DVOŘÁK PIANO QUINTET

1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Vivace 

Suk composed the earliest version of his Piano Trio in 1889 during his first year as a composition pupil at the Prague Conservatory, originally in four movements. A year later, he revised while in the class of Karel Stecker (to whom the trio is dedicated), and the first 

performance was given at an evening of music by student composers on 15 January 1891. Suk completed the revision process once he had joined Dvořák’s composition class (he later married Dvořák’s daughter), completing the definitive version in spring 1891. The opening of the Allegro is muscular and impassioned; its bold opening theme gives way to a more tender contrasting theme and these two characterful ideas form the basis of what follows. Even though Suk was still a student, his handling of form is impressively confident and closely-argued. He brings this admirably compact movement to an affirmative close in C major. The second movement is marked Andante and it resembles a gentle folk dance, reaching a dramatic climax before moving into a tranquil coda, still dominated by the dotted rhythms that have permeated the whole movement. The third movement, marked Vivace, is a vigorous finale, with some enchanting moments of repose. A change from C minor to C major sets up the coda which brings the work to an impressive conclusion. 

© Nigel Simeone 2026 

Lili Boulanger – younger sister of the great teacher Nadia Boulanger – was an astonishingly gifted child: Fauré (who later taught her composition) discovered that she had perfect pitch when she was two years old, and at the age of 19, Lili became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome for musical composition, but throughout her life she was dogged by ill health – the consequence of pneumonia when she was a child – and had to return early from Rome. 

D’un matin de printemps exists in three versions: for violin or flute and piano, for orchestra, and for piano trio. The autograph manuscript of the trio version is headed ‘Pièces en trio’ alongside D’un soir triste, which was composed at the same time. Apart from a poignant and beautiful setting of the Pie Jesu (possibly intended as part of a projected Requiem) these are the last two compositions of Boulanger’s tragically short creative life. She died at the age of 24 leaving a remarkable legacy including some memorable Psalm settings, the marvellous song cycle Clairières dans le ciel and a handful of instrumental works such as this trio. 

© Nigel Simeone 2026 

Kintsugi is a Japanese art form which involves repairing broken pottery. Lacquer, most often of gold, is used to join the pieces together, to emphasize the cracks, not to hide them. The exquisite results show us that beauty in art – and, by extension, composure in our lives – can be found precisely by embracing imperfection and fragmentation.  

For a long time, I have been making musical forms out of fragments, and in my new piano quintet, there are thirteen short movements, which run into each other. There are a number of external musical references, including a Yiddish song, baroque textures and a distant waltz, which jostle with a range of other moods, from gentle to pained. 

But there is also one unchanging harmony that recurs repeatedly, at once separating and joining the fragments, my musical equivalent of the kintsugi lacquer. I hope this harmony not only helps to create beauty and repose, but is also a kind of response to the the ancient rabbinical saying that threads its way through the titles of movements 1, 4, 8, 10 and 13. 

Movements: 

1. If I am not for myself… 
2. Burning through 
3. Fluttering
4. …who will be for me? 
5. Tender, submerged 
6. Once Again… 
7. Crying out 
8. If I am only for myself, what am I? 
9. Fleeting 
10. And if not now… 
11. Floating 
12. In Pieces 
13. …when? 

 Michael Zev Gordon ©   

Allegro, ma non tanto
Dumka. Andante con moto – Vivace – Andante con moto
Scherzo. Furiant – Molto vivace
Finale. Allegro 

Dvořák composed his great A major Piano Quintet in 1887 (a much earlier quintet from 1872 is in the same key) and it was described by Otakar Šourek as one of ‘the most delightful and successful works’ in the whole chamber music repertoire. From the spacious cello theme that opens the quintet, Dvořák shows the seemingly effortless spontaneity of a composer at the height of his powers. The second theme turns the mood more wistful, and the music oscillates between melancholy and warmth, culminating in a jubilant climax. The second movement is a Dumka, with slow outer sections based on a melancholy tune, and a quick central section derived from the same musical idea. The Scherzo – described by Dvořák as a Furiant – begins with one of his most enchanting quick melodies and this is followed by two more: an undulating tune and another of folk-like simplicity, before the opening idea returns. The central Trio provides an oasis – a tune in long notes over which Dvořák introduces fragments of the main theme. The opening melody of the Finale dominates much of what follows. Near the close, a brief fugal section leads to a moment of tranquillity before the final dash to the end.  

Nigel Simeone © 2014