Pavel Haas Quartet & Jan Bartoš

Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor “Dumky”, Op. 90, composed between 1890 and 1891, is one of the most original and beloved works of chamber music by Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904). While in his previous trios the composer adhered to the classical sonata form, here he departed from it entirely, creating a unique six-movement cycle based on the “dumka” – a Ukrainian folk form characterized by sudden shifts in mood. The composition fascinates with the contrast between brooding, melancholic passages and unrestrained, rhythmically vibrant joy. It is this emotional volatility and deep-rooted folk inspiration that give the “Dumky” trio its immense inner power, showcasing Dvořák’s masterful fusion of melodic invention with an unconventional musical architecture.

Leoš Janáček’s (1854–1928) String Quartet No. 1 “after Leo Tolstoy’s Kreutzer Sonata” dates from 1923, but its origins reach back to 1908, when Janáček composed a now lost piano trio inspired by the same Tolstoy novella. Its heroine is a woman tormented by her despotic and pathologically jealous husband, who ultimately kills her. “I had in mind a poor woman, tormented, beaten, killed,” Janáček said of the theme that runs like a red thread through many of his works. The quartet’s passionate expression penetrates to the very core of human emotion and the deepest recesses of the soul. It met with immediate success after its 1924 premiere and, even a century later, remains one of the most powerful works of the string quartet repertoire.

In the late 1930s, the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975) was under increasing pressure from the Soviet totalitarian regime and constantly watched by Stalin’s secret police. After his manic-depressive Sixth Symphony, which reflected the fearful and oppressive atmosphere of the time, the composer sought to purify his mind and musical language by returning to the roots of Bachian counterpoint. His Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 contains numerous references to Bach’s model – the first two movements form a prelude and fugue, while the fourth is written in the style of a neo-baroque aria. The work’s successful premiere in Moscow in 1940, performed by the Beethoven Quartet with the composer at the piano, secured its place on concert stages around the world.