Spring Musicale: Dvořák and the American Spirit

Join us in celebrating the renewal of nature in spring as well as the promise of young, new musical talent. This year Antonín Dvořák’s delightful Piano Quintet in A Major, opus 81 will be heard alongside spirituals arranged by Harry T. Burleigh, African American composer and singer befriended by Dvořák, and fellow composer Moses Hogan, plus Dvořák’s own beloved vocal work "Songs My Mother Taught Me."

Talented young students from Juilliard will perform a movement from Dvořák’s great "American" String Quartet, composed while summering in the Midwestern countryside. And Dvořák’s spirited piano Furiant in D major, opus 42 No. 1, which opens the program, provides yet another taste of the gems created by the Czech composer.

Concert artists include the Sullivan String Quartet – Laura Jean Goldberg, violin I, Anat Malkin, violin II, Liuh-Wen Ting, viola, and Robert La Rue, cello, with guest pianist Adam Kent; Yolanda F. Johnson, soprano; and Moshe Knoll, piano.

1. Antonín Dvořák, Furiant in D Major, opus 42 #1, B 85
Moshe Knoll, piano

2. Antonín Dvořák, String Quartet no.12 in F Major, opus 96, the "American"
Allegro ma non troppo
Anne Takemoto, violin I, Juilliard Pre-College student
Kate Takemoto, violin II, Juilliard Pre-College student
Kathleen Lee, viola, Juilliard Pre-College student
Peter Weng, cello, Juilliard School mentor

3. Yolanda F. Johnson, soprano, Moshe Knoll, piano
vocal selections
- Moses Hogan, Give Me Jesus
- Moses Hogan, Down by the Riverside
- Harry T. Burleigh, "Her Eyes, Two Pools" from the song cycle Passionale, with text by James Weldon Johnson
- Harry t. Burleigh, selection TBA
- Antonín Dvořák, "Songs My Mother Taught Me”

-- intermission --

Antonín Dvořák, Piano Quintet in A Major, opus 81
Allegro ma non tanto
Dumka, Andante con moto
Scherzo (Furiant) Molto vivace
Finale, Allegro

For more information about the event, visit dvoraknyc.org.

This event is organized by Laura Jean Goldberg, violinist and DAHA Music Advisor, with support of the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association.

Host or Publisher Dvorak American Heritage Association