time. And it wasn't all bad either. In 1874 he applied for an annual state scholarship awarded by the Austro-Hungarian Empire for its talented and needy subjects, and Antonin earned it that year and the one that followed.
In 1875 his first son was born, and also his Fifth Symphony, the Quintet for Strings No. 2, and the Serenade for Strings in E major. The latter, one of his most frequently performed works and for whose composition the young master needed no more than two weeks.
Serenade for strings in E major, opus 22
Composed between May 3 and 14, 1875, its premiere took place in Prague on December 10, 1876, with an overwhelming success, which reaffirmed the high esteem in which the composer held the piece. Idyllic and peaceful in character, its music flows easily and naturally through its five brief movements.
Movements:
00 Moderato
05:08 Tempo di Valse
12:14 Scherzo: Vivace
17:56 Larghetto
24:03 Finale: Allegro vivace
The performance is by the string ensemble of the Royal Northern College of Music, Great Britain.
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